Chicken feed as kitty litter
Betsy
allergies, I posted a question to some of these NGs about World's Best Cat
Litter. Many people advised me to use chicken feed, as the composition of
it is the same and it is much cheaper. I understand there has even been
someone on a popular TV show lately touting this as an alternative.
So, I've been researching, and I'm really glad I haven't bought any.
The first thing I discovered is that commercial chicken feeds (unmedicated)
contain animal protein and fat. God only knows the condition of said
animals when they were turned into feed. And with the current wave of FMD
and BSE problems, I'm NOT going to expose my cats to this!
In doing a web search I found a BBS that maintained that animal FECES were
incorporated into chicken feed. Whether or not this is true I haven't
verified.
But here's a link to the worst of it all:
http://www.purefood.org/Toxic/pathresist.cfm
Whether or not these bacteria are in unmedicated foods, I can't say, as the
article doesn't specify. But it worries me terribly, as I've been sick all
winter with recurrent sinus infections, and the doctors have yet to find an
antibiotic to cure me. The last thing I or my animals need is another
bacteria to fight.
So, caution is the word. Actually, mega-caution.
To those who have experimented with chicken feeds: what varieties are you
using? Did you read the label? Does it act like World's Best, i.e. clump?
Where did you buy it? What are the ingredients and the consistency, i.e.
pellets, mash, scratch, etc?
Thanks for listening, and TIA for any and all responses.
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oldmolly
disposed of as you can compost it.
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Betsy <batseein...@erols.com> wrote in message
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king...@ozemail.com.au
<batseein...@erols.com> took time out from the neverending quest to rid
the world of grues and wrote:
> In my efforts to find a truly dust free kitty litter because of my
> allergies, I posted a question to some of these NGs about World's Best Cat
> Litter. Many people advised me to use chicken feed, as the composition of
> it is the same and it is much cheaper. I understand there has even been
> someone on a popular TV show lately touting this as an alternative.
I have been using chook pellets for around 9 years now. I was put onto it by a
cat breeder. It is truly excellent.
> So, I've been researching, and I'm really glad I haven't bought any.
>
> The first thing I discovered is that commercial chicken feeds (unmedicated)
> contain animal protein and fat. God only knows the condition of said
> animals when they were turned into feed. And with the current wave of FMD
> and BSE problems, I'm NOT going to expose my cats to this!
You worry too much.
> In doing a web search I found a BBS that maintained that animal FECES were
> incorporated into chicken feed. Whether or not this is true I haven't
> verified.
A certain fast food with a big M in the name is shit, too. ;-)
> But here's a link to the worst of it all:
> http://www.purefood.org/Toxic/pathresist.cfm
Don't believe everything you read.
> To those who have experimented with chicken feeds: what varieties are you
> using? Did you read the label? Does it act like World's Best, i.e. clump?
> Where did you buy it? What are the ingredients and the consistency, i.e.
> pellets, mash, scratch, etc?
I just buy the 40kg bags from the local produce store.
Catchya
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~kingpin1
> The home of #The-Pit <
> Home of the Aussie Dropbear Page <
Betsy
badly as the clay dust.
I'm really interested in clumping litter, and the pellet type just doesn't
fit the bill. But thanks anyway.
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"Patch" <d.guipag...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:KuDC6.8395$cf5.7...@news6-win.server.ntlworld.com...
>
> "Betsy" <batseein...@erols.com> wrote in message
> news:9bcift$s7c$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
>
> > To those who have experimented with chicken feeds: what varieties are
you
> > using? Did you read the label? Does it act like World's Best, i.e.
> clump?
> > Where did you buy it? What are the ingredients and the consistency,
i.e.
> > pellets, mash, scratch, etc?
> >
> > Thanks for listening, and TIA for any and all responses.
