Crystal Litter?

duckdodgers

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Does anyone use crystal cat litter?  I'm considering trying it out, but thought I'd see what people thought about it first.  If you would rather skip to the relevant questions and not read my story about litter, then go ahead and skip the next paragraph :p

My problems with litter:  We have been using fresh step for years, but ever since I've been living with two cats in a small apartment I've noticed just how dusty it is.  Not so much with light-colored Alafair, but with dark colored Stella the dust covering her upon leaving the litter box is fairly extreme.  I also don't like the processes associated with acquiring clay litter, so I switched to arm & hammer natural litter.  I like how much lighter it is, and the smell didn't initially bother me or the cats.  When used alone it does not clump very well though, and I've gotten to the point where I've begun to associate the smell with cat pee/poop.  It's gross to say, but I'm not even sure if it's the scent of the litter that I can smell though my living space or if it is the smell of cat waste overpowering the litter.  I'm back where I was, using half and half a&h and fresh step.  Oh, and it seems to be tracked everywhere.  It isn't so much of an issue with my covered box, but it is difficult to keep up with vacuuming the litter out of the carpet by my laundry room!

This brings me to crystal litter.  From what I have gathered it is great with odor control.  The large particle sizes make it low tracking.  It isn't clay.  Clumping is not an issue.  From a practical standpoint is seems like an ideal solution.

My questions though- how does it work?  Am I correct in my assumption that the crystals absorb the urine and you only have to scoop the poop, and replace the litter after a certain period of time?  What brand do/did you use, and how do various brands compare?  How long with one batch of litter (assuming two litterboxes and two cats) last?  Long enough to make it worth spending the extra money to replace it less often than regular clumping litter?  Is it really low tracking?  How easily did your cats make the transition?  My girls have never had any litterbox issues and don't seem to mind sudden litter changes, but I don't want too drastic of a change to upset them.  Would this litter be suitable for a covered box in a bathroom, or would moisture from the shower mess the process up?  Finally, does anyone know about the environmental impact?  I liked that a&h was made of natural corn fibers, and I do not like the processes associated with clay litter.  I've read numerous things saying that it's a naturally occuring substance with a relatively low environmental impact, but a few saying otherwise.  What do y'all think? 
 

mani

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It's been proven that silica (the main component of crystal litter) is a carcinogen.  I've looked into it quite a bit, but the jury seems to be out on whether this particular form of silica is a problem through respiration, or whether it would need to be ingested.

In terms of the environment.. it's made from sand, and sand-mining can be an issue. Disposing is, of course, an issue if it's tied up in a plastic bag as it so often is.  Loose, it's ok, but you wouldn't add it to the compost.

If I have to go away and have someone living in to look after the cats, I use crystal litter as it is significantly less smelly and lasts so long. So the cats are less likely to get upset if, for any reason, their litter isn't cleaned quite to their liking! It's just a matter of removing the poo, and stirring up the litter so it doesn't settle on the bottom (then it does smell). 

I'll be interested to hear what others say.
 
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duckdodgers

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It's been proven that silica (the main component of crystal litter) is a carcinogen.  I've looked into it quite a bit, but the jury seems to be out on whether this particular form of silica is a problem through respiration, or whether it would need to be ingested.

In terms of the environment.. it's made from sand, and sand-mining can be an issue. Disposing is, of course, an issue if it's tied up in a plastic bag as it so often is.  Loose, it's ok, but you wouldn't add it to the compost.

If I have to go away and have someone living in to look after the cats, I use crystal litter as it is significantly less smelly and lasts so long. So the cats are less likely to get upset if, for any reason, their litter isn't cleaned quite to their liking! It's just a matter of removing the poo, and stirring up the litter so it doesn't settle on the bottom (then it does smell). 

I'll be interested to hear what others say.
Do you have any links to back up the carcinogenic aspects?  Not trying to challenge you, but just want to look into it myself!
 

mani

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I'm glad you asked as it's made me go back and have another good look!

