The newest cat litter to hit the market is one that is based on silica. Silica is widely used as a simple drying agent. You’ve seen little sachets of this material in expensive electronic or photographic equipment. The cat’s litter box is laid with the silica litter just about an inch deep. That is sufficient to absorb all kitty’s waste and especially the foul odor from the litter box. There’s absolutely no smell anymore! Cleaning the litter is also so much easier as all the waste is as dry as a bone!
You need to use very little silica cat litter. For a single cat, you’ll need to lay out one inch of the litter in the box, and this will last for two to four weeks. This saves you the bother of refreshing the cat litter every few days and in some cases everyday. This particular silver lining does have its attendant cloud! The fear is that silica is harmful to your cat’s health and well-being.
Silica is rather like powdered glass. It can be quite rough on your pet’s paws. Not only the bruising it may cause, you should also be aware of the danger that your pet cat may swallow the silica when it cleans its paws. This can have extreme repercussions if taken in large quantities. Even in trace quantities, the silica is likely to accumulate in the cat’s intestines over a sufficient period, which is just as damaging to the cat’s health.
You’ll be surprised to know that the fact that you don’t have to refresh the litter everyday or every few days, is itself a source of alarm among some pet owners and experts. They say that keeping the litter in the box for so long will encourage bacterial and microbial growth which will lead to a number of illnesses for the cat as well as for the people in the house.
There is no doubt that silica cat litter is superior to the other cat litters available now. Its odor-killing quality alone is sufficient to make it the numero uno cat litter. The application cost is so very low, that even cost conscious pet owners have no reservations in using it. The daily chore of fishing around the litter box for the cat’s droppings is now, no, not pleasant but, simple and bearable. You are spared the sight (and obnoxious smell, phew!) of stomach-turning slimy stuff. You just pick out some ’stones’ from the litter and carry it off for disposal. Then the chore of refreshing the litter box has been erased from your daily task list. Once or twice a month is like… freedom!
On the minus side, the cost advantage is countered by the fact that the traditional clumping litter works out the same on a long term basis. The second point against silica cat litter is that clumping litter must be refreshed in a couple of days, which makes it healthier for the cat.
One mustn’t forget that silica can bruise your cat’s paws. If these concerns put you off of buying silica litter, you can buy the variety which comes mixed with ordinary litters. These are more acceptable to many than the purely silica variety.
Silica cat litter is actually a very good product suffering from some severe drawbacks. The mixed variety can be a bridge between all-silica and all-clumping. This way you get the benefits of both varieties of cat litters. The clumping prevents your cat’s paws from damage, and the silica litter prevents the foul odor from pervading the house!
Another viable solution, but also a more expensive one, is to purchase an automatic cat litter box. Go to www.CatLitterBoxesPlus.com to read about all your cat litter choices. You’ll discover why clumping cat litter remains the most popular choice on the market today.