> >
>
> In addition to the wood pellets suggested by Oldmolly [ I think one brand
is
> called Snowflake], perhaps you could try the recycled crushed paper
pellets,
> I think they are sold as Thomas Litter, but I`m not 100% on that as I
> haven't used it since I`ve been using sawdust [ no use to you with sinus
> problems, but having said that, I have many allergies and have had three
> nose ops, and the sawdust isn't a problem for me - I keep my face turned
> away when I put it in the trays, and it settles really fast].
>
> Patch
>
>
Patch
> To those who have experimented with chicken feeds: what varieties are you
> using? Did you read the label? Does it act like World's Best, i.e.
clump?
> Where did you buy it? What are the ingredients and the consistency, i.e.
> pellets, mash, scratch, etc?
>
> Thanks for listening, and TIA for any and all responses.
>
In addition to the wood pellets suggested by Oldmolly [ I think one brand is
J Wootton
How often do you change the litter? How many pets per litterbox?
J
J Wootton
haven't had chemical exposures (pesticide sprays etc)?
Just wondering...
Also, do your cats not miss the "sound"? My cats seem to take exception to any
product that doesn't give the "scratchey" sound and I've actually seen them
"hold it in" when a material is not to their liking. Not good, in the longer
run.
J
Patch
> Does sawdust clump? I don't think that its dust would affect me nearly as
> badly as the clay dust.
>
> I'm really interested in clumping litter, and the pellet type just doesn't
> fit the bill. But thanks anyway.
>
wet, soaks up odours then dries out again, as long as not left an overly
long time before changing. I get mine from a nearby wood mill at a cost of
95 pence for a sack that needs a very strong person to lift into the car -
the sacks I get need an estate sized car to fit. [ Its incredibly cost
effective for 13 cats ].
Patch
Patch
"J Wootton" <jwoo...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3ADB08A0...@home.com...
> Please explain what is so good about clumping vs other materials/methods.
The clumping grips to the materials and binds them, soaking up the smell and
means less wastage when removing solids. The cats seem to prefer it as they
dont have to be concerned about treading in some thing that is not
immediately obvious to the eye, by just having been covered over. [ Thats an
assumption on my part though ].
> How often do you change the litter?
As often as necessary. I dont have a set time of day, when there are solids,
I remove them, when the rest doesnt dry quickly, I do a complete change.
How many pets per litterbox?
!3 cats, [ plus a foster ], 4 trays. I used to have more available, but none
of mine are territorial about it, so I gradually cut down to 4 and that
works well. They have them in different parts of the house, so they just use
the one handiest to where they are at the time. [ hence the emptying rota
varies ].
Patch
Nancy Holmes or Nelson Ruffin
samples - totally non absorbent and it seems like little beads. I feel like
I have seen similar 'systems' available to pet owners with a tray with the
'beads' over a tray that catches the urine - you lose some beads with the
stool removal that then must be replaced.
Nancynews:9bf0lb$k1m$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
Hildy
>
> Please explain what is so good about clumping vs other materials/methods.
> How often do you change the litter? How many pets per litterbox?
> J
If you want to go organic, try rabbit food. I have friends who swear by it.
I used to have a problem with one of my cats having a litter box
aversion. She would rarely use it and when she did, she would try not to
get her feet in it. I found a checklist of things to try to handle this
and one was to try clumping litter. I never went back.
She always uses the box now.
Many cats seem to like the sandy texture. I currently have 3 cats and
two boxes. I scoop twice a day and can't flush due to a low flow toilet.
I used to scoop and flush every time I went into the bathroom. I
confess, I change the litter and clean the box about twice a year. It
doesn't need it more often. The litter dries out everything to the point
where if you scoop regularly, it does not smell. I add litter every few
days. It always looks fresh. I only clean out the pans because I think I
ought to - they really don't need it.
Hope that answers your Questions.
H
J Wootton
> J Wootton wrote:
> >
> > Please explain what is so good about clumping vs other materials/methods.
> > How often do you change the litter? How many pets per litterbox?
> > J
>
> If you want to go organic, try rabbit food. I have friends who swear by it.
Thanks. Food for thought (pun intended).
