Anyone use Fresh n' Easy Litter

October

Hi,

Has anyone tried Fresh 'n' Easy cat litter - it is the granuals/silicate.

I started using it but I was mixing it with the old cat litter for a couple of weeks. This past week is the first time I've been using the granuals by themselves.

The packaging says it lasts for one month. I've noticed most of it has turned yellow from the urine but it doesn't smell, at least I don't think so and the cats are using it as normal. I topped the trays up with fresh granuals yesterday.

Would love to hear if anyone has tried it and have you really left it for a month before changing it?

Thanks

Adventure Pout

I did try it and I did not like it at all..My cat did not like it either, as it hurts his paws..
I went back to use Simplicity and it does a great job. I changed the litter only every 2weeks or so.

TskTsk

October wrote: »

Has anyone tried Fresh 'n' Easy cat litter - it is the granuals/silicate.

I thought it was pretty useless. It absorbed the urine, but then just turned to yellow dust that was impossible to remove from the litter box, which meant having to replace the whole lot regularly.

'Classy Cat' clumping litter is the best I've come across so far. It's not very dusty at all, it allows urine to clump perfectly, and it smells of talcum powder.

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/cats/cat_litter/classy_cat/127204

October

Thanks for the replies. Think I will stop using it after I've finished what I have. I think it is starting to smell now though, I walked into the room a few minutes ago and I could immediately smell the litter trays.

I used to use Thomas cat litter but Tescos don't stock it anymore.

Could I ask you both - how many cats and trays do you have and how often do you change the litter. I've never used clumping litter before, I could give that a try.

Thanks again

cotton

I used a similar product before, track-less litter pearls. It's meant to turn yellow, that means it's working. There was no tracking from it & it was really easy to scoop. It was 3 weeks before it started to smell, but then overnight, it reeked.
I had 10 cats at the time & 10 trays, so not scrubbing them every week was a massive deal but it was very very very expensive at that amount.
If it was cheaper, I'd buy it again.
Clumping litter is great (not to be used around kittens) & Classy Cat is probably the best one out there. Pura clumping litter turns to mud, & unless you've got a chisel handy, you'll end up throwing out your trays. That said, I'm dealing with a lot of cats.
I don't think there is a litter on the market that I haven't tried. I used sanicat for years but a year ago, they changed it & it stank.

There is another type of litter, made of cellulose, called Asan litter. It's meant to last a month too. Everyone I know that has used it has loved it. I did try it once too, I couldn't fault it in any way but I just couldn't get over the texture of it.:rolleyes:
brendaspets.ie & mollys.ie both stock it.

I keep going back to wood based litters, they aren't as easy to scoop but they do last & never get wet.
I change all the trays here weekly.

TskTsk

October wrote: »

Could I ask you both - how many cats and trays do you have and how often do you change the litter. I've never used clumping litter before, I could give that a try.

I only have one cat and she uses a covered litter tray, which helps to contain dust and odours. For as long as I've been buying the Classy Cat litter, I've only had to clean the litter tray out every 7-10 days. I scoop out any stool and clumped urine on a daily basis, and if it's not raining outside I try to leave it out to air for a while.

I normally hose down the litter tray with cold water, then clean it with very mild soapy water, then pour hot/boiling water over it and leave it in the air to dry. Does anyone know if a mild solution of water and Milton would be safe for cleaning a litter box?

The lack of dust from Classy Cat is great. When I was buying cheap litter from Tesco, I noticed the cat would sometimes have a layer of dust on her coat when she emerged from the litter box. That can't be good for them.

biko

I've tried supermarket brands but always go back to Sophisticat Anti Bacterial Non Clumping Cat Litter.

roxiesmammy

please dont use clumping litter with cat,especially kittens as it can kill them. the cat/kitten can eat it and when it gets wet in their tummy it of course clump causing a obstruction which can lead to death.

lorebringer

TskTsk wrote: »

Does anyone know if a mild solution of water and Milton would be safe for cleaning a litter box?

Yep, fine to use. Jsut make sure you rinse it well afterwards. As a rule, anything that goes cloudy in water (think original Dettol) is a big no no for small animals, diluted Milton is fine though.

As far as changing litter trays, at least once a week. I find they smell a bit if left longer (even if scooped out daily).

TskTsk

roxiesmammy wrote: »

please dont use clumping litter with cat,especially kittens as it can kill them. the cat/kitten can eat it and when it gets wet in their tummy it of course clump causing a obstruction which can lead to death.

