Paper cat litter — biodegradable and free
Apartment cats need a non-stinky litter box. Here’s a ridiculously simple alternative to purchasing expensive, heavy, environmentally dubious cat litter: newspaper.
Cats do their business: fact of life. So do you, but most humans use a purpose-built toilet. I have heard of cats that use a human toilet but I’m glad mine has never learned.
Cat litter was a heavy, expensive bag on my shopping list for at least ten years. I never questioned the necessity until I saw how a cat breeder dealt with this daily chore. It’s so obvious, so simple, so clean that I could hardly believe I’d spent ten years buying an unnecessary product. I figured everyone else but me knew the secret… but then again, cat litter keeps on selling.
The secret of non-litter-buying-cat-owners: paper
- A plastic cube box: even a kitten can hop into this and everything else stays inside.
- Layers of newspaper at the base (for absorption and containment).
- Strips of torn up newspaper (for after-poo scratching).
One of your friends puts seven newspapers in the recycling bin every week. Use those, or find a young person who is distributing supermarket papers: they always have extras left over.
A more sophisticated choice for #3: rip up your old manuscripts for the cat to scratch in. If you have a shredder, perfect: your confidential documents perform one more useful function.
Disposing of paper cat litter: roll it up
Here’s the blissful stage of dealing with cat litter in an apartment. Just roll it up! You will barely get your hands (or gloves) damp because your cat usually favours one corner. It’s the perfect gift.
Optional: a paper bag for the fastidious
I do buy paper bags, so this process is not entirely free. But that’s optional. Final step is to slide this tidy, mostly dry parcel into a paper bag and drop it in the garbage. It will biodegrade in landfill.
I particularly enjoy the fact that it’s the supermarket that is now giving me litter for free.
Smell? Open the windows. With Covid-19 in the world we should be doing a lot of that. I sometimes feel the need for a puff of air freshener. And I’m relying on my family to tell me if the apartment smells of cat.
Happy cat times, if that’s your world. If this tip is new to you, I hope it will help to simplify your life and help your budget.
P.S. Wash your hands. But you knew that.
Some of the old ways are still the best!
So you have known about this forever
We used to use newspapers in many ways when I was younger. Bedding for piglets, puppies, and hens, as a liner under lino or rugs, as firelighters, toilet paper, garden mulch.
https://pollymermaid.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/my-life-3-recycling-newspaper/
I would, however, caution that modern inks can be highly toxic, especially when wet, so keep an eye out for sore paws, mouths, and noses.
That post of yours summons parallel memories for me. The newspaper squares were mainly holiday memories, though. And don’t worry, no cat has been hurt by newspaper print in my home in ten years so far of this regime. Lucky for us!
Fortunately I’ve always had a garden for my gorgeous ones. But this is the best for otherwise!
A garden is best. Tuck it away for others, or for later.
Great idea Rachel
So why didn’t I know this hack sooner? I guess y it was good for my character
I think we follow what other are doing mindlessly.
What a marvelous solution! We don’t plan to have cats again, but this is great to know.
it shows the power of marketing an unnecessary product.
sure does, the marketing machine is now busy with a large sticker for shop to show that “all staff are vaccinated” – and a local stationery company is selling them – both a physical delivered one and a digital DIY one.
I’ve used newspapers for years, and am a dedicated fan. Glad you discovered this handy hint. Greetings to Ursula.
Wise womam! I have used it for about 10 years–but before that, 20-odd years of buying manufactured litter. Over a lifetime I have been trained to think that solving any real or imagined problem means buying something.