Pet cats are house-trained to use a litter box when they are unable to go outdoors to relieve themselves. The litter box is bedded with a material to catch the cat’s urine and feces. This is called cat litter in short. The cat litter in general use is very much like clay and is called clumping. Cats get used to this very easily and quickly because that’s their natural habit. There is one drawback in the use of litter boxes and traditional clumping – the odor from the litter box is nauseating!
Till the owner doesn’t remove the cat litter, the odor just won’t go away. But help is at hand in the form of a brand new type of cat litter – pine cat litter. This litter is made up of pine pellets which absorb moisture and trap the cat’s solid waste. The natural odor of pine is very refreshing and it masks that of the cat’s droppings.
The shelf price of this new variety of cat litter is twice that of traditional varieties of cat litter. But the new product proves to be cost effective since it absorbs twice the amount of moisture compared to the ordinary variety. So there is really no increase in your monthly expenditure on this account.
Price apart, the market for pine cat litter has not really taken off as the producer expected. Very expectedly, your Tabby put his paw down on the issue. Cats, as you are well aware, are creatures of pretty strong habits, and likes and dislikes. Cats like to have things exactly their way. So, faced with a box full of little pellets, Tabby is expressing his strong disapproval of this modernism! The small pine pellets are very uncomfortable to walk on, so Tabby informs us, holding up a set of chafed paws.
The work-around for this particular problem is to get the cat using the pine pellets gradually. In the beginning put in a handful of pine litter and make up the usual quantity with the normal stuff. Gradually increase the amount of pine litter and correspondingly reduce the amount of normal litter. Finally you’ll be using all pine litter. If your cat still does not go for it then that’s that! You’ll have to put with the odor. Better that than have your cat not use the box at all!
If the odor from the cat’s litter is driving you round the bend, and you’ve made up your mind to use pine cat litter, then do what many other owners are doing. Fill the litter box with pine cat litter, and then put down a surface layer of your cat’s favorite litter. This way, your cat is satisfied and so are you!
Hardly have we worked our way around problem #1, than problem #2 crops up. It appears that pine fragrance is not very popular with cats. Now that’s something that we can’t do anything about. After all you’re using pine cat litter solely for its fragrance, and there’s your cat wrinkling up its nose at the very idea! That apart, pine cat litter is completely safe for your cat. All toxic substances have been removed from the cat litter.
Pine cat litter can be composted and used as garden manure. The solid waste must be removed before composting the litter. So pine cat litter can claim to be environment-aware and environment-friendly.
It all boils down to what Tabby likes! If he likes the pine pellet cat litter, then you’re all set. If he doesn’t, then you’d better learn to cover your nose with a scented kerchief whenever you’re in the house! Meow!