"What I found, for twenty cents a pound" — and more than twice the volume of clay clumping litter per pound! Cut your litter expense in half or more.

If you have KITTENS — don't use CLAY CLUMPING litters until they are older. (But you already know this.) What this page is saying is that it's better not to use clay clumping litter anyway. Aside from its sticky, greasy clumps, you have a better clumping choice—one better in every way— and so inexpensive, you can easily afford to change it ALL every week ...as you should. And no silica dust for you or kitty to breathe.

This is not a sales pitch; I don't sell litter or have any financial stake in this whatsoever other than my own wallet.

You probably never heard of it. I hadn't, but after I tried it for a month, I was convinced. I've been spending hundreds of dollars a year on cheap clay litter, after using many kinds and brands, including typical clay clumping litters.

This new discovery is something that I want to pass on to all you feline Moms and Dads out there. It has no real negatives, except that if you live in a huge city it probably won't be easy for you to obtain unless you take a Saturday drive to "the country."

How Does the Following Sound to You?...Probably "Too Good to be True!"

1. NO CLAY, NO SILICA DUST TO BREATHE
2. LITTLE DUST; it's corn dust, not clay with silica
3. CLUMPING and SCOOPABLE
4. LIGHTWEIGHT
5. EASY CLEANING, NOT STICKY (God help you if you ever get a clump of typical clay clumping litter onto your shoes and onto a valuable rug)
6. SAFE (How safe? I'd eat it in an emergency.)
7. SMELLS GOOD and SOMEHOW KEEPS ODORS DOWN
8. TRACKS LITTLE
9. FLUSHABLE (in many cases, depending upon your sewer system. The clumps break apart when soaked again for awhile.)
10. IT'S ACTUALLY MADE FOR BIRDS TO EAT (before kitty uses it)

THE STORY

There's a product on the market called "World's Best Cat LitterTM." It's made by GPC Pet Products. Take at look at it. It really is excellent litter, I tried it.

http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/

Yet, to my eyes and fingers and nose, it strongly resembles a particular kind of poultry feed that I heard about later.

Grain Processing Corporation (also GPC) makes many products, animal feed ingredients, and "World's Best Cat LitterTM," which is said to be made from all natural whole-kernel corn.

http://www.grainprocessing.com/productinfo.html

At stores near me who sell this fine "World's Best Cat LitterTM, it retails for about a dollar a pound!! Sometimes more. It may be wonderful litter but I am not Warren Buffett or Bill Gates. Fifty pounds of WB litter, even though it's over twice the volume of typical clumping clay litter, would cost me fifty dollars. Whew...

Next, take a look at what I'm calling "Near-Perfect Litter" — what is fed to poultry, water fowl, and game birds all over the world — the formulation called "CRUMBLES."

I can't call it the World's Perfect Cat Litter because that would be extreme hyperbole without objective, disinterested testing, in the manner of Consumer Reports. I haven't seen such tests for any litter so far in this country, much less the world. And there's the matter of trademarks. And of course these judgments are matters of opinion anyway. Near-Perfect is what I find this litter to be.

Many different manufacturers around the USA and abroad make these "CRUMBLES." They're made from corn with some added nutrients. The protein content of the lower-protein formulations, such as "Layer Crumbles" or "Egg Maker Crumbles" is about 15% to 17%. Formulations with more protein (Game Bird Crumbles, Broiler Crumbles) are equally good but cost a little more.

We're not feeding birds here. We're absorbing and collecting our kitties' urine and doodles, just as "World's Best Cat LitterTM" and every other litter in the world is supposed to do. And non-sticky, non-greasy clumping is a bonus. If you get this on a rug or track it on your feet, you can clean or vacuum it up easily. IT DOES NOT SMEAR and STICK LIKE PLASTER AS CLUMPING CLAY LITTERS DO. It rinses easily. It's lightweight too! Easier to lift and dump.

So here it is, here's what I use all the time with great results:

BLUE SEAL brand "LAYER CRUMBLES"... Most brands are similar and depending upon where you live, you will find other brands at your local FEED MILL — that's a supplier of foods for horses, cows, poultry, etc. Just ask someone who has a horse where they buy their feed, or look up "Feed Mills" in your phone directory.

I pay, along with high New York state sales tax, just over $10 USA for a 50-pound sack. That's 20 cents a pound. In some parts of the USA, 50-pound sacks of Layer Crumbles sell for about $7. Now that's inexpensive.

Crumbles (much more volume of litter per pound than the other two kinds) are on the left

Wal Mart Special Kitty regular clay litter is in the middle (incidentally, have you noticed the price increases in the past 18 months on this stuff?)

Scoop Away clay clumping litter (from Costco) is on the right.

They're what I used for a long time, while experimenting with others. Until now.

Here's what this "chicken food" looks like up close. It smells good too. After reading the label, I'd eat it as an emergency food.

I don't want to get involved in legal hassles, so I am not making any claims, any assertions, I am not showing a photo of "World's Best Cat LitterTM", and I am not a chemist. So —

Try what I did: Go buy yourself a bag of the "World's Best Cat LitterTM" and also a 50-pound sack or smaller of "Layer Crumbles" or "Wild Game Bird Crumbles" (whatever brand is cheapest and available at your store) — and put the Crumbles in one litter box and the "World's Best Cat LitterTM"in the other. Compare a week later: texture, odor, scoopability, clumping, tracking, dust, ease of use. Do you really see any significant difference, even though one costs five times as much?

Note that there are other commercial grain-based litters, including ones made from wheat. They are not inexpensive, from what I've seen. I'm sold on "What I found, for twenty cents a pound."

Clay clumping litters also always smelled after a week or two, because there were urine and feces clumps that were small and fell through the sifter and they stank after a few days. But it is really expensive to dump an entire box of clay clumping litters each week.

As I work here at my computer I am about one meter from one litter box. With this poultry crumble litter, I can get a full two weeks' use before it stinks. It's surprising how well it naturally deodorizes.

But I don't wait that long. It's so cheap and lightweight and because I am responsible, I dump it all and change the litter entirely and wash and bleach the litter boxes each Monday morning. I know the kitties' noses are orders of magnitude more sensitive than mine. And, they walk on my pillows and over most surfaces I touch.

When I used plain unscented clay litter, I had to dump and change an entire box at least every three days, usually two.

I currently have two large boxes for five cats.

(See Better Litter Box)

I scoop each morning and evening.

Do you prefer the newer cat litter PELLETS, such as Pine Pellets? These are similar to those used for horses or other animals. Well, here's GOOD NEWS. 50-pound bags of Poultry Pellets are even a little less expensive than the Crumbles. Try them and see, though I find scooping is easier with the crumbles size and the pellets disintegrate rather than clump, not a desirable feature for scooping.

James D. Richardson

-Volunteer of the Year Award 2006
Chautauqua County Humane Society

-Supporting member since 1999
Cornell Feline Health Center

Please come back soon.
Additional content and useful info & links will be added every two weeks.

copyright 2006 james d.richardson

CATS ADORED

5214 Thumb Road, Dewittville, NY 14728

(716)-386-3492

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