Is corn cat litter really that dangerous? Looking for natural clumping cat litter uk

SpotTheCat

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I did start a thread yesterday on chicken feed as cat litter, someone mentioned that corn cat litter is bad, I looked it up and apparently it can be dangerous for cats, is it really that bad? I am struggling to find natural clumping cat litter that is not corn based in the UK, any recommendations?
 

Caspers Human

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Most commercially available clumping cat litters are made from Bentonite clay.

Bentonite is a form of clay that comes from volcanic ash, after it has aged, underground, for thousands of years. It is called "Bentonite" because one of the first major finds of the stuff was in Fort Benton, Wyoming.

Bentonite is used for many natural remedies, from skin or acne care to settling an upset stomach. People say it absorbs oil and debris from skin and it absorbs acids in the stomach. But don't go eating Bentonite just on my say-so! I'm just telling you what other people say.

All that said, Bentonite is a natural product...a product derived from something found in nature.

The thing that causes problems with many commercially available cat litters is not the Bentonite. It's all the other stuff that they put into it...artificial colors, artificial fragrance and chemicals to counteract the smell of cat excrement.

With that, I am wondering whether there is a brand of cat litter that's made from Bentonite but doesn't have all the other stuff it it.
If there is such a thing, that would be the thing I recommend.

Maybe you could find, plain Bentonite clay in granular form.
You might find it at your local garden center or some place like Home Depot, in the garden section. Bentonite is, sometimes, used in gardening and lawn care because it absorbs things and holds onto water.
 
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SpotTheCat

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Most commercially available clumping cat litters are made from Bentonite clay.

Bentonite is a form of clay that comes from volcanic ash, after it has aged, underground, for thousands of years. It is called "Bentonite" because one of the first major finds of the stuff was in Fort Benton, Wyoming.

Bentonite is used for many natural remedies, from skin or acne care to settling an upset stomach. People say it absorbs oil and debris from skin and it absorbs acids in the stomach. But don't go eating Bentonite just on my say-so! I'm just telling you what other people say.

All that said, Bentonite is a natural product...a product derived from something found in nature.

The thing that causes problems with many commercially available cat litters is not the Bentonite. It's all the other stuff that they put into it...artificial colors, artificial fragrance and chemicals to counteract the smell of cat excrement.

With that, I am wondering whether there is a brand of cat litter that's made from Bentonite but doesn't have all the other stuff it it.
If there is such a thing, that would be the thing I recommend.

Maybe you could find, plain Bentonite clay in granular form.
You might find it at your local garden center or some place like Home Depot, in the garden section. Bentonite is, sometimes, used in gardening and lawn care because it absorbs things and holds onto water.
By natural I meant biodegradable. Part of the reason why I am looking for none clay cat litter, is because the dust from the clay was affecting me a bit. Thank you! I will keep it in mind anyway, does it clump?
 

Caspers Human

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Dust? Yeah! I know what you mean! OY-vey!

I guess Bentonite isn't "degradeable," per se, because it, pretty much, is degraded as far as it can be.

The stuff can absorb up to fifteen times its weight in water. Yes, it does clump by itself but I'm sure that commercial cat litter also has some additives but I'm not entirely sure what they are.

Bentonite is the reason why they say you shouldn't flush cat litter down the toilet because it can easily clog your pipes and it's a real PITA to get out.

No, I'm not suggesting that you have to like Bentonite. I'm just saying what's in cat litter, how it works and suggesting things for you to use to make a decision.

For the dust? Wear a face mask. That's what I do when I need to.
You can probably find some cheapo, paper ones at the home center like they use in construction.

The disposable kind like we've all been wearing because of COVID might also work but, as always, do some test runs before you decide... YMMV. ;)
 

Caspers Human

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BTW... I looked up the ingredients of clumping cat litter.

Bentonite or Fuller's Earth are the two main ingredients. Bentonite is more prevalent because it absorbs more. Fuller's Earth is more common in non-clumping litter.

The second ingredient is guar gum. It's a thickening agent found in foods like pudding and pastry filling. It's made by grinding and drying the seeds from the guar plant, found in India and Pakistan. It is a normal ingredient in food and is generally recognized as safe unless you have allergies to it. (The guar plant is a legume. If you are allergic to legumes such as peanuts or soybeans you might be allergic to guar.)

If you have problems handling cat litter and if you know that you are allergic to peanuts, soybeans or other legumes, maybe, just MAYBE, it's the guar that's causing your problems. Most people wouldn't think of it because guar is so common but people with allergies, especially severe allergies, need to be extra careful.

Other ingredients might include sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) for neutralizing odor causing substances. Then there are the colors and fragrances which, personally, I could do without.

Any-who...there's your fun fact for the day! ;) ;) ;)
 
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SpotTheCat

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BTW... I looked up the ingredients of clumping cat litter.

Bentonite or Fuller's Earth are the two main ingredients. Bentonite is more prevalent because it absorbs more. Fuller's Earth is more common in non-clumping litter.

The second ingredient is guar gum. It's a thickening agent found in foods like pudding and pastry filling. It's made by grinding and drying the seeds from the guar plant, found in India and Pakistan. It is a normal ingredient in food and is generally recognized as safe unless you have allergies to it. (The guar plant is a legume. If you are allergic to legumes such as peanuts or soybeans you might be allergic to guar.)

