Pets are a common sighting inside a household, and just like humans they have to dispose any of their waste. Kittens are naturally clean animals; however, they have a tendency to dispose of their waste anywhere they feel like it, though it is consistently done in a specific place. Taking that into consideration, you may want to use that consistency and train your cat to do it in one place. You may need flushable cat litter for that situation.
Over the years, cat owners have been buying cat litter multiple times. This does not last for a long time. The maximum time of usage of every fill of cat litter is a little bit over 30 days. After that you dispose of it.
However, the way it is disposed after your disposal does not sit well with cat owners who also loves the environment. They learned that most cat litters are being disposed of in landfills. Though this is waste, cat litter may not be friendly to the environment as it may contain components that are not biodegradable. As a result, they have been looking around in the market for more eco-friendly cat litter options.
Our Top 3 Flushable Cat Litter Recommendations
1. WORLD’S BEST CAT LITTER Original Unscented Cat Litter
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2. FUKUMARU Tofu Cat Litter
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3. Cat’s Pride Lightweight Clumping Cat Litter
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Pros and Cons
Surveys have been conducted and according to these, billions of cat litter is being dumped in landfills annually, especially the ones which are made out of clay. This is 15 times more than human diapers. In addition, such cat litters tends to swell and starts to cause odor once it starts to get soiled, though companies claim the contrary. Therefore, cat litters which dominate the market are heavy, bulky, starts to stink when soiled, and are bad for the environment. In this case, they opt for flushable cat litter.
Flushable litters have been good options for those who have cats because these are usually drained in the toilet. This means that they are not directly exposed to the environment. Therefore, it is being treated just like how human waste is being treated.
The difference between using a cat litter which is dumped in a landfill and flushed down the toilet is that when flushed down the toilet, the litter will be subjected to treatment. This usually removes any harmful components that the litter may have during production, particularly those which can degrade. As a result, the cat litter becomes biodegradable.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency, also known as U.S. EPA, approves flushing as it is generically less harmful when compared to shipping the bags to landfills and contaminating surface water. You might only contaminate sewer water. In hind sight, it might not contaminate anywhere else since again, it is still going to undergo treatment.
On the other hand, flushable litter still are qualms whether to use it or not, especially those who are very conscious about the environment. Though this is a viable option compared to when you directly destroy the environment.
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One issue that may contribute to their worries is how these can affect sea life, particularly the sea otters. Such concern stems from the presence of Toxoplasma gondii. These are microorganisms which thrives in the wastes of cats, though these are more likely to be present in the wastes of stray and feral cats, the possibility of growing in home cats are still high. In fact, studies have shown that this microorganism has resulted in death of sea otters due to brain damage. That is why some states still ban the use of flushable litters, and that is why most environmentally conscious individuals are having doubts about the product.
Though there are certain restrictions with regards to the location of your home. If you are in the urban, sub-urban, and rural areas, using flushing litter is alright. However, if you are near the coastal areas, you might want to avoid using these kinds of cat litters. Since you are near the coast, chances are you might directly dump these to the water’s surface, likely contaminating it. It does not pass through the treatment plants, so there is no chance of removing the possible contaminant substances. Thus, this makes them far from being biodegradable.
It should also be remembered that if cat litters were used in years that past, this would have been prohibited, though such banning has been lifted ever since. However, there are still states which ban flushing cat litter.
In this regard, some cat litter manufacturing companies have made an effort in producing technologically and environmentally sound cat litters. Most of these easily clumps, thus the innovation makes it easier for cleaning.
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Flushable cat litters are usually hypoallergenic. This means your cats will not have any allergic reaction to the cat litter which is used. This means, you do not have to spend more money in case your cat starts acting up.
Hypoallergenic cat litters are also very helpful in training and re-training cats. Since it is hypoallergenic, you do not have to worry about shocking your cats with allergens. In that case, you may want to avoid buying cat litter which is made out of silicon. That is why there are cat litter products which are made of natural substances such as wheat or whole kernel corn. Furthermore, these are biodegradable.
These products are also very quick to absorb the wastes. This makes it virtually odorless for humans. Even the wastes which got stuck at the bottom of the litter box cannot be smelled.
However, in order to train cats, these cat litter boxes should have a certain scent that humans cannot smell. This substance is called snellen. This makes litter boxes appealing to the cats since they now know where they should be disposing their waste. Considering that cats are very clean animals, they will do whatever it takes to do it where they usually dispose.
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They also made these products soft for cats and less messy for humans. With the help of these cat litters, even newly declawed kittens and cats are capable of using the litter box without causing any unnecessary harm to their bodies.
For humans, since it becomes less dusty, they also have less allergic reactions. Furthermore, cleaning time is reduced. This is very important, especially in today’s generation. With a lot of things that has to be done in a day, less cleaning time is a welcomed thought.
In that case, you do not have to worry about anything. Companies have been looking to move towards the direction of eco-friendly cat litters. As a result, they made the same features above as a standard. It has been up to the company what they would like to add in order to make themselves unique from their competition. This may be beneficial in actuality since you will have more options with regards to what the best cat litter is there.
On the other hand, some parts in the United States would prefer cat owners to throw the cat litter itself. Instead, their advise is to throw the waste instead; one piece at a time because this might result in a clog in the drainage system which may cause drastic consequences in the near future.
Your Turn
In the end, the decision to use flushable cat litter is still yours. You may have a lot of consideration though such as the state’s restrictions, the plumbing system that you have in your community, and the place where you live. However, as long as you follow these, you will be fine in using any type of flushable cat litter.