Comments on: Cat Litter Composting – 12-02-08

By: Lee Jolliffe

Lee Jolliffe — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:54:43 +0000

I switched to bagged corncob litter for my cats after reading this experiment. It wasn’t too high-priced at the feed store, and it seemed to be great at first. It didn’t pick up a stench as quickly as regular clay litter. But then I discovered that a couple of my (5) cats were on strike. They wouldn’t use the corncob litter, so they were using old flowerpots in the basement or the basement floor. So it’s back to the drawing board. I’ll try your pelleted newspaper next. (The corncob litter, once I really paid attention) seemed to be very sharp-edged–not so nice for little cat paws.)

By: factorial

factorial — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:57:19 +0000

We use wood stove pellets as litter for our rabbits and we used them for the cat too (before my allergies got so bad that she had to go live with my mom). They are amazingly cheap, break down easily, and a repurposed waste product (added bonus!) — when they get wet, they just disintegrate. The cat never seemed to have a problem with them, and there are some pellet litters on the market for cats already (compressed paper, I think).

Mostly, though, reading this has made me glad I only keep small herbivorous pets!

By: Bentley

Bentley — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:00:58 +0000

Great info Chris – thanks for sharing that. Sounds similar to what I’ll be doing outside once spring arrives.
Expect to see updates re: my indoor cat litter composting soon.

By: chris

chris — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:51:51 +0000

I dig “composting holes” and fill with cat box wastes using the corn cob gruanules sprinkle with the dirt from digging the hole after each dumping. I have two holes, as one fills the litter the other has decomposed and and is ready to be dug again and start over. The worms in the earth loved the waste product it was like an Alfred Hitchock scene with so many worms. The litter was decomposed and some of the worms were moved to the garden. I did this in NH.

I am interested in you indoor? composting of litter.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:36:51 +0000

Hi Allochthon,
Interesting that you mention this. A horse-keeping friend of ours uses something like this as bedding for her horses. Quite inexpensive for a large quantity (just as you’ve found) – I actually wondered how well it might work as a litter material. I think the cats responded so well to the corn cob granules (I’m using) since it closely mimics the regular stuff, but I’m sure they could get used to something like this as well.

Thanks for the info!

By: allochthon

allochthon — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:12:50 +0000

I've been using wood stove pellets for litter for my ferrets: Northern Tool I get a 40 lb bag for $5 at a local bigbox hardware store. it's very similar to the pelletized paper cat litter, but a heck of a lot cheaper. I'm watching this experiment carefully, because I would love to be able to compost my ferret litter.