Contain protein..might be a problem (rodents and ants)
$4.79 for 10-lb bag.
I pay 6.99 (clay) for 20 kg bag which is 27? pounds.
> I used to have a problem with one of my cats having a litter box
> aversion. She would rarely use it and when she did, she would try not to
> get her feet in it. I found a checklist of things to try to handle this
> and one was to try clumping litter. I never went back.
> She always uses the box now.
>
> Many cats seem to like the sandy texture. I currently have 3 cats and
> two boxes. I scoop twice a day and can't flush due to a low flow toilet.
Can't flush the clumps? (that would be a problem here, lousy plumbing
vent/stack) or the poops?
If clumps, what do you do with them? A friend of mine, removes the clumps, put
them in a grocery bag, hung them on the door of the room where the litter was,
until the bag was full and/or garbage day, so the room still smelled, not to
mention messy. (albeit basement room, when walking by, it still smelled).
Another friend, dumps his used litter in a large garbage bag and when it's
full, takes it out to the garbage. His enclosed back porch area stinks and is
messy from filling spills.
> I used to scoop and flush every time I went into the bathroom. I
> confess, I change the litter and clean the box about twice a year. It
> doesn't need it more often.
That's a matter of opinion. Just because something looks or smells fresh,
doesn't remove the potential for transmissibility of parasites, FeLV and
perhaps other conditions, unless one has only one pet. JMO
> The litter dries out everything to the point
> where if you scoop regularly, it does not smell. I add litter every few
> days. It always looks fresh. I only clean out the pans because I think I
> ought to - they really don't need it.
>
> Hope that answers your Questions.
>
I use regular clay, scoop twice a day (unless there's a D problem). When I
scoop, I also "shuffle" the litter around (takes two extra arm movements).
That way the wet spots get disseminated with the dry and pulled up from the
bottom of the litter pan, giving the wet particles a better chance to dry out.
My (allergic) friends say that they wouldn't even know there's litter pans in
the house, the system works so well (if I'm here or explain the system to
someone who is filling in temporarily).
Litter change approximately 10 days or just before garbage day. Full clean of
litter boxes each time.
Also, in winter, if the stairs, sidewalk etc get slippery, since I've cleaned
out the litter, I sometimes reuse the "used" litter as an anti-slip material.
Also works great if one's car wheels are stuck (in snow) and are spinning. And
no, having used litter doesn't seem to attract other cats to spraying in the
same area. They are hanging around recently because the downstairs people have
a non-spay-neuter policy about their own cats.
Anyhow thanks for sharing. Maybe our exchanges will help lurkers decide what
would work best for them.
J
Sarah W
J Wootton <jwoo...@home.com> wrote in article
> I pay 6.99 (clay) for 20 kg bag which is 27? pounds.
1 kg = 2.2 lbs. So 20 kg = 44 lbs. (An even better deal!)
> If clumps, what do you do with them?
I buy good quality quart-size Zip-loc (or Glad) freezer bags and seal the
clumps and poop inside them, then deposit in the (plastic-bag lined) garage
trash can. It is important to get good quality bags (buying large packages
at Sam's Club helps reduce the cost) so that the smell is contained. The
garage trash can gets dumped about once or twice a month for most of the
year. About once a week in the hottest weather.
This system has worked well for me for years.
Good luck,
Sarah W.
Betsy
it clump <g>. Thanks!
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"Hildy" <hi...@eskimo.com> wrote in message
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oldmolly
have to change the wood pellets once a week. They are most economical and
there is absolutely no smell. I can flush it too.
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J Wootton <jwoo...@home.com> wrote in message
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High
powdery sawdust that was very unpleasant to deal with (my cats are vigorous
scratchers). They didn't work for us. We like the crystal cat litters, they
seem to have the best odor control for 3 cats..our cats are not fussy, they
will use anything.
"J Wootton" <jwoo...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3ADB0814...@home.com...
