* The danger of bentonite in cat litter
* Incontinence in dogs, they can’t help it—but we can!
* Facts about dental health in dogs
* A simple explanation of premium petfood
The controversy over the problems inherent in clumping cat litter has been around for several years now. Despite this controversy we see more rather than less clumping litter being marketed, particularly with large-scale budgets.
It is easy to see similarities with the old tobacco industry initiatives or the more recent junk food debate. In each case we have seen concerns being raised among the scientific community being dismissed as unproven or scare mongering and the marketing push goes on.
What we do know about clumping litters is:
1) Sodium bentonite, naturally swelling clay, is often added as a clumping agent.
2) Clumping litter forms 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). It absorbs many times its own weight in fluids.
3) 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.
4) Once the clumping litter is inside a kitten or cat, it expands, forming a mass and coating the interior, causing dehydration by drawing fluids out, and preventing any absorption of nutrients or fluids.
Bentonite is clay derived from the weathering of volcanic ash and composed of the mineral montmorillonite (Fullers earth). When liquid is added, bentonite swells to approximately 15 times its original volume. But because sodium bentonite acts as expandable cement would, litters containing sodium bentonite should never be flushed; when they expand they can block plumbing.
Something able to block household plumbing must be wreaking havoc on the plumbing of our feline companions. In fact an easy guide to litter safety maybe is whether it can be flushed!
This controversy about the dangers of clumping litter causing blockage is actually only part of the story on bentonite toxicity. Reviewing toxicology literature shows that bentonite toxicosis is manifest by potassium loss, hypochromic anaemia with lethargy and muscle weakness.
We now have a new variety of recyclable litters of high absorption, biodegradability and lack of toxicity, such as Breeders Celect (an Australian product made from recycled paper) and Pinefresh (highly absorbable pellets made in New Zealand from untannalised pine). This is great news as it seems that, for caring cat owners, clumping litter is now an anachronism of the past.
