Eco-friendly Cat!

ashekitty

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Hey guys!
What do you do to make having a cat better for the planet? What products do you use? Extra points if it's not too expensive. :)
I was thinking recently about how much waste my cat creates and I want to try to reduce it. I'm trying to help the planet in every aspect of my life, and I hadn't even given much thought to my cat and the impact she has!
Thank you!
 
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katycat1190

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Personally, I use wood pellet litter.

Have a regular litter box so the used litter gets scooped and thrown away in biodegradable plastic bags.

Homemade cat treats - a small amount of steamed fish - which i store in reusable containers.

Recycled cat toys - just foil on a string dangling from hard wire (from old clothes hangers). Nothing fancy but katy loves it.

Stainless steel water bowls, ceramic plates.

Great discussion, definitely watching this thread for more ideas!
 

Purr-fect

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I want a solution to using platic bags to dispose of the boys dirt clumped kitty litter every day.

They are big cats and usually I have to throw out 3 to 4 lbs off used litter daily.

A regular sized biodegradable bag isnt big enough or strong enough.

I think a paper bag would be ok, but it would have to be roughly the size of a plastic bag that you get at the grocery store....but not a large bag.

I also need the bags to be reasonably priced.
 

Jem

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Other than litter waste, everything else that they produce gets recycled (food cans/bags) or reused (dishes, toys). I even have lids, made for canned food, so I don't use plastic wrap. When their food gets delivered (in a box) I leave the box out for them to play, hide in and scratch on, then when the next delivery comes, the used box gets put in recycling and the new one stays out. Having a new box every month does allow me to not have to buy cat scratchers or have to always buy new toys to keep them interested (although they do have plenty of toys to play with as well). What's the deal with boxes anyway? Even human children love boxes!:lol: I know I did.
When we need to replace our pillows, I use our old pillows in their carriers and throw out the old, old pillows. My cats also prefer sleeping in our home made cat beds (pillow and blanket lined baskets and boxes) over ones you buy. I think it also helps keep them more comfortable as it smells like us (even though we do wash them regularly) and keeps them feeling safe. Same with blankets and throws, when they get "used up" (stuffing gets balled up, or stains from spills don't wash out) they get re-purposed as cat linens. Two of my cats like to knead and dig (like, big time) and if I were to buy beds and blankets specifically for them, I would constantly be replacing them because they do get ripped up a bit. So this way, I don't waste on buying them new stuff that's going to get ruined and I don't just throw out a "relatively" good pillow/blanket.
One thing that is not really waste produced only from the cats, but I certainly have more of it because of them, is dryer lint. I keep all my dryer lint and use it as fire starter for when we go camping. It works so well!
I also keep old dish cloths and even T-shirts to re-use them a rags for cleaning up after them. I can get several cleanings out of a rag, before having to throw it out, instead of using paper towels all the time. Same with the dish scrubbing pad. Once it needs to be replaced, it gets used as the litter box scrubber, before getting thrown out.
So in my house, it's not so much that "cat waste/garbage" is less, but I re-use "human stuff" that will be thrown out and don't need to buy cat specific things that will get thrown out as well.
 
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ashekitty

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Thanks for the ideas! I will certainly use some of these.
I think the most important thing we can do is to spay and neuter our pets and ferals. We have so many homeless cats in shelters, and the more cats the more waste! Also it’s so sad seeing all of the cats in shelters that can’t get homes due to the abundance of animals. :(
 
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ashekitty

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I am not experimenting ... yet ... and may never (I am bug phobia!) ... but quite interested in this article for a while;

Got Cats? Get Worms! | AMNH
Wow that is a super interesting article! I wonder if other people do this too, or if it's jut too complicated for the average person to want to try.
 

CHIKITTIES

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Wow that is a super interesting article! I wonder if other people do this too, or if it's jut too complicated for the average person to want to try.
I see many people are doing no-warm version of composting (like this) , but his article was quite detailed and interesting.