I could understand the danger to kittens who might be tempted to taste it at first, but I couldn't imagine any kitten/cat developing a taste for it. The talc scent of the Classy Cat stuff should be enough to convince any cat that it's definitely not food.

cotton

I would NEVER, EVER, EVER use clumping litter with kittens. I researched it when one of my fosterers lost two kittens last year & we thought it might be the reason (it wasn't) & what I found was scary. I'd posted the following on every board I know last year as they could put it better than I ever could. I know 2 people that put their beloved kittens deaths down to this after reading it.

Please read this article, it might save your kitten's life.

Clumping clay kitty litters may be related to a wide variety of
seemingly unrelated cat health problems, included diarrhea, frothy
yellow vomiting, mega-bowel syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome,
kidney problems, respiratory problems, general failure to thrive,
anemia, lethargy, and even death.


Clumping Clay Kitty Litters: A Deadly Convenience?
". . . something able to block household plumbing must be wreaking
havoc on the plumbing of our feline companions."

Cats die. Kittens die. It's part of life. But we still grieve when
they die, even though we know it is only the body, not the spirit,
that is gone. How much worse we feel when those deaths were
unnecessary, could have been prevented by something as simple as
changing the kind of litter we use.

I breed Japanese Bobtail cats and I grieved in 1994 when an entire
litter of kittens (born in November 1993) died. Despite round-the-
clock nursing and force-feeding of fluids and food, one kitten, then
another, let go of his grasp on life.

The three kittens started out as a robust, lively group. Then, at
weaning time, just as they were learning to use the litter box, they
began to vomit a yellow frothy substance and to pass yellow diarrhea;
the diarrhea looked and smelled like clay. They also had nasal and
eye discharge. The diarrhea proceeded to turn harder and even more
clay-like, and finally the kittens stopped moving their bowels at
all. The veterinarians said they could feel "a hard mass" inside. The
kittens dwindled into thin, dehydrated, frail little skeletons, sunk
in apathy. Then they died.

When these kittens first fell sick, I wasn't too worried, because I
had seen the same set of symptoms in two earlier litters. The first
time it happened I'd lost one kitten, but the other survived with a
week of force-feeding fluids. When a second litter started to exhibit
the same symptoms, we took the kittens and their parents to the
veterinarian, who tested them for everything from intestinal
parasites to feline AIDS. The results were negative. "Some kind of
virus" was the vague diagnosis, or "possibly giardia" (an intestinal
parasite), even though the test for it was negative. We nursed them,
gave them fluids and love, and like the previous kittens, these two
were over the problem in a week.

So the third time, with the November kittens, although I was a little
worried, I was confident we could pull these through as well. But
their illness dragged on for three weeks, and they grew progressively
weaker. Again we had the cats and kittens tested for a variety of
problems; again, nothing. And then, all within the same week, the
kittens died.

When a fourth litter, born in late March 1994, began to exhibit the
same symptoms yet again, I felt frustrated, frightened, and helpless.
What was going on? Was there something in the environment? Was my
home somehow a "sick house?" Was one of the adult cats carrying
something that the kittens were picking up? I always keep my cats
indoors, so it couldn't be exposure to outside cats.

Pawprints
A NEW PERSPECTIVE

I decided I needed a new perspective and began to look for a holistic
veterinarian. The next day, a friend gave me the card of a new
holistic veterinarian in town, Dr. Stephanie Chalmers.

But before I had the chance to take the kittens to see this new vet,
I was struck by a bolt of lightning. The clumping litter! It was
almost as though someone had whispered it into my ear. It made
perfect sense. Everything fit; it explained all the symptoms. My
thinking went along these lines:

1. Clumping litter is designed to form a hard, insoluble mass
when it gets wet. It also produces a fine dust when stirred (as when
a cat scratches around to bury a recent deposit). And these clumping
litters absorb many times their weight in fluids.
2. When cats or kittens use the litter box, they lick themselves
clean; anything their tongues encounter gets ingested. Kittens
especially tend to ingest a lot of litter when they are first
learning to use the box.
3. Once the litter is inside a kitten or cat, it expands, forming
a mass and coating the interior-thus, both causing dehydration by
drawing fluids out of the cat or kitten, and compounding the problem
by preventing any absorption of nutrients or fluids.

My cats and kittens had probably reacted with diarrhea initially in
an effort to cleanse their bodies of the litter before it had a
chance to settle and coat their insides. But kittens have very small
intestines; a hard insoluble mass could very well produce a complete
and fatal blockage within a couple of weeks.

On the strength of these deductions, I immediately went out and
bought a plant-based litter to replace the clumping litter. I also
took several of the hard, clay-like lumps of stool produced by two of
the kittens and smeared them open. Not only did the stools have the
consistency, smell, and texture of clay, but they even retained the
color of the litter (gray with blue flecks) inside. This was
confirmation enough for me.

