Week One: Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract and ökocat
Today Kitties Blue and I embark on a new series to appear on either Friday or Monday for the next several weeks.
If you have followed us for any length of time, you know that I am obsessed with finding just the right litter on which all the kitties, their dad, and I can agree. I know as a cat guardian this dusty, messy stuff is an evil necessity. And with eight kitties, many litter boxes are required as well. We have seven. They all prefer the same two.
Our current, primary litter is Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract. We have been using this for at least a couple of years. The kitties are happy with it, and I like that it is fairly low in dust. But when peed on it turns into cement and glues itself to the bottom of the litter box. If you have one or more kitties who like to pee in the corners, as we do, you need to call in the Incredible Hulk to scrape it out.
We currently are using four or five different litters. I honestly am having trouble keeping track. Just as some kitties are picky about what food they’ll eat, several of ours are just as picky about litter. Anytime I have the opportunity to try a new litter and review it, I do so.
Last year I spent quite a bit of time speaking to the representative from ökocat at the BlogPaws conference. I was impressed with the natural wood litter. When one of our affiliates, Propel Communications, gave us the opportunity to try it, I selected the ökocat Clumping Litter and the litter for Long-Haired Cats.
This post will cover the clumping litter. According to ökocat the benefits of their product are:
- Controls odors for 7 days
- Absorbs 500% of its weight in moisture
- Coniferous wood (pine) fights bacterial growth
- Free of harmful chemicals & synthetic scents
- Offers little to no airborne dust to bother allergies
The litter is biodegradable and flushable. Even when a litter claims to be flushable, I just won’t flush it. I know this would be better for our environment, but I am afraid of clogging the plumbing. The biodegradability appears to be true, as any damp litter tracked outside the box usually turned to mush on the floor. I found that our users seemed to throw less litter out of the box when covering, but did track more when leaving the box.
Misty May was the only cat to use the litter with any regularity. Calista Jo and Lily Olivia were occasional users. I would have loved for every kitty to find this litter to their liking as it is unscented, made from a natural product and did control odor quite well, but alas that was not the case. Regardless, if you are looking for a new litter, I recommend you give it a try. If you do, and decide to flush it, please let me know how that goes. If anyone is already using ökocat, I would be interested in hearing about your and your cat(s) experiences with it.
Book Winner
I am pleased to announce the winner of a copy of the book, The True Tails of Baker and Taylor by Jan Louch with Lisa Rogak: Congratulations to Wally, Ernie, Zoey and Mom Sue of The Island Cats. For those of you who didn’t win, I recommend this book as one you’ll want to read and add to your collection.
Thank You
Fiona asked me to convey her appreciation for all the kind and encouraging comments in reply to her post yesterday: Weight Up & Numbers Down. Fiona, as well as her dad and I, are so pleased with her progress. We know the purrs, prayers and POTP so many of you have sent us are part of the reason for her improvement. Please keep them coming. I really want our sweet girl to have many more years with us.
