Cat Liter - Silica

[kgeorge]

I was reading Cat Fancy and saw an ad for a new kind of liter, little white pellets and it said you would only have to scoop the hard waste and the urine would be absorbed, if you have one cat you would only have to change the liter once a month. Has anyone used this liter, do the cats like it? Thanks

[4 feline house]

I haven't heard of it yet, but I remember when the scoopables were first introduced they were saying you would never have to change the litter again. Of course, that is not true. Although in my opinion scoopable is vastly superior to clay, it still needs to be changed. I would be interested in seeing if the claim for this new litter pan out.

[wolflady]

Yes, I've seen the silica litter. It's supposed to absorb the urine and all you would have to do is scoop the poo. I'm a little leery of it because I can imagine that if you don't raise the cat on it, it would have a completely different look and feel than the cat is used to. And, since one of my cats is picky, I wouldn't be able to try it anyway. Plus, I was wondering what would happen if my cat ingested some of the silica pellets.

I did try one of the natural litters, however. Have you heard of these? There are many different kinds. There is one that's made out of recycled newspaper, and the one that I tried (I got it as a sample from a tradeshow I attended) was the corn based litter. It was neat because it had little to no odor, and it was flushable(it was called World's Best Cat Litter). My one cat didn't mind it, but my picky cat threw a fit. These kinds of litter may be a little safer to try.

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"In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats." - English proverb

[Deb]

I used the silica pearls for a few months before I switched. The benefits are that you really only need to change it every 2-3 weeks (per cat) and that it is very light-weight and easy to sort through when scooping the solid waste. However, it is very expensive (for litter) -- a 3-week supply costs about $18 Cdn -- and my main concern was the dust. They market it as dust-free, but in certain light I could see clouds of fine particulate suspended in the air, and after using the litter box the cat would be coated with dust. My concern was that he would then ingest the dust during grooming. The other problem is that because it is round and light-weight, it tracks a LOT. I was forever chasing little white pearls with the broom. They came out with a low-tracking variety but it wasn't much better.

Now I use "Yesterday's News" recycled newspaper pellets. It is cheap ($10 - $15 Cdn for a huge bag), biodegradable, and it actually smells better than the silica. (It seems to have its own odor that counteracts the litter smell quite well). Only downside is that it's heavy and one goes through a lot, so storage is an issue. Also, more finnicky cats might reject it because the texture is so different.

[Laura]

My mom used the silica litter for her cat. Kitty is very ancient and was having a hard time cleaning the litter out of his toes - he had a tendency to walk through the box to get out. She liked the silica in that it didn't stick. She didn't like how it got all over the place. My 5 year old nephew asked Grandma what she was going to do with all those "eyeballs" on the floor. She has switched to a litter that is made of all natural substances, bought from Mounds.

[tatsxxx11]

I knew I should have checked this forum first. Just posted the same topic in "general." I'm having great success with the "pearls." My new kitten loves it, and even my 10 yearold has adjusted to it fine. I haven't noticed any dust; at least a lot less than the scoopable litter I have been using. As for cost...I find it to be the same cost or less. With two cats, I've been buying 4 8lb. boxes a month. At 7-8 dollars a week, it ends up costing me a lot less with the pearls. And it weighs almost nothing. A big break! I was having the worst time with tracking. Litter scatter embedded into the spaces between the boards of my 200 year old floors! Having to "dig out" the litter with a knife every day! There also seems to be virtually no odor after scooping the poop!