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

[Belinda]

From Best Friends Website: http://www.bestfriends.com/archives/forums/031405pocket.html Why are certain types of wood shavings dangerous? Question from Karey: Last week, the forum guest talked about different types of litter for cats, and one of the members mentioned in a question that pine/cedar litter or bedding is not good for rabbits and pocket pets. Can you explain why that is? And is it safe for cats, for that matter? Or humans? What if we rescue a pocket pet from a situation and they had been previously exposed to pine/cedar bedding? Should we be on the lookout for any symptoms? Response from Dr. Mark: Softwoods such as pine, fir, redwood, and especially cedar, are high in aromatic wood oils; that's what makes cedar smell like cedar, for instance. These oils are pleasant smelling, making these woods popular for use as bedding (they're also cheap). The problem is, the oils released from the woods can be toxic if inhaled for long periods of time, or if absorbed through the skin and/or licked off the skin when grooming. For cat litter box use, these oils are a minimal concern; the cat isn't living in the box (well, we hope not anyway!) and isn't in constant contact with the material. Some paper litters are even scented with cedar oil, and this is ok. But a rodent living in the litter material, contacting it constantly, and breathing the aromatic oil fumes at close range constantly, can have medical problems as a result. One problem can be skin irritation, especially if the pet develops an allergic reaction to the oils. I've seen mice housed on cedar who lost all the hair on their faces and were extremely red and itchy, until the cedar chips were removed. Studies with rats showed that when housed on pine, fir or cedar chips, they all had enlarged livers (due to constant detoxifying of the absorbed oils by the liver), and mild to moderate lung damage. When housed on recycled paper bedding (non scented) or hardwood bedding (birch, aspen, alder) there were no signs of toxicity. So if it's a house cat or house rabbit who occasionally uses a litter box, exposure to litter materials is brief and probably of minimal concern. Cage bedding, on the other hand, poses a threat of long-term heavy exposure to toxic oils if the wrong materials are used. Animals previously housed on cedar, etc, may have minimal outward signs of problems. If they do show lung or skin problems, these could be other diseases as well, i.e. respiratory infections, mites on the skin, etc. The bedding may contribute to lung or skin problems, but is rarely the whole answer; other disease is often present if obvious symptoms are seen. Simply prevent further exposure to the wrong beddings, and treat whatever illness may be present. Nothing else can be easily done; the body hopefully will eliminate any wood oils once exposure is halted. Another website mentioning it: http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/guineapigs/tp/tpbedding.htm I was using the Mountain Cat back in the late early 90's, and like I said I never noticed any problem, but I had read a few articles about it possibly causing problems and I just decided it wasn't worth any possible risk. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting & web design] http://HostDesign4U.com ------------ BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com