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Posts Tagged ‘cat’

There are a number of products on the shelves which cater to the pet cat population. One very popular product is the ‘cat litter’ product, or simply cat litter. It is a material that is placed inside a litter box to catch the pet cat’s droppings. The material prevents the box from getting soiled by absorbing the urine and trapping the solid dropping. The cat litter is very similar to ordinary dirt, to take advantage of the cat’s natural predilection to cover up its droppings. The cat owner removes and refreshes the cat litter from the box every day. The used litter is disposed off in the garbage. There is just one problem – as long as the box is inside the house, there is a terrible stench that pervades the house! The odor goes only when the cat litter goes. This is a serious sore point with cat owners. Now a very enterprising producer has come up with a novel idea – pine cat litter! His litter is made up of pine pellets. The natural odor of pine masks the smell of the cat’s droppings remarkably well.

The price you pay is in cash. The shelf price is twice that of the usual clumping type. That is enough to put off most cat owners. However, the effective cost of the pine pellet cat litter is hardly more than that of ordinary cat litter! The volume of the pine pellets increases on wetting, so you need only use half the usual quantity of cat litter. So that brings the cost per use of the pine cat litter on par with that of the ordinary cat litter.

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.

But “show me a problem, and I’ll show you a solution” seems to be in my blood! My suggestion is to replace a handful of your usual cat litter with a handful of pine cat litter. Watch your cat’s reaction. If he shows reluctance than continue with a handful of pine cat litter. If he appears to be getting used to it, increase the portion of pine cat litter from one handful to two handfuls, simultaneously reducing the portion of ordinary litter by a similar amount. Continue at this level, till your cat gets used to it and uses the box without a fuss. Now up the portion of pine cat litter. Do this until the whole cat litter is 100% pine cat litter. Of course, if Tabby is not persuaded to convert to pine, then you’ll just have to put up with the odor of the mess, that’s all!

If you do want to use pine cat litter there is another way. Some owners use 90% pine cat litter to lay the box. The top 10% is filled up with ordinary clumping litter. Faced with his favorite litter, your cat has no objection now. And you, of course, are rid of that smell!

But what works for us appears to go against Tabby’s disposition. Cats show a degree of discomfort to the smell of pine. So there are many instances of cats refusing to use the litter box when it is filled with pine pellets. Your cat can’t stand the odor of pine, you can’t stand the odor of cat’s mess! Any guesses who’ll win the stand off? Oh well, we humans pride ourselves on being understanding! In case you’re wondering, the pine pellets are completely detoxified and are absolutely harmless to cats.

An added advantage is that pine cat litter can be composted. Just remove the cat’s poop from the litter and that’s it! So the pine cat litter wins brownie points for eco-friendliness to boot! You can distribute the compost in your backyard garden, or to your friends.

The ball really is in your cat’s court… depending on whether it likes the pine litter or not! If it does, then you’re looking at a home that’s free from that very distinct odor, that too at negligible cost. If not, then you’d better get a nose mask while you replenish the litter box with the litter that Mr.Tibbs favors!