Worlds Best Litter - Part II

With over a week of testing, we have switched back to our trusty "Yesterday's News" litter.

While Meow the cat seemed to enjoy scratching around in his new litter, it just didn't work out in several areas.

1. Meow pees like a girl. I don't know why, but he does. Maybe its something with fixed cats, but when he goes, he squats so close to the litter, that the urine-soaked litter got all stuck the fur on his back-end. If this weren't bad enough, it would then "clump" there making for an interesting cleanup process! This would happen almost every time to Meow, and although it is not a fault of the "Worlds Best Cat Litter", it wasn't suitable for our cat.
2. Once Meow was done, his feet were covered with this beige powder. Although not toxic, I was able to track my cat to where he was by following the little beige footprints from the litter box, to wherever it was he was sleeping.
   

Yesterday's news does not have those issues with my cat, so while it does not absorb as well, and I can not flush it, Yesterday's News is actually a better litter in our situation.

I will give kudos to the Worlds Best brand in that it did everything it advertised. No odor, easy to scoop, clumped well (when not on my cat's rear!) dissolved when dumped in the toilet, and we were easily able to keep the same litter for a week because we were able to remove both #1 and #2. With Yesterday's News, you simply can not remove #1 as it does not clump.

So there you have it. For now, its Yesterday's News!

Worlds BEST Cat Litter???

In a recent post, I pondered what the best cat litter was for my cat. I had a few things I was looking for in a litter, neatness being among the most important to me! Will it absorb, and minimize the amount that follows it out of the litter box on his feet!

Normally, I'm not drawn to "best" or "most awesome" kinds of product advertising, but I happened across a product called boastfully enough, the "Worlds Best Cat Litter". OK, you got me to look, but is there any substance to the claim? Let's see.

At first glance, this product seems to hit upon many of my ideals for a worthy cat litter. Hmmm. OK then, what makes this the "World's Best"? The packaging claims it is...

• Scoopable
• Clumpable
• Flushable
• Silica-dust free
• Safe for kittens
• Veterinarian recommended
• all natural
• earth friendly
• biodegradable

Well, that's nice. They also claim that cat urine odor naturally bonds to corn stuff, so there is no need for fragrance or masking agents. In addition, if you cat wanted to taste some, it would likely not hurt him.

From the "stuff" standpoint, this cat litter looks promising! So, I bought an 8lb bag to let my cat perform various dump-tests on.

My impressions are initially very positive. Meow the cat seemed to enjoy scratching around in this corn-based stuff. It's kind of powder-like, and feels (to me) like powdered Ovaltine. It does leave a trace of dust on my hand and my cat's feet, but it isn't silica dust so that's acceptable.

One of the other differences between this and Yesterday's News, our current litter choice, it this does clump. It doesn't clump right away, but soon enough, and then because it is flushable (Y.N is not) I can just scoop, dump, and flush. I theory, if I can scoop out the pee clumps in addition to the cat turds, this litter will last longer than the Yesterday's news does. Y.N. kind of absorbs urine, but then dissolves into some stuff that can't really be removed until the box is changed.

So far, I like this. Is it "The World's Best Cat Litter"? I don't know, and I don't think I can possibly find out, but it is good. Aside from the dust that my cat can track out, it is all that it says it is.

Meow the cat seems to like it, and so we'll test it and post on it in a week or so.

Pet Food Recall - another update

This recall has really been big news for pet owners over the last few weeks. While the "official" number of deaths caused by the contaminated pet food remains low, the unofficial numbers coming from various sources are much higher. In addition, the list of recalled pet foods seems to grow longer each week.

These are some of the resources I have been using to get good information on the pet food recall situation.

ASPCA Pet Food Recall FAQ's

FDA Pet Food recall site

Menu Food's Recall site

I'm keeping a close eye on Meow, but thankfully I haven't fed him any of the recalled food except maybe one Neutro pouch. From what I have been reading, this is something that takes a little time, and one serving would not be enough to do any harm.

