What Type Of Wood Pellets Are Safe For Cat Litter? (ontario/canada)

[booyah]

Hi!
I've been seeing a lot of talk about using wood pellets/horse bedding as eco-friendly and economical cat litter. I am very keen on trying this method - however, all of the videos and posts I've seen seem to come from the US, where Tractor Supply Co. sells an "Equine pelletized bedding kiln dried" brand of horse pine pellets. The same store in Canada does not carry this particular brand (it carries others, and that is my question).

I am looking for recommendations on which brand/product available at Canadian stores would be safe to use with my 2 kitties? I know there are many, many wood pellet options out there at Walmart, Canadian Tire, Rona, etc. (for grills, stoves, and bedding), but I also heard not all of them are safe for cats (due to oils, additives, etc.) and I'm not sure which are equivalent to Equine ones in the USA.

Any tried and tested pellets you recommend?

P.S. Am I supposed to use hardwood or softwood? Stove pellets or only bedding ones? HELP please!

Thank you x a million!

 

[Columbine]

Hi, and welcome to TCS

I can't give specific band suggestions (I'm in the UK), but I am very familiar with horse bedding types, and have used pelleted straw bedding for years now - both for my pony and as litter for the resident barn cat (she sometimes gets locked in the secure tack barn, so we like to make sure she has somewhere appropriate to do her business).

I'd go for almost any brand of pelleted horse bedding, just so long it was plain wood/straw. The thing to be aware of is that some horse beddings are (I think chemically) treated to make them unpalatable to horses. That's definitely something to steer clear of, but any untreated bedding should be just fine. I think my first choice would be pine pellets, as pine is the most commonly used type of wood for cat litter

Hope this helps

ETA - I've just looked at the Canadian Tractor Supply site, and the McFeeters pellet bedding seems like the best choice.

 

[molly92]

Cedar bedding is commonly sold (in pet stores at least) but not recommended for small animals because of the toxicity of cedar oils, so I would avoid anything cedar for sure. Otherwise I'm not familiar with anything specific.

 

[Tobermory]

I volunteer at an animal sanctuary, and they use these pellets for the cats’ litter boxes. So if these are available to you, they should be safe.