Here's a link to a very dry report on silica itself:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21923565

In the past I'd just researched silica rather than the type of silica.  I believe that cat litter is made from amorphous silica which, according to what looks like a very valid post on Wiki, is not a problem:

Silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive and stable with ordinary usage. It will react with hydrogen fluoride, fluorine, oxygen difluoride, chlorine trifluoride, strong acids, strong bases, and oxidizers.Silica gel is irritating to the respiratory tract and may cause irritation of the digestive tract, and dust from the beads may cause irritation to the skin and eyes, so precautions should be taken. Crystalline silica dust can cause silicosis but synthetic amorphous silica gel is indurated, and so does not cause silicosis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica_gel

We know that there are issues with other litters.. clumping ones have sodium bentonite which is a carcinogen... and we don't want litters that stick to the fur and can be ingested, which shouldn't be a case with the crystals. The WHO did a study on it as a part of food additive research, which covers many forms of silica, but not amphorous.. still it may be relevent:

http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v46aje60

I'm still not sure.. gut feeling says that it feels really synthetic and so is not so good for the environment, but I can't find a lot to back that up! 

I'd be interested in what you feel after you've had a look.
 

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My kitty has a habit of standing up before the urine stream ends. This means that urine lands outside the litter box. To combat this, I put the litter box inside a Rubbermaid container with a door cutout. I put crystal litter outside the litter box but inside the Rubbermaid.

So I can't tell you a whole lot about crystal litter since I don't use it in the regular sense, but I can say that it does absorb more. Don't go with Fresh Step. I found their crystal litter to be less absorbent than the previous brand I was buying (which is no longer available). I wound up getting the Exquisicat brand from Petsmart. It seems to do the job.
 
 
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duckdodgers

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Thanks for the sources!  Most of the stuff that I have found indicated that the harmful nature of the gel really depends on the type.  I guess that's the case with everything these days though, sadly.  I was also really hesitant to consider it because it seems so very unnatural, but most things that I have read indicate otherwise.  Whether it is or not, it still just seems so unnatural.  I guess I'm going to have to compromise somewhere though, as my "ideal litter" doesn't seem to exist!
My kitty has a habit of standing up before the urine stream ends. This means that urine lands outside the litter box. To combat this, I put the litter box inside a Rubbermaid container with a door cutout. I put crystal litter outside the litter box but inside the Rubbermaid.

So I can't tell you a whole lot about crystal litter since I don't use it in the regular sense, but I can say that it does absorb more. Don't go with Fresh Step. I found their crystal litter to be less absorbent than the previous brand I was buying (which is no longer available). I wound up getting the Exquisicat brand from Petsmart. It seems to do the job.
 
Thankfully mine are great about getting everything in the box all the time.  On a few occasions Stella has stepped in her poop and tracked it out, but that's it.  Thanks for the brand recommendation, I've been wondering what to go with if I do make the switch.  How large are the crystals?
 

raintyger

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Thanks for the sources!  Most of the stuff that I have found indicated that the harmful nature of the gel really depends on the type.  I guess that's the case with everything these days though, sadly.  I was also really hesitant to consider it because it seems so very unnatural, but most things that I have read indicate otherwise.  Whether it is or not, it still just seems so unnatural.  I guess I'm going to have to compromise somewhere though, as my "ideal litter" doesn't seem to exist!

Thankfully mine are great about getting everything in the box all the time.  On a few occasions Stella has stepped in her poop and tracked it out, but that's it.  Thanks for the brand recommendation, I've been wondering what to go with if I do make the switch.  How large are the crystals?
Actually, the urine landing outside the box has turned out to be a blessing in disguise after all these years. My kitty developed a struvite stone last year. I have urine pH strips ready and whenever I hear her using the box I wait until she's done. Then I see if some of the urine went outside. Some of it usually lands on the litter box ledge, so I can test the pH using the few drops that landed there.