Personal rant...This whole situation has me pretty angry. I understand that companies turn to China to keep their costs down, but I don't see how Menu Foods is coming out ahead of the game financially as a result of this contamination from China. How is this going to benefit the company, the shareholders - anyone? What is the point? Seems to me that greed is firmly holding the top spot on Menu Foods priority list.

If they really cared, they would have done something to ENSURE that the ingredients used to make the food for our beloved pets was SAFE. They didn't. I'm sure the market, and the pet owners will see that Menu Foods has cut corners and in doing so cut their market share permanently.

Cat Litter

House cats have a few essential needs, water, food, love, and a place to poo! Some cats are picky about where they will do their business, but not Meow. He's been willing to soil any type of litter we put down for him to use, which makes life for his human servants (me and my wife) a little easier!

So, the key is...what do the humans prefer to use? Well, I have a few things that I look for when selecting cat litter, and here is the list I threw together off the top in no particular order.

• Is it absorbent, or will my cat track his dirty little feet all over the place because his "business" is not absorbed somehow.
• Does it have a pleasant scent, and how long does it remain pleasant? I don't necessarily expect it to smell like a flower-bed for a week, but the litter should have a neutral scent that generally absorbs or masks the poopy smell a bit.
• Is it scoopable and/or flushable? When possible, I like to get in there right away and scoop out those offending packages and flush them away. I do not like clogging my sewage lines, so it is important that it will not do so.
• Will my cat track it all over the house because the litter is too fine or light weight to stay in the litterbox?
• Is it environmentally friendly? To me, that's a plus.
• Will Meow use it? So far, he's used everything. What a guy!
• Is it reasonably priced? I'll not pay $50 for a pound of litter - no matter how good it is!

So, generally those are some of the things we look for.

Yesterday's News is what we currently use (hey, that rhymed!) Generally, it is pretty good in all of our points above except it doesn't absorb as quickly as we would like, and it isn't flushable. Sometimes, when Meow has a big, looooooooooong pee, he'll go and cover it like a good cat, except it's still a puddle at that point and hasn't absorbed. So, we end up washing his feet right there so they don't stink like pee! Its strange because the bag claims "3X more moisture absorbing than clay" - I think that it is, just not right away, and that's my main problem with this product and the reason we're looking to try something else.

Yesterday's News is also "low tracking" because it has pellets instead of little sand-like particles, so it doesn't stick to his little feeties when he's done. As I mentioned, this stuff can't be flushed so you just have to sift the pellets from the poops when you clean the box, and you should be OK. When wet, the newsprint pellets kind of puff up and slowly mutate into a messy, grey, semi-stinky pulp type stuff, and it does not clump. We change the box twice per week with this product, but we scoop the solids as they are left for us. Such suckers!

We have also tried something called Feline Pine which seems like a nice, natural product, but it really didn't work for us. Its made of pine, which for the most part is a nice-smelling substance that should absorb orders. It does, but we found that it was quickly overwhelmed by Meow's massive and odoriferous droppings. In addition, as soon as it got wet, it turned into this highly-trackable sawdust type stuff that got all over the place. More of a mess than we hoped, and you actually need a special scoop with this product. I don't think we even finished the bag because it turned into such a mess. Hey, we tried.

So, that's where we're at for the moment. I'm going to poke around and see what the "masses" say about litter, and try something else that absorbs a little more quickly than the otherwise excellent Yesterday's News and post about it here.

Watch your Cat in Coyote country!

It was interesting to see recently the story of Adrian the Coyote
wandering into a downtown Chicago sub shop. Hailing from the 'burbs of NYC, I'm accustomed to seeing deer in unusual settings, but I wouldn't expect a coyote in the local sandwich shop!

The point to this post was to warn people who might let their cats or small dogs out unsupervised in areas where coyotes are more common, that there is a greater risk of pets becoming coyote food at this time of year. According to an article on The Times News, "Cats and dogs may be more at risk of being snatched away by coyotes now than at other time during the year because the animals are out hunting to feed their pups..."

