The submit Cat Litter: Why It Pays to Get It Right by Dr. Karyn Kanowski, BVSc MRCVS (Vet) appeared first on Catster. Copying over whole articles infringes on copyright legal guidelines. You might not be conscious of it, however all of those articles had been assigned, contracted and paid for, so they are not thought of public area. However, we recognize that you just just like the article and would adore it for those who continued sharing simply the primary paragraph of an article, then linking out to the remainder of the piece on Catster.com.
Hi, I’m Dr. Karyn! Read my introduction to be taught extra about me and meet my 5 hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.
Last week we had been speaking about how to decide on the perfect meals to your cat (you possibly can learn that column right here), and that one of many methods we are able to inform how effectively your cat’s meals is working for them is by wanting within the litter field.
“If your cat farts a lot, poops more than once or twice a day, and clears a room when they use the litter box, it’s a sign that they aren’t digesting their food well.”
Not solely is that this indicator of your cat’s well being and meals high quality, for me, it is a crucial consideration as a result of the cat litter trays are positioned in my house workplace. So in the case of meals and cat litter, I spare no expense. But does that imply I’m paying ridiculous quantities for my cat provides? No, and also you don’t should both.
What’s Food Got To Do With It?
One of the factors I made final time was that despite the fact that larger high quality meals are costlier, their excessive digestibility signifies that you find yourself feeding as little as half the quantity of a less expensive model.
The different advantage of this, other than the plain advantages to your cat’s well being, is that your litter field takes much less punishment too. If your cat’s poops are massive, unfastened, and frequent, you might be scooping out extra litter extra usually.
When it involves my feline’s bowel actions, I’m scooping one small poop per cat per day. This means much less wasted cat litter, much less mess in my litter field, much less work for me and a way more nice work surroundings!
I’m extraordinarily lucky that my cats have fashioned fairly a cohesive group, and can really share litter trays. Ordinarily, I like to recommend a minimal of 1 tray per cat plus one additional, however over time, I noticed that my cats weren’t even utilizing all of the trays, which is uncommon in a bunch of unrelated felines!
One issue that has probably influenced that is the small measurement and diminished odor of their poop, and the way effectively the litter covers it.
My cats are nice at sharing!
What Are My Options?
You’re most likely conscious that there are fairly a number of completely different forms of cat litter, making it powerful to know which one to decide on. Much like with cat meals, you usually get what you pay for, in that a budget and cheerful non-clumping clay litter will do the job, however you’ll undergo it a lot faster than you’d a clumping sort. Because it doesn’t bind the urine, there’s minimal odor management, and also you’ll must utterly change out the litter each couple of days.
For years there was concern voiced over clumping litter, and whether or not its cohesive properties pose a danger to the inside workings of our cats’ digestive system. Well, you is likely to be stunned to be taught that there’s nearly no scientific proof to help this worry. In truth, the alternative would possibly even be true.
Cats get hairballs because the hair swallowed throughout a grooming session steadily accumulates of their digestive tract. With nothing substantial to maneuver it alongside, it builds up over time till it kinds a stable clump. The addition of some cat litter particles into this equation would seemingly assist push the hair alongside the intestines.
There is the flowery silica gel litter that traps urine, and its odor, and the one factor you should scoop out is feces. If I used to be a single cat family, that is most likely the one I might go for, however with this many cats, it isn’t essentially the most value efficient choice for me.
Then there are the assorted eco-friendly litter choices corresponding to paper, wooden, wheat or corn. I would love to have the ability to say that I put the surroundings earlier than my very own private wants, however these supplies simply don’t minimize it in the case of odor management.
For my clowder, I go for a superb clumping clay litter. It’s not stupidly costly, however it’s a bit pricier than a few of the extra primary clumping litter. The superb particles maintain liquid extra successfully and permit my cats to dig and canopy their poop extra successfully, all of which equates to glorious odor management.
My easy-to-scoop cat litter
Which Litter Is Best?
Am I telling you that superb particle clumping litter is the perfect cat litter choice for everybody? I’m not. One of the annoying options of the sort of litter is that it tracks. Despite having high entry litter bins, I nonetheless discover litter particles on my desk, laptop computer, window sill, couch…and that is likely to be a deal breaker for some. For me, whose precedence is odor management, it’s a suitable downside.
If I might tuck the litter bins in a distinct a part of the home, I might most likely rethink my choices, and think about a extra eco-friendly materials. If I had only one or two cats, the silica gel can be a powerful contender, though it’s the worst when it comes to the surroundings.
But right here I’m making all of it about me. Not solely am I fortunate that my cats all get alongside, I’m additionally fortunate that all of them appear to be pleased with the litter I’ve chosen, as a result of that’s not at all times the case. You would possibly do your analysis, decide, solely to seek out that your cat received’t contact it. This is extra widespread with the little silica gel balls or wooden or paper pellets, as some cats don’t like the texture of them underfoot. So the opposite factor you want to pay attention to, and ready for, is your cat’s private preferences.
Just like we did with our cat meals dialogue, in the case of selecting cat litter, the perfect product for you and your cats, may not be what’s finest for the cat subsequent door.
One factor I’ll say is that for those who’re wanting to avoid wasting {dollars}, don’t do it by shopping for that big bag of non-clumping clay. You don’t should go high of the road, however spending just a little bit extra on an honest clumping cat litter might be value it; belief me.
The submit Cat Litter: Why It Pays to Get It Right by Dr. Karyn Kanowski, BVSc MRCVS (Vet) appeared first on Catster. Copying over whole articles infringes on copyright legal guidelines. You might not be conscious of it, however all of those articles had been assigned, contracted and paid for, so they are not thought of public area. However, we recognize that you just just like the article and would adore it for those who continued sharing simply the primary paragraph of an article, then linking out to the remainder of the piece on Catster.com.
