Wheaty Kitty Litter
By Karina | June 22, 2011
We’ve got a temporary cat right now - a friend and colleague of mine is traveling for the summer, and we agreed to look out for fuzzy little Book while she was gone. It’s so fun! Book is a fairly self-contained individual - no fussy eating habits, but he will take a swipe at your limbs if you let them hang over the edge of the bed (all in good fun!). And check out his laser beam eyes! He is throughly enjoying his stay at our country estate - as a city kitty he hadn’t had as many windows to stare out, nor mice to chase, and no where near the variety of bugs to capture.
One of the things that makes Book such an easy house guest, of course, is that he’s accustomed to using Swheat Scoop kitty litter. After all, Jenn shared how difficult it is to find a kitty litter for your kitters that is both green and kitteh approved - so I am thankful that Book has already made up his mind! (By the way, this is not a paid advertisement. No kitty litter has exchanged hands.) Swheat Scoop is made from wheat, and it smells kind of nice, and wheaty. He still manages to track it all over the place but when he “goes” it clumps up nicely and can be scooped out and disposed of in the toilet! which is so handy, because we are slow to fill up a garbage can and putting kitty litter can really stink up your trash can and make you want to put it out at the curb before you really have filled it up. And we’re kind of a let-it-mellow family, so we’re not creating additional flushes, really, either. Plus, the Seven-year-old is really excited to clean out the litter box when he’s over - and we are happy to let him!
Have you got a furry or scaly friend? What’s your favorite green pet care product?
Topics: Home, Waste | 7 Comments »
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I’ve tried Swheat Scoop kitty litter and didn’t have much luck at all. While my cats (2) had no problems using it, it stunk after just a couple of days and the urine sunk straight to the bottom of the litter box and stayed there. I’m notorious about keeping the box clean and do so morning and night, but even that wasn’t enough.
I’ve tried America’s Best and didn’t have any better luck (it turned to dust within a week). I have yet to try the others, so for now I’m using the icky, icky clay (cringe).
I wish Swheat worked for us because I can get it anywhere, but yuck, it smelled like ammonia and rotten vegetation once they boys peed in it. We’ve had better luck with the Feline Pine clumping (the cats don’t like the pellets), but it tracks EVERYWHERE and in our humid basement it seems slightly . . . damp*.
We are trying this one right now:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11272895
which is working out pretty well. I do need to take a closer look at it’s make up, though. We also used Cracked Pine, but then the boys decided they didn’t like it and I had to have it special ordered to my local pet store http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Pet-Cracked-Pine-Litter/dp/B0018CILVY
* if I run the dehumidifier one of the cats freaks out and won’t use the boxes
Wow! As Book’s permanent owner and temporary-leaver, I’ve never had those issues with the Swheat Scoop (and let me tell you, I surely did not clean the litter as much as 7…). I wonder if it has to do with the cat? The environment? The relative humidity of your abode? Either that, or maybe I can’t smell ammonia as well as the rest of y’all.
A few times when the wheaty stuff wasn’t available, I was forced to go with the non-green versions of some more popular litters, and I found that they didn’t hold the “smell” NEARLY as long as the Swheat Scoop. So strange! I wonder if there are kitty scientists behind the Mystery of the Litter.
the pee is sinking right to the bottom too, and sometimes I *do* have to scrape it off - but in general, it’s a lot easier to manage than the old fashioned clay stuff I remember from having a cat in high school.
I think having 2 cats would overtax the litter, though, at least in the small box we’re using.
I wonder if all of our kitties have different urine pH? I mean, *I* react way stinkier to things like polyester than other people, and it turns out that both my dad and I can’t wear traditional antiperspirant without really ruining clothes (not just yellowing, but yellowing and stiffness and horribleness) - so it stands to reason that every cat is different too!
Oh, I definitely think each cat is different. We have 4 boxes for three cats, and even with that many it just didn’t work. Thankfully there are more greener options out there now. Unfortunately I can’t pick them up at my grocery store, but I try to plan trips so I can bundle visits to a few stores in the same shopping center when I do a restock run.
Another green cat thing we do is grow cat grass in empty cat food cans.
i have used the wheat litter but my boys didnt like the smell. i tried the corn type and they are fine with it. it costs more per ounce but lasts longer than regular litter. ive been using it for over a year now.