Now that's a pleasant thought! Obviously coyotes need to eat too, so it isn't strange that this happens. That's what coyotes do! It is however, another good reason to keep Muffy and Tiger indoors where they belong, and to keep an eye on you small dog if you keep him outside.

Cats more popular than Dogs?

I came across an interesting article today that was so timely it spooked me a bit! Just last week, I was discussing with a coworker that I thought there were more pet cats in the US than dogs. My coworker, having two dogs of her own, didn't see how that was possible - "EVERYONE has dogs!" - she said. Well, yes, but apparently MORE people own cats, and now someone has numbers to support that claim.

Now don't get me wrong, I love dogs too. I had the privilege of growing up in a house that had cats AND dogs, so I know that cats and dogs are different types of pets with different pros and cons. I'll also admit that I am (was) a reluctant cat owner. My wife and I happened to be in the right place at the right time when we adopted our adult cat from the Vet, and a cat was the best fit for us considering our lifestyle.

We live in a small house, and as much as I would love to have a dog for a pet, my experience with them taught me that they require a higher level of care than cats (time we didn't have) - typically dogs need more room, more exercise, trips outside in all kinds of weather to do their business. I just wasn't ready for all that! We did, however want a pet, and so a cat fit our lifestyle perfectly.

Cats are smaller, quieter, cleaner, neater and less in need of interaction which is a good thing if you work, or are in school or whatever. Our cat Meow pretty much sleeps all day in his little basket, and so I don't think he really cares where we are during the day - so long as we come home with some treats for him!

Cats, for many of the reasons I just listed, are more likely to be allowed as pets in places like apartments or condos - and people often have several cats whereas most dog owners I know have only one. So, to me, it seemed completely reasonable that more cats were pets than dogs. Cats are accepted in more places!

There are many good reasons to choose a cat over a dog, but, the most important reasons for choosing one over the other should concern whether or not you can properly care for the cat or dog, and provide it the love and attention that it will need. Cats can be less demanding on your personal attention level to them than dogs, but cats need to be shown love and affection as well. You just cant get a cat and forget about it!

I try to make time each night to play with Meow. Either letting him chase the red dot from the laser -pointer, or throwing a cat toy around with him - I give him time and attention. Dogs, from my experience, need more than that - which is fine - it just has to fit. If you can not spend the time needed with a dog, think about a cat.

It breaks my heart that there are pug rescue organizations,or border collie rescue organizations because people buy pets that do not fit their lifestyle. Its a shame. People really need to think it through. I adore border collies, but I know I would never be able to spend the time that it required to keep one healthy and stimulated.

So, even though I still consider myself a "dog person", I have no regrets whatsoever in having Meow as a pet cat. He's been a great addition to our lives and, for our particular lifestyle at this time, a perfect fit!

Lactulose needed!

I know this is getting old, but in Meow's life, its BIG news!

The whole effort to relieve Meow's constipation situation was not really helped with the fiber and wet food additions to his diet. Oh well. Time for professional cat health assistance!

We took Meow the cat to our beloved vet and explained to her our situation. Meow the cat was pooping, but it was obviously uncomfortable for him, and it looked like it would become even more uncomfortable if we didn't act soon!

The Doctor gave Meow the standard once-over - eye check, ear check, listen to his heart, look at teeth, squeeze belly, check weight....Meow did fine in all areas of general health, except he's a "little chubby" now according to the Vet. Another problem and another post! Poor Meow!

The Doctor listened to us and then decided to check Meow for stuck poop I guess, because she took a thermometer and well, inserted it. Needless to say, Meow the cat did not like this intrusion but he endured like the good cat that he is (I hope he doesn't mind me posting this about him!) and let her "probe".

Somehow by examining with this thermometer, our Vet indicated that his poops were too hard and she would like him to get something called "Lactulose" that would have to be administered twice per day. This lactulose stuff is a liquid, and would have to be administered to our cat orally. THAT should be fun!

Another post for another day!