Cat Litter Tips You Need to Make Your Feline Friend Comfortable

Cats need to dig in order to hid their excrement. This has nothing to do with shame, but is important for discreetness. Cats instinctively hide their leavings so that neither fellow cats nor enemies will notice them. By burying it, the smell of the faeces is difficult for other animals to detect. When cats are kept indoors – sometimes exclusively – the problem of finding an adequate replacement solution becomes just that much more urgent. The solution was found in the 1940s by the American, Edward Lowe: He had the idea of offering cats a mixture of bentonite and compound silicate. The new granulate was accepted well by animals, which previously had to make due with a mixture of sand, sawdust and ash. This made Lowe to the secret hero of every cat house-cat owner as the inventor of the modern kitty litter. The original mixture was in fact marketed as “Kitty Litter”; the company Lowe founded then has since been absorbed into the company, Ralston Purina.

Lowe’s basic litter made of silicate and mineral components is still the basis for most kitty litter products. However, the product range has increased.

If you discover your cat eating the litter – and it is not a matter of a kitten who doesn’t know any better – then you should be concerned. Aside from the mechanical irritation of the gastrointestinal tract, the organs are also threatened due to the absorption of water by the swallowed litter. Furthermore, the litter can clump in the intestines and lead to life-threatening blockages. The purposeful consumption of litter can also be a warning sign that the cat is suffering from a mineral deficiency and is trying to balance the minerals in its body by eating the litter. In cases of deficiencies, many animals instinctively begin to eat available replacement sources of what they lack. If, therefore, something seems strange to you, pay attention to any further signs of anaemia, for example very pale gums and light-coloured conjunctiva. An infestation with endoparasites such as flatworms, hormonal disorders or diabetes can also cause cats to suddenly begin eating litter. If you find a reason to be concerned, you should definitely have your cat checked by a vet to see whether there is a deficiency or other illness. In many harmless cases, eating litter is just a bad habit that the cat has picked up, possibly due to boredom or stress. If it is just a bad habit, you may want to switch the litter to a safer, plant-based variety and make sure that the cat has plenty of activities to keep it busy.