If you have problems handling cat litter and if you know that you are allergic to peanuts, soybeans or other legumes, maybe, just MAYBE, it's the guar that's causing your problems. Most people wouldn't think of it because guar is so common but people with allergies, especially severe allergies, need to be extra careful.

Other ingredients might include sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) for neutralizing odor causing substances. Then there are the colors and fragrances which, personally, I could do without.

Any-who...there's your fun fact for the day! ;) ;) ;)
Thank you! I think its just the amount of fine dust that comes off it when I clean it
 

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what about something like Yesterdays News made from recycled paper and some use Pine horse bedding or ceder wood chips, that being said i used a corn and pine litter tidy cats naturals with my first cat and sh handled it fine however when i tried it this time it gave my Houdini a URI so you just have to see what will work for you and your kitty go to your local farm supply store assuming the UK area you live in has something like Tractor Supply Co. and see what they have or better yet talk to your vet.
 

verna davies

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If you have a Pets at Home near you have a look at their pine pellets, it doesn't clump but it turns to sawdust when wet so easily scooped, no dust at all. Zooplus have a good variety and some other UK sites.

16275372982028972266951295226800.jpg
 
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SpotTheCat

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V verna davies might have a UK / European suggestion on natural clumping litter. Have you looked at ZooPlus to see what is available?
I have had a quick look, I will go have a better one now! Thank you!
what about something like Yesterdays News made from recycled paper and some use Pine horse bedding or ceder wood chips, that being said i used a corn and pine litter tidy cats naturals with my first cat and sh handled it fine however when i tried it this time it gave my Houdini a URI so you just have to see what will work for you and your kitty go to your local farm supply store assuming the UK area you live in has something like Tractor Supply Co. and see what they have or better yet talk to your vet.
Thank you! I tried paper litter with my rabbits and it smelled horrible, I have tried pine pellets and the cats hated it. We have things a bit like the Tractor supply but they seem to have fewer options
If you have a Pets at Home near you have a look at their pine pellets, it doesn't clump but it turns to sawdust when wet so easily scooped, no dust at all. Zooplus have a good variety and some other UK sites.

View attachment 389708
Thank you!
Unfortunately my cats decided that they will not use it, they like more sandy soft stuff
 
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SpotTheCat

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I am looking at Cats best original and Greenwoods plant fibre clumping. I can’t work out whats in the greenwood one, seem like its wood?
 

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SpotTheCat SpotTheCat I just had a look on Amazon UK and there are quite a lot of soy based cat litters on there. I've been using soy based litter for years. It's the cheapest kind over here, lasts for ages and is 100% biodegradable. As it's made from a food byproduct it can be composted too.

Maybe something like that would work for you?
 
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SpotTheCat

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SpotTheCat SpotTheCat I just had a look on Amazon UK and there are quite a lot of soy based cat litters on there. I've been using soy based litter for years. It's the cheapest kind over here, lasts for ages and is 100% biodegradable. As it's made from a food byproduct it can be composted too.

Maybe something like that would work for you?
Thank you! I will have a look
 

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Hello there, I'm jumping here as around 10 days ago we changed the litter of our cat, from the standard one to a corn litter. He is using it and everything seems ok. But i'm anxious now at learning of the dangers of corn litters, I've just read about potentially lethal fungi produced there and thus I'll go back to the standard one today.

Is there any safe biodegradable/flushable litter out there?
 

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You have plenty of options for natural cat litter: wood pellets, sawdust, sand, straw... If you're into DIY, you can use paper: tear up sheets of paper, then immerse them in soapy water. Once the mixture look like mush, drain it and soak it in a mixture of water and baking soda. Finally, remove the excess water and form small balls of paper that you place in your cat's litter box. It's very economical and it works quite well.
 

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Let me just add to this thread that my gf has just called Almonature, a well known pets-product manufacturers here in Italy and I guess EU, to ask about their 100% biodegradable cat litter and corn related fungi.

The office was well aware of the aflatoxines dangers as well as related regulations. It seems that by law, in EU, every pet product containing wheat/corn has to pass specific controls against aflatoxines and other potentially dangerous fungi. So these litters have been threated with specific fungicide products.

By the way, Almonature produces a Manioca-based sandy litter, and it seems Manioca has no correlations with the corn/wheat fungis. So at this point I'd stick with the corn one given the EU regulations, or I'll switch to the manioca one.

I also believe I will begin with WC training of the cat soon. In order to avoid the litter at all. My cat is just 4 months so should be easier to train I believe?

Don't want to go off topic, I hope these info can add something to thread
 
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SpotTheCat

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Let me just add to this thread that my gf has just called Almonature, a well known pets-product manufacturers here in Italy and I guess EU, to ask about their 100% biodegradable cat litter and corn related fungi.

The office was well aware of the aflatoxines dangers as well as related regulations. It seems that by law, in EU, every pet product containing wheat/corn has to pass specific controls against aflatoxines and other potentially dangerous fungi. So these litters have been threated with specific fungicide products.

By the way, Almonature produces a Manioca-based sandy litter, and it seems Manioca has no correlations with the corn/wheat fungis. So at this point I'd stick with the corn one given the EU regulations, or I'll switch to the manioca one.

I also believe I will begin with WC training of the cat soon. In order to avoid the litter at all. My cat is just 4 months so should be easier to train I believe?

Don't want to go off topic, I hope these info can add something to thread
Thank you! That is helpful
 
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