With so many selections of kitty litter on the market, one is faced with the daunting task of choosing just the right one. There is the old clay standby, wheat and corn litter, recycled paper pellets, pressed sawdust and pine shavings, clumping and flushable, perfumed or al natural, multi-cat, and a myriad of others. Here are a couple of important things to think about before you decide.

First, if you have very young kittens (less than eight weeks of age), do not choose any kind of clumping litter. The reason for this is that kittens often step in their “business” as they are learning the ins and outs of litter training. During their clean-up time, they ingest some of the litter and it can clump, forming a blockage inside the kitten. This is a serious situation for a youngling, often requiring a trip to the vet, and has resulted in the death of whole litters.

Secondly, no matter what kind of litter you choose, do not under any circumstance, flush anything that comes out of the cat box. Not even if it’s just the poo. I’m not worried about your plumbing here, although litter has been known to cause blockages there as well, I’m concerned with the toxins in cat feces which are washing into our oceans.

This first came to my attention as I was talking with a neighbor of mine, a local fisherman. He was going on and on about the toxins from feral cats washing down into the Santa Barbara Channel, infecting and killing the otters through contamination of the shellfish otters (and humans!) feed upon. Sea otter recovery efforts are being affected, and human shellfish consumption is affecting our health. It is common knowledge that Toxoplasmosis pathogens, which are linked to human birth defects, are found in cat feces. (They are also found on raw meat and vegetables, and in your garden, so wash your hands WELL when dealing with these items.) The public is not so aware of the fact that they are getting into our marine ecosystem. Any unbalance in the food chain affects us all and should be of major concern.

If you would like more information on the aforementioned otter vs. toxoplasmosis, please email me at catalyst4cats@verizon.net. I have three in depth articles I can pass on.

Back to your choice of litter, it now comes down to your convenience, your cat’s preference, to perfume or not, or to clump or not. But whatever kind you choose, please bag you litter box scoopings and deposit them into your trash. Better the landfill than the food chain!