The Exquisicat crystals vary in size, I'd say the biggest is about the size of a Northern White Bean. It is in a see-through container, though, so you can go to Petsmart and see the crystals yourself. I did notice, however, that the crystals are jaggy like rocks. My kitty doesn't have to stand on the litter, so this has never occurred to me as an issue, but if you're going to use it like regular litter, maybe a smoother shape would be better.
 

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I currently have a box of silica litter going.  No particular reason other than I like to try everything at least once.  Call it a personality quirk, I guess.  

I definitely think it's lower dust than clay litter, but there's still some dust pouring it in.  Actually, when I'm pouring it, I get a rock taste in my mouth from the dust.  After that, it's not really an issue, though.  As for the cats, they seemed immediately interested in it and lined up to give it a try.  It's certainly low odour as well.  It probably is a good solution for small spaces. I've really grown to hate the smell of clay litter.  Even clean litter is stinky to me, so the odourlessness of silica litter is a definite plus.  I haven't had to dump out the box yet, so no word on how long it lasts.  It's been 2 weeks, I think.  No smell yet.  

As for environmentally friendly... it probably isn't, but whether it's better or worse than clay is a worthwhile question to which I don't know the answer.  
 

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I like it OK, the biggest thing is not to use it in a humid area, like a bathroom or damp basement. It absorbs the moisture and gets nasty. Otherwise it works nicely.
 
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duckdodgers

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I was disappointed to go to petsmart to find that they didn't have the crystal litter I was looking for.  I then went to Petco and they didn't have it, but the couple of varieties they did have were all about $5 more expensive.  Their own petco brand crystal litter was ridiculously expensive comparatively.
 
 

mani

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I was disappointed to go to petsmart to find that they didn't have the crystal litter I was looking for.  I then went to Petco and they didn't have it, but the couple of varieties they did have were all about $5 more expensive.  Their own petco brand crystal litter was ridiculously expensive comparatively.
 
Yes, it's definitely the most expensive litter, but it does last for ages.

It's probably even more expensive over here in Australia.. everything else seems to be
 
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duckdodgers

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Yes, it's definitely the most expensive litter, but it does last for ages.

It's probably even more expensive over here in Australia.. everything else seems to be
I realize that it's going to be more expensive, but I find it strange that the Petco brand is so much more expensive than the non-petco brands.  Their brand was $23, vs the Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat for longhaired cats.  Even that was several dollars more expensive than what it was at Petsmart. 
 

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I realize that it's going to be more expensive, but I find it strange that the Petco brand is so much more expensive than the non-petco brands.  Their brand was $23, vs the Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat for longhaired cats.  Even that was several dollars more expensive than what it was at Petsmart. 
Yikes! I don't remember the crystal litter I get being that expensive. Of course, I don't know what size package you're looking at, either. I have a jug-shaped container, 8 lbs that it advertises is the rough equivalent of 15 lbs of clumping. I think I paid somewhere around $15 for it.
 

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Yikes! I don't remember the crystal litter I get being that expensive. Of course, I don't know what size package you're looking at, either. I have a jug-shaped container, 8 lbs that it advertises is the rough equivalent of 15 lbs of clumping. I think I paid somewhere around $15 for it.
The very, very cheapest I can get (and that requires a lot of searching) is $10 for 1.6kilos (3.5lbs).  The US/Aussie dollar is about the same.
 