As soon as I could, I took all the kittens, along with their mother,
to Dr. Chalmers, who said that she had already heard of problems like
this with the clumping clay litters. She put the kittens on a
holistic course of treatment (slippery elm to help soothe the
intestines; homemade chicken broth to nourish the kittens without
putting further strain on their insides).

She also showed me an article by Lisa Newman, another holistic health
practitioner, citing some of the cases of illness and death that she
(Lisa Newman) has seen first hand—illnesses and deaths most likely
caused by clumping litter. A light went on in my head when I read the
following:

"There has been a rise in depressed immune systems, respiratory
distress, irritable bowel syndrome, and vomiting (other than hair
balls) among cats that I have seen in the past two years. All had one
thing in common...a clumping product in their litter box. In several
cases, simply removing the litter improved the condition of the
cat." ("Great Clumping Cat Litter—Is That Why Kitty is So Sick?"
Healthy Pets—Naturally, April 1994.)

The problem of health difficulties and even deaths resulting from
clumping litters appears to be more prevalent than most people are
aware of. I recently spoke with another Japanese Bobtail breeder, who
told me of a kitten she sold that subsequently became very ill with a
severe respiratory problem. The new owner used a clumping litter, and
her veterinarian found that the kitten's lungs were coated with dust
from the litter.

For a veterinarian to spot this problem is unusual. A more common
diagnosis would lay the blame at the door of a virus, germ, fungus or
parasite. There is not a general awareness yet that the clumping
litters can be harmful—even fatal—to cats.

Pawprints
BEYOND CATS

And the problem extends beyond cats. As Lisa Newman points out in her
article, dogs get into the litter box for "snacks," and ingest the
litter too. She reports that the autopsy of one dog revealed that his
stomach was filled with the clumping litter.

An article entitled "How Cat Litter is Made" appeared in Cat Fancy
magazine (October 1994). Shockingly, the article contains no cautions
against the use of clumping litters, even though the description of
one of the main ingredients in such products should be enough to
alarm any thinking person.

"Sodium bentonite, a naturally swelling clay, is often added as
an extremely effective clumping agent. When liquid is added,
bentonite swells to approximately 15 times its original volume. But
because sodium bentonite acts as an expandable cement would, litters
containing sodium bentonite should never be flushed; when they expand
they can block plumbing."

A few moments' thought is all that is needed to realize that
something able to block household plumbing must be wreaking havoc on
the plumbing of our feline companions.

What about my kittens after I switched to a plant-based litter?
Sadly, the two females died. Both were passing clay stools right up
until the time of their deaths; one kitten was still passing clay
almost two weeks after I switched litters. The two males survived,
though it took months for them to fully recover. Only after switching
to a completely organic, homemade diet was I able to clear up the
last traces of their ordeal. And still I grieve for the kittens who
died so needlessly.

Pawprints
WHAT YOU CAN DO

You may feel as horrified as I do at the thought that there must be
thousands of kittens and cats (and other animals) ailing or even
dying from clumping clay litters. What can we do to prevent such
suffering?

One thing is let the manufacturers know we won't buy such products.
My husband called a company that makes one of these clumping litters.
The woman he spoke with said that the company is aware that clumping
litters may be causing health problems, but that it is the consumer's
responsibility to make sure their cats don't eat the stuff.

My husband pointed out that cats clean themselves with their mouths,
so of course they're going to eat the litter every time they use
their cat boxes. Unfortunately, the company's representative
maintained her "buyer beware" position.

Given the attitudes of such companies, we can vote with our
pocketbooks by purchasing products from businesses that are more
responsive to our concerns. Be sure to let the makers of the clumping
litter know why you no longer purchase their product. You might even
choose to boycott all products made by these companies (it isn't hard
to find out who makes what—just read the labels). An even more
effective move might be to show this article to the owners or
managers of stores selling these products.

If you suspect that an animal may be suffering an ailment caused by
clumping litter, take him or her to a veterinarian or holistic
practitioner immediately, and explain what you think may be
happening. If you encounter resistance, it may mean that the
veterinarian is unfamiliar with the problem and doesn't know how to
handle it. Try to find a holistic vet—either locally or someone you
can work with by phone—who has some experience with clumping litter
impacting the intestines. Most importantly, replace the clumping
litter right away with one of the plant-based alternatives. Even if
your cat is healthy, it makes sense to switch to a different litter.

If you love cats as I do, spread the word. Tell everyone you know
about this problem. Tell your veterinarian. You may save the lives of
many kittens, cats, and other beloved creatures.
For More Information

For a list of related articles, see the CatMom.com Home Page.


http://www.thelighthouseonline.com/articles/clump.html