Review: Feline Pine Litter and Litter Box

Feline Pine is a cat litter made of compressed pine sawdust. The pellets expand and disintegrate back into sawdust when they get wet. The special litter box is designed so the sawdust drops into a collection pan, leaving dry pellets in the top pan. It's not a perfect system, but if your cat will use the litter, it solves many litter box problems.

NOTE: Some cats will refuse to use coarse-textured pellet litters. The Feline Pine website has instructions for making a gradual change from clay litters, but the cat might not accept the litter.

Good Points for Feline Pine Litter
* There is absolutely no cat-urine or ammonia odor even from the urine-soaked sawdust.
* The litter smells faintly like pine sawdust, with no added cover-up scent.
* Taking into account how long the litter lasts, it's one of the cheapest on the market. One cat will use about 2 pounds of litter a week, with one more pound of litter for each additional cat. Local pet stores sell 40 pounds for about $15.
* There is very little dust when you add litter or clean the box.
* It's biodegradable. The used litter can be composted, used as mulch, or discarded in the trash.
* The pellets are made from scraps of pine, which reduces mill waste.

Bad Points for Feline Pine Litter:
* It doesn't neutralize the stench of fresh cat poop very well unless the cat buries the poop.
* You need a special litter scoop with holes large enough to let the pellets through, or you need to clip the mesh on a regular scoop to enlarge the holes a bit.
* The pellets can be scattered several feet from the pan by an enthusiastically digging cat.
* The pellets are painful to step on when your cat scatters them on the floor.

If you use Feline Pine in an ordinary litter box, leave room for the pellets to expand. An inch of pellets is enough for most cats.

The Feline Pine Self-Cleaning Litter Box:

It's promoted as a "self-cleaning" litter box. I regret to inform the advertising agency, but the box does not clean itself. I've had the box for more than two months and it has never cleaned itself. However, it does have some features that make cleaning the litter box easier for me.

* This revolutionary litter box uses an elevated insert with holes specifically sized to remove the used sawdust into the holding box below. As the cat digs, or as the owner scoops out the cat poop, sawdust from wet pellets will sift through the holes. Then the owner lifts off the top pan and dumps the sawdust as needed.

* The litter box never has to be changed again. New pellets are added to the top, and the sawdust is emptied from the lower box when full. Uh ... I'd like the ad agency to meet my cats. Small bits of cat poop accumulate in the pan and you will have to dump the remaining pellets, scrub and refill the pan. However, cleaning and refilling is not needed every week, like with clay litter.

The box is available only from www.felinepinelitterbox.com, not in retail stores. The price is $19.99 plus $10 for shipping and handling. It's not a cheap litter box, but when combined with the Feline Pine litter, it's worth it.

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Manufacturer: Nature's Earth Products, Inc., 2200 N Florida Mango Road, West Palm Beach, Florida 33409