Several of your comments about my recent “Green your pet” post inspired me to do a little more research on the kitty litter issue. (Yes more poop talk, but considering that our pets create millions of tons of the stuff each year, what’s a pet blogger to do?)
Here are a few interesting things I learned in my online travels:
- The Humane Society and American Veterinary Medical Association estimate that Americans have 10 to 15 million more cats than dogs as pets (about 90 million felines total, as of 2007).
Clay litter is also considered un-green because of how it’s produced: through strip-mining. The Wyoming Mining Association, which mined 5.2 million tons of bentonite in 2005, describes the process used to extract this clay from the ground. The company claims that before a mine is dug, the topsoil and vegetation are assessed and stockpiled for future reclamation. After mining, the area is reconstructed to become grazing land for ranchers and the new area provides “four times more vegetative production than undisturbed land.”
Regarding the flush or not-to-flush question, it’s all about a parasite with an exotic-sounding name: Toxoplasma gondii. Found in many birds and rodents, outdoor cats can get infected from eating those critters. Scientists from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine found that a whopping 62 percent of dead sea otters found between 1997 and 2001 were infected with Toxoplasma; the suspected source being land-based runoff of the parasite. Municipal sewage systems can’t always kill the Toxoplasma eggs because of their hard, durable coating.
The pet poop debate is clearly a very complicated one and “doing the right thing” doesn’t boil down to a simple choice. I encourage you to continue to do your own research, weigh the pros and cons and decide what works best for your feline family while also keeping Mother Nature in mind.