Elizabeth Blake
> Can't flush the clumps? (that would be a problem here, lousy plumbing
> vent/stack) or the poops?
> If clumps, what do you do with them? A friend of mine, removes the
clumps, put
> them in a grocery bag, hung them on the door of the room where the litter
was,
> until the bag was full and/or garbage day, so the room still smelled, not
to
> mention messy. (albeit basement room, when walking by, it still smelled).
> Another friend, dumps his used litter in a large garbage bag and when it's
> full, takes it out to the garbage. His enclosed back porch area stinks
and is
> messy from filling spills.
At my job, we have two cats. We can't flush anything down the toilet and
even though I used to put the poo & pee clumps into a plastic bag and toss
it in the trash, it still stunk the place up. I went to Toys R Us and
bought an inexpensive diaper disposal that uses standard size garbage bags,
not any special liners or bags. Now I still scoop the clumps into any small
plastic bag and then I put it in the diaper disposal. The boxes & disposal
are right outside my office door and the only time I smell anything is when
one of the cats has just used the box. Neither of them seem to ever cover
their poop well. I empty the diaper disposal about every ten days. It
would hold a lot more than what's contained inside when I empty it, but I
wouldn't be able to move the bag. Used clumping litter is heavy!
Liz
ka...@tuatha.sidhe.org
> Does sawdust clump? I don't think that its dust would affect me nearly as
> badly as the clay dust.
> I'm really interested in clumping litter, and the pellet type just doesn't
> fit the bill. But thanks anyway.
I don't know if it would work, but you could try alfalfa pellets. They
should work in a similar fashion to the paper and wood pellets. At one
point I was using a wheat based litter which I really liked. It was
expensive though and I can't find it locally where I am now, so I'm
currently useing granular paper based litter.
Karen
Hair Port
Patch
"Hair Port" <hair...@aol.com> wrote in message
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> is it expensive to use rabbit food?
>
> Hildy wrote:
>
buns food once :-)
Patch
Robyn
"Patch" <d.guipag...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
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Bryann
> allergies, I posted a question to some of these NGs about World's Best Cat
> Litter.
> Thanks for listening, and TIA for any and all responses.
>
Since nobody else has mentioned this, I thought it should be pointed out
that before there was kitty litter, we used other things. Most people used
garden dirt, which was conveniently recycled in the back yard and it had the
advantage of keeping most other cats away. We, however, used shredded up
newspapers.
It saves money on litter (if you get the paper) and it's as good as
recycling. We used to tear the paper into long, 2 inch wide strips and
scramble it up in the litter box. Our cats had no problem using it and
there was no dust. We changed the box on Sundays, because that's the only
paper we got. To clean out the box, we put on a pair of heavy rubber gloves
and scooped the paper into a plastic bag (we did have those.) It was easier
than using dirt and certainly would be easier than using litter, actually,
less mess. The only disadvantage (and why I use litter now) is the lack of
odor control with newspaper.
You may not like my newspaper idea, but I can't imagine using any kind of
food for litter either.
B. Bryann
.
kathleen richards
Robyn wrote:
>
> My aunt uses the large size alfalfa pellets, and they work great.
I'm not sure where you live, however here in Southern California we have
tried using both alfalfa and chicken feed (not mixed together!) as
bedding for reptiles. What we found was that both these things
attracted little grain eating beetles into our house. These beetles
were a real pain to get rid of and we no longer use either bedding, but
rather use either pine shavings or processed paper bedding. I am afraid
that isn't much help in your situation, but I thought I'd warn about the
bugs! Good luck!
Christina
The odor (of pine) was a bit strong, though. I have also used a product
made of ground corn cob. I think it was called "Cobby Cat." It was
excellent. No odor. Very absorbent. No dust with either product. I have
also used the shredded paper. Although it orked fairly well, I got tired of
shredding it. Best wishes to all.
-- Christina
"Bryann" <bry...@wi.rr.com> wrote in message
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Robyn
"kathleen richards" <ki...@tstonramp.com> wrote in message
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