#feline pine

Ever since I adopted my first cat, Sparrow, I have been on the hunt for the best natural cat litter. Let me start with why I prefer natural litters over clay litters: 

Environmental reasons: clay cat litter is derived from mining and drilling into mountains, just like what is done to get oil. This is extremely toxic for the environment and not a sustainable resource. 

Health reasons: Clay cat litter is disgustingly dusty. Breathing in that dust is harmful to both you and your cat. When cats lick their paws and ingest the dust or clay particles it starts to expand in their body which turns into a mass causing problems in the gastrointestinal tract, leading to illness and even death! This is especially true for immunocomprimised cats (and people) such as kittens and senior cats. NEVER use clay litter with kittens who are more prone to eating their litter!

Efficiency: In my experience, regardless of brand, clay cat litter simply does not work well. There would still be an incredibly strong ammonia/poop smell even after scooping immediately. 

Okay, now that that’s out of the way.... Here are the best natural cat litters imo! 

1. Grass Seed Cat Litter

Pros: This is by far the BEST litter I have ever tried (and I’ve tried them all). The clumps don’t break apart like other litters do, there’s virtually no dust, and it has a light (natural) scent of oatmeal. I no longer have to hold my breathe while scooping the litter box! It also holds the ammonia and poo smells in perfectly. I have two cats and two litter boxes which are in our primary living area but you’d never know it! 

Cons: It does track quite a lot, although so do most other litters. I have an extra long litter mat which collects the majority of fallen litter for easy clean up. It is also a little pricey. Still on the hunt for the cheapest of the grass seed litter brands.

2. Blue Buffalo Naturally Fresh

Pros: Before I found the grass seed litter, this was my litter of choice. It is made out of walnut shells grown in California, so you are supporting California farms! Makes pretty strong clumps but can break apart if overloaded. Doesn’t track as much as other litters. Does a pretty good job at containing odor. 

Cons: Clumps a little too well and can be difficult to get the clumps out of the litter box. While it does contain odor well in the beginning, you have to change the whole box frequently to keep it that way. The ammonia definitely will seep through if you get a little lazy with scooping. It is also dusty, not as much as clay but still. Sparrow has white paws and a freshly poured litter box will leave him with brown dusty paws. This litter is also on the pricier side. 

3. Swheat Scoop

Pros- Made out of wheat! Not dusty. Less expensive than other natural litters. Before I found the walnut litter, this was my go-to. 

Cons- Doesn’t do much for odor control. Tracks everywhere. If your cat has a grain allergy, such as mine, not the best to have them ingesting it as they clean their paws. 

3. Feline Pine 

Pros: Smells like a forest. Doesn’t track. Fairly good odor control. 

Cons: Price! Very pricey, however I have heard of people using pine pellets from the tractor supply store that are the same thing but much less expensive. Non-clumping. I personally prefer clumping litters for easier clean up. This litter however is pelleted, so when your cat pees on it, it turns into dust--which is how you know when to change the litter. I personally didn’t like my cats walking on their urine without a way to scoop it out. 

4. Crystal Litter

Pros: When I first found this litter I thought it was the one. Zero odors. Zero dust. I was so happy!! But then.....

Cons: It. Tracks. Everywhere. And on top of that-- it hurts when you step on it. It feels like little rocks stabbing your feet. What must that feel like on delicate paws??? 

5. World’s Best Cat Litter

Pros: Made out of corn! Doesn’t track too too much. That’s about it......

Cons: When I was first looking into natural litters, eeeeeeveryone was recommending  World’s Best. They said that it really was the best litter! Wrong. Sorry. But no. The clumps were soggy and odor was strong. Dislike. 

So there you have it! Sprout & Sparrow’s guide to natural litters. Let my trial and error lead to your success. 

On another note-- When I first adopted Sparrow, he was my first ever cat, so I didn’t know what a normal stool was supposed to look/smell (ew) like. While having a great litter helps control odor, it is important to know where that odor is coming from. Their food! Once I switched Sparrow to a raw diet, there was virtually no smell AT ALL when he pooped. Prior to that his stool was rancid and he would poop multiple times a day which isn’t normal! If your cat has obscenely bad litter box odors it might be time to switch up their diet! 

Feline Pine™ Original NON-CLUMPING Cat Litter (Coupon and Giveaway) #ad

We have three cats that are very spoiled…we love them a lot. Our cats are pretty darn independent and don’t require a lot of work.  EXCEPT, since I can’t walk the cats like I do the dogs, a litter box with cat litter is a must!

We have gone back and forth with litter brands for years, and there are several kinds of cat litter on the market, but our choice (or I should say our cats) is…

I love these plants – they are terrific and really bring together an attempt at shabby chic cottage garden-setting; however, all of the plant-life is doing exceptionally well this year and the reason is unusual.

Last fall, rather than drive to the shop for kitty litter – I decided to order it online and Feline Pine seemed lie a great idea. In traveling, my son and I used Feline Pine and also cracked pine instead of clay because it seemed easier to transport and dispose of. The clay litter whether clumping or not, gets cumbersome to dispose of. We still cannot find the cracked pine used from DC to Florida that had absolutely zero smell, weighed hardly anything and worked like a charm – so I opted to just try Feline Pine last fall.

The Feline Pine really displaces any litter odor usually part and participle of a kitty litter station. Not only it masks odors but it also fluffs up and kind of self covers droppings and really hides the fact the litter is a kitty kat’s potty. Simply put – Feline Pine is better than clay and lasts longer as well.

Noting it is “pine” and oftentimes fertilizer and/or mulch is pine – I thought why not empty the litter in the flower beds around the plants and shrubberies – so throughout the fall and winter all the plants in our yard were surrounded by used Feline Pine. Surprisingly, the pine turns into a shaved cedar sort of appearance and the matter dissipates – so it really appears to be “light” mulch over time. I wasn’t certain the Feline Pine would better the perennials and shrubs but decided to go ahead and empty the boxes around all the garden areas and see what happened. The result was, and remains, uber healthy vibrant green plants this season that are doubling in their size and girth. It is amazing. Where the Feline Pine was placed we have increased greening apart from the surrounding areas – each bed of the reused pine is brilliant compared to the rest of the foliage nearby.

What a cost efficient way to minimize both cat litter requirements and fertilizing / pining flower beds. The neatest thing is that Feline Pine as a litter wipes out all odors and the boxes can be filled less, emptied rather than scooped and the bag lasts longer than a box of scoop-able litter. What a great discovery and the best thing is – the litter doesn’t feel like an environmental burden any longer – the pine eventually minces with the soil after enriching the flower beds. It is a win – win.

While the Boston ferns have not been fertilized or bedded into the planters, they hang and are watered twice daily and their color maps to the remaining landscape. We work not to touch the leaves as they brown from hand oils and this season they really compliment the yard.

At any rate – the shrubs are growing exponentially this season and rose bush has quadrupled in size and the Boston ferns just complete the package. So nice!

Wood Pellets as Cat Litter

C O N T E N T S: KEY TOPICS Wood pellets in the cat’s litter box absorb all the moisture and turns into sawdust.(More…) Typical softwood raw materials used to manufacture wood pellets are Hemlock, White Pine, Spruce, and Fir.(More…) A warmer winter forecast, low crude oil, propane and heating oil prices, and ample distillate stocks will be pleasing to the average household this winter, but how…