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duckdodgers

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Yikes! I don't remember the crystal litter I get being that expensive. Of course, I don't know what size package you're looking at, either. I have a jug-shaped container, 8 lbs that it advertises is the rough equivalent of 15 lbs of clumping. I think I paid somewhere around $15 for it.
The very, very cheapest I can get (and that requires a lot of searching) is $10 for 1.6kilos (3.5lbs).  The US/Aussie dollar is about the same.
Yikes! I don't remember the crystal litter I get being that expensive. Of course, I don't know what size package you're looking at, either. I have a jug-shaped container, 8 lbs that it advertises is the rough equivalent of 15 lbs of clumping. I think I paid somewhere around $15 for it.
We are talking about an 8 pound pail. the $15 sounds about on par with the other stuff they had at petco. 
The very, very cheapest I can get (and that requires a lot of searching) is $10 for 1.6kilos (3.5lbs).  The US/Aussie dollar is about the same.
I found this on walmart's website:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mimi-Litter-Cat-Litter-4-lb-Cats/12018928

I might go and check it out tomorrow.  What do you think?  Two bags would be equivalent to the 8 pound pails, but for less than $10...
 
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duckdodgers

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Yup, I looked at both of our walmarts today and found nothing.  I guess I'll just stick with what I'm using for now.
 
 

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Don't use the Walmart Mimi litter. Yes it is about half the price of other crytal litter but it only lasts half as long at best and is by far the dustiest crytal litter out there. It is the only crytal litter where I have seen a dust cloud rise while my cat was scratching around the litter as cats do. So it really isn't the bargain it seems to be at first. Personally I think the best crytal litter is the ultra pearl. Get the large round pearls. These last longer by far since the size and shape allows air to circulate thru the litter. There is much less dust since cats only like to dig in fine particle litter - they tend not to dig with the large size pearls. I am not convinced silica gel is 100% safe. However the only downside is dust and if you can minimize that then no other litter performs as well.
 
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duckdodgers

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Don't use the Walmart Mimi litter. Yes it is about half the price of other crytal litter but it only lasts half as long at best and is by far the dustiest crytal litter out there. It is the only crytal litter where I have seen a dust cloud rise while my cat was scratching around the litter as cats do. So it really isn't the bargain it seems to be at first. Personally I think the best crytal litter is the ultra pearl. Get the large round pearls. These last longer by far since the size and shape allows air to circulate thru the litter. There is much less dust since cats only like to dig in fine particle litter - they tend not to dig with the large size pearls. I am not convinced silica gel is 100% safe. However the only downside is dust and if you can minimize that then no other litter performs as well.
I guess I should update- I did eventually find the exquisicat at Petsmart and I liked it!  There was almost no dust to speak of, and it performed like it was supposed to.  Stella's litterbox is in my bathroom so I stuck with what I was using, but I poured it in Alafair's and she took right to it with no issues.  Stella stopped using that litter box, and has been exclusively using her own.  That doesn't bother me.  The litter lasted about a month, then I decided to change it because I would be living here for another few weeks, and didn't want it to be unchanged for that long. 

I had noticed that Kroger's Pet Pride brand has their own crystal cat litter so I bought a couple of bags to try.  If I remember correctly the bag said that one bag should last one cat two months, so since I was only spending another 3-4 weeks here I decided to just use half of the bag.  Either that was a mistake, or the kroger brand litter is not as good.  Yesterday I had to dump the whole thing and all of the smaller pieces (not dust by any means, but apparently the pieces broke up) were pee filled sitting at the bottom.  Yes, I did "stir" the litter regularly like it said.  I put the remaining half of the bag in, but it's less than two weeks until I'll have to dump it again. 

I don't know if my poor results Kroger's brand is because I only used half of the bag (it was still filled a few inches) or because the brand isn't as good.  I have another bag of it that I will use when I get to my new home, so I'll put the whole thing in and see how long it lasts.  The place we're moving doesn't have a Kroger so it doesn't really matter to me, but I figure i'll update in case anyone is interested.  I'll probably go back and use the exquisicat again either way, but we'll see. 

Zoneout, I'm not convinced that any of the litter available (or cat products in general) is 100% safe, but you have to choose something.  Where do you buy the Ultra Pearl?  I have not seen it at any of the places that I've looked, though I haven't been watching for this particular brand.
 
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