Re: Fwd: Check out Clumping Clay Kitty Litters and Your Cat's Health

[Nina]

I use clumping litter, so I appreciate your posting this to the list.  The brand of clumping litter I get at Costco is LitterPurrfect.  It doesn't contain sodium bentonite, but it does have silica gel.  Do you know if this is dangerous as well?  The box still warns against flushing the litter, so it makes me wonder.  It says it's 99% dust free, so that should help with the inhalant risks.  I did a quick search and this is what I found on the Arm & Hammer website about their litter, (couldn't find a website for LitterPurrfect).  I'm always skeptical of any manufacturer's claims of safety etc.  What do you think? > The silica gel beads used in "crystal" cat litters have an amorphous structure and pose no health hazard to the consumer (both the cat and its owner). Silica gel used for cat litters is chemically similar to silica gels used as desiccants (humidity absorbents found in bags, purses, etc.) but are structurally different, designed to remain intact in the presence of liquids (desiccant silica gels fracture in the presence of liquids). Silica gel crystals used for cat litter absorb cat urine into its internal pore structure, then allows the water to slowly evaporate. When mixed at appropriate levels with scoopable or clumping clay, silica gel crystals add its absorbing properties to that of the clay, without interfering with the clumping properties of the clay and without having the negative properties associated with 100% silica gel crystals, such as potential cat rejection. The presence of silica gel crystals in our clumping litter also signals that the product is different and better than conventional clumping litter. > I hate to give up the convenience of clumping litter, but of course if I'm putting my cats at risk there's not debate.  The website link doesn't seem to be that current.  While I was composing this post, I did some more searching and I came up with an "all natural", ingestible, corn based clumping litter called "World's best cat litter" that talks about the dangers of respiratory aliments associated with silica gels  The problem is it doesn't seem to be available in the US.  Does anyone know of a natural clumping alternative that's available in the US?  Here's what I found on the wbct website: SILICA CAT LITTER Silica gel litter is made from silica dioxide sand (the same material found in quartz), oxygen and water. The gel contains millions of tiny pores that can absorb up to 40 times their weight in moisture. It comes in spheres (also called “pearls”), half spheres and crystal shapes. Some manufacturers add dyes and scents, so you want to watch out for, and avoid, those. The most worrying part of silica is that it is a well known carcinogen (a substance that promotes cancer). [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: FYI, my mom sent me this.. I do not use this kind of litter, but maybe some of you do... Hideyo-- what kind of litter do you use? This website talks about kittens having problems from the litter.   Michelle