Homemade Kitty Litter - What really works?

by Katy Green
www.shoptobegreen.com

Eco Kitty Litter
Mother Cat and her Kitty

I am on a hunt for a feline friend for my 5 year old daughter which is not an easy task. 

Of course, I am also calculating all the costs that are associated with owning a pet such as: kitty litter, cat food, cat toys, vet visits, pet insurance grooming, etc. 

I have owned several cats over the years and what I dreaded the most was changing or smelling the toxic litter box. I can still smell the putrid fumes and imagine the countless offenses to the environment so I searched for an eco-friendly alternative to store bought cat litter and I discovered several options. I am sharing those with you (you probably aware of these already) and if you know of any please share in comments.

Homemade Kitty Litter - Version 1 

This was pulled from the website A Life Unprocessed, she recommends the following:

• Course bag of ground wheat preferably organic, she uses 50 lbs of organic animal-grade wheat 
• course grinder or blender (long term it's best to get a course grinder)
• once used, compost the used litter or throw it in the yard as fertilizer

Homemade Kitty Litter - Version 2  (free except for the baking soda the rest is an upcycling or alternate use experience)

The Greenists recommend the following to make your own kitty litter (their process requires a bit more preparation)

• Collect used newspapers and shred in a paper shredder
• Soak the shredded papers in warm water with a few squirts of organic soap or biodegradable soap. They don't say how much water but I would add it slowly until you get a cooked oatmeal like  consistency from the combination of the water, paper and soap. 
• The water will clean the shredded paper but not totally (remember they used to wrap babies in newspaper so don't gasp)
• Drain the water from the paper (they suggest an old colander) and repeat the soaking process without adding additional soap.
• Sprinkle organic baking soda liberally on the wet paper. Knead it in to the mixture (they suggest using gloves).
• Squeeze the remaining moisture out until it’s as dry as you can get it.
• Crumble over a screen and leave to dry (it takes a few days).

Once it’s dry, they add an inch and half or two inches of paper crumbles in the litter box. They suggest you  scoop solids daily and change it once a week. Estimated time frame takes half an hour to 45 minutes to make a 2-3 week supply of litter.

Homemade Kitty Litter - Version 3 and 4 and more...

• Chicken feed mixed with ground corn
• Grass shavings
• Corn husks
• Wood Pellets

If you don't have time to make cat litter, try the following:

• The World's Best Cat Litter (spoke to many and they it's great but also expensive and it has clumping issues so you will go through a lot)

•  Tidy Cats Pure Nature (several Moms told me that it is less expensive but gets into the cat's paws)

  Although the cat has the final decision because if they don't like the litter they will go elsewhere. You can always train cat to go to the toilet?