I live in city high rise, so no plan in near future ... one day if I end up living with a house with backyard, maybe ;)
 

Cat Buddies

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I actually used tofu sand.. it's actually very good.. can't remember the brand..
 

jesmb

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We switched over to corn litter, we buy their food in bulk to cut down on wrappers/container waste, and we've stopped buying them toys/beds/anything we can make or recycle something for. You can also use a litter genie to cut down on the number of bags you go through scooping litter. We use compostable litter bags. Our litter box is also a big tote bin with a hole cut out of the lid - they're recyclable when we need to one day replace it.
A big thing we did that is cat related is we got a reusable lint roller (I use the Chom Chom and it's a godsend), and switched our cleaning supplies to natural products and rags. This significantly reduced our amount of garbage and in-home chemicals.
I've been going on my on eco journey and have found that if you try to be 100% perfect, you're going to be frustrated and feel guilty when you realize it isn't attainable. Pets are really hard to go totally green with. I also have medical needs that mean I can't be super green, either, because I rely on medications and mobility aids that are made with chemicals and plastics, in factories. I try to offset what I can't correct by choosing items from companies that have practices I agree with. Maybe find a pet brand that is local to your area (or even just your global quadrant) to offset shipping carbon emissions. Or a company that's Corp B Certified, or tires to offset their own carbon footprint! And if you can't, that's okay - try to do it in another area of your life.
 

GaryT

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Like others here, I use pine pellets for Theo's litter and I rinse and recycle the cans and even the plastic bags that the dry food comes in. Plus his dishes are ceramic or stainless steel. No plastic dishes for me.
 

EmersonandEvie

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I saw what was basically a mini septic tank for pet waste. You use some sort of biodegradable litter (corn, pine, etc.) and put the waste into this chamber and BAM, the bacteria break it down and it percolates into the soil. Pretty cool. I want one whenever we get to a house that we are staying in long-term. They are rather pricey upfront but I think it would be worth it.

We do not have recycling in our area ): which is very unfortunate as we go through a lot of cans. I used to make their food but they decided to start not wanting to eat it.
 

Tobermory

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I use clumping grass litter and scoop into brown paper lunch bags. And since I feed raw and their poop doesn’t smell much at all (and the grass litter absorbs whatever odors remain), I go through fewer bags because I don’t have to take them out to the trash bin as often.

At the sanctuary where I volunteer, we used to scoop litter boxes into plastic bags. But now, we scoop into the empty large animal feed bags. It’s a farm sanctuary so they go through a lot of feed for the horses, pigs, goats, etc. so it makes sense to reuse those empty feed bags. They were using wood pellets for the cats’ boxes, but unfortunately, they switched to clumping clay which has a negative impact on the environment.
 

katycat1190

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I use clumping grass litter and scoop into brown paper lunch bags. And since I feed raw and their poop doesn’t smell much at all (and the grass litter absorbs whatever odors remain), I go through fewer bags because I don’t have to take them out to the trash bin as often.

At the sanctuary where I volunteer, we used to scoop litter boxes into plastic bags. But now, we scoop into the empty large animal feed bags. It’s a farm sanctuary so they go through a lot of feed for the horses, pigs, goats, etc. so it makes sense to reuse those empty feed bags. They were using wood pellets for the cats’ boxes, but unfortunately, they switched to clumping clay which has a negative impact on the environment.
Brown lunch paper bags! that's brilliant - i'm going to steal that idea! :)
 

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Brown lunch paper bags! that's brilliant - i'm going to steal that idea! :)
Paper lunch bags wont work for greg and arnold. The bags are too small. Litter scoop wont fit in bag and I would fill 3 or 4 at a time (when litter is scopped at end of day).

I hate putting the plastic bags in the garbage.
 

Tobermory

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Paper lunch bags wont work for greg and arnold. The bags are too small. Litter scoop wont fit in bag and I would fill 3 or 4 at a time (when litter is scopped at end of day).

I hate putting the plastic bags in the garbage.
When my boy Max was alive, I couldn’t use the smaller size lunch bags because he had kidney problems. The clumps were huge and frequent, too much for the regular lunch bags. The large lunch bags worked, though. After he died, I was able to switch to the smaller bags even with three cats. You might try the large lunch bags. My local grocery store carries both.
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ashekitty

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I LOVE the lunch bag idea, especially since large lunch bags are available for multiple cat homes. Way less waste then what I've been doing. I am going to try it!
 
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