Non-toxic cat litter and kitten food recommendations

[ChristineL]

My husband and I rescued a kitten today - she or he (we couldn't tell!) may be about a month old. We have never been cat guardians before so this is our first! We are looking for non-toxic cat litter and kitten food (canned) recommendations. Please help! Thank you! @Dr. Jean Hofve @Dr. Jeff @Dr. Christina

 

[Dr. Christina]

What a joyful time you are in for. Many joyous memories of times I rescued small kittens and watched them grow. You may want to even think of getting a second kitten so they can grow up together.

Litters - non toxic is important, as is sustainability. The clay litter is non-toxic, but the mining of it harms the planet, for example. One of our faculty, Dr. Jean Hofve has an article on her site - that covers many of these concerns. @Dr. Jean Hofve may have updated comments. Smart litter and pine litter may be the best. Is there a holistic pet store near you? Even a regular pet store. See what they carry. Shipping heavy litter is not the best.

Feeding - we recommend you begin right away with a fresh food diet - read more in the nutrition section of the 101 course.

Buy Anitra Frazier's book, The Natural Cat and listen to both her webinars. Coming May 13 will be the two crazy cat ladies webinar - not to miss.

Start now to get kitty to love having ears, paws, mouth, butt examined. Kitty nails can be very sharp, so keep them trimmed.

Consider pet insurance as starting when they are young saves money in the long run. do a search as we have had several webinars on the topic.

And begin to explore who will be your holistic veterinarians.

Dr. Christina

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Congratulations on your new baby Christine and thank you for rescuing her!

Dr. Christina gave you some ideas to start designing her holistic and non-toxic life.

I would just add that whatever litter you choose should also be based on cost, accessibility and sustainability for you and Mason.

BTW- if you look at the kitty from behind and lift her tail you’ll either see two dots like a “colon” or a semicolon. The former i shows that he is likely a boy, the latter is a girl.

Have fun with your new kitty She’s a lucky little girl (or boy).

 

[Dr. Jeff]

BTW-I can't wait to see the precious pictures after she adopts Hope as her new mom (besides you of course)!

 

[ChristineL]

Thank you, @Dr. Christina and @Dr. Jeff - She's quite a handful (no pun intended ) - We switched her from canned food (Ziwi Peak) to frozen raw food (Quest - it came highly recommended: Raw Cat Food Archives). We will add frozen raw by Viva and SmallBatch in her rotation. She also gets raw goat milk in each meal.

We settled on this litter by Okocat (ökocat Litter: The Natural Choice for Your Cat | Premium site) - @Dr. Jean Hofve - your thoughts? We will get Sustainably Yours as you recommended in your article.

Any recommendations on litterBOXes? I've read that cats prefer an enclosed area...there are so many types to choose from!!!!

How about scratchers and chew toys? I've also read that the typical cardboard scratch pads are not ideal...I've found these online - what do y'all think? Peekaboo Cat Cave and Enrichment for Cats - Two Crazy Cat Ladies - the cat cave can also be found on Amazon Amazon.com

 

[ChristineL]

BTW-I can't wait to see the precious pictures after she adopts Hope as her new mom (besides you of course)!

Hope was so kind and patience with the kitten until the kitten scratched her tail - now she's afraid of the kitten most of the time!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

now she's afraid of the kitten most of the time!

Too cute! She looks curious of the kitty in this video.

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Actually cats do *not* prefer an enclosed space for litter boxes, they would rather be able to see around them in case a bear (or in my neighborhood, a mountain lion) is sneaking up on them! They should be easily accessible, and available on every level of the home if there's more than one floor. The rule is 1 box per cat +1. I don't recommend covered boxes. This holds odors and dust in; and out of sight being out of mind, it's too easy to forget to scoop and keep them very clean.

Many cats really like the horizontal or slightly angled cardboard scratchers. It's a very individual preference. They're inexpensive and easy to replace, so that is a benefit to the wallet. Carpeted posts aren't great but can be made better with sisal rope, which gives the claws something to really grip.

I can't really tell much from the Okocat website; it is very vague about the source and type of wood, so I can't really assess it.

 

[ChristineL]

@Dr. Jean Hofve - I found this organic tofu cat litter - what do you think? Organic Soy Cat Litter Bag

I have reached out to this company re their sourcing and organic certification - per the agent, the raw materials are from the US and they ship the materials to China to get them made into pellets. As for the organic certification, she'll get back to me on that. More to report on that....

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Interesting! I look forward to hearing what they say!

It does seem a little environmentally unfriendly to ship stuff to China and back! But it happens with a lot of things, like all Pacific salmon is shipped to China for processing.

 

[ChristineL]

Pacific salmon is shipped to China for processing

really?!

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Sadly, yes. All commercially caught