The Anti-Shopping List: Kitty Litter

When it happens, running out of kitty litter is a terrible emergency. Keeping fresh litter keeps your cat healthy and your home smelling nice. If you find you are unable to purchase litter, don't panic. There are plenty of alternatives which can be even better than the commercial versions.

Many commercial kitty litters contain clay that is strip-mined and fragrances that are unhealthy for cats. When you make your own litter you are protecting the environment and your pet.

Nature Calls

Think about it; your cat will do its thing whether you pay for litter or not. Why not just let your cat outside? In cities people walk their dogs, and harnesses are also available for cats.

A litter box may not be necessary at all if you have a cat door. Without one, a cat must wait patiently for the aid of a tall creature with opposable thumbs, who may not always be there. The problem with a cat door is that it might be used by other cats or other creatures like raccoons, opossums and skunks. When my mother had one of these doors in use, her cats would bring home their kill to share with an unappreciative human family.

Newspaper

In animal shelters the usual litter is just to line a cage with newspaper. When you run out of litter you should put paper in the box's usual spot to increase chances that your cat will understand what it is meant to be used for. The most absorbent is black and white rather than colored circulars.

In a home, however, a cat generally has free-range, and with the most simple newspaper technique their paws can become ink stamps all over your carpets. There are some recipes available online for labor-intensive kitty litter that can be made with shredded newspaper. The ink is washed off; then the paper is sprinkled with baking soda and left to dry on screens. Break it into pieces small enough to work with your scooper.

Chicken Scratch

The most appealing alternative to me does not require a paper shredder and involves a lot less work. Instead of buying litter, buy chicken scratch. This is just cracked corn that is sold as a treat for chickens. Find the kind that has a high proportion of ground corn and bird seed so it will clump easily. Chicken scratch is usually less than $10 for a 50 lb bag. To manage odor you can mix in some baking soda and cedar shavings.

Potty-Training

Some people choose to avoid kitty litter all together by toilet-training their cats. This does not appeal to me because we only have one toilet for humans and cats alike. The process of training your cat to use the potty involves gradually bringing the litter box closer to the toilet, then setting up the toilet to hold gradually less (flushable) litter until your cat is finally comfortable doing its business in water. It is also possible to teach your cat to flush, but they will probably like doing it for fun and might even dry up your well.

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And now we come full circle, from commercial kitty litters to making your own, back to commercial again. Keep your eyes open for less expensive natural options. As we do more for ourselves, products must improve to attract buyers. The important thing to remember is that as our dependency on a product increases again, quality gradually decreases as low as we can tolerate. When this happens I hope we'll not forget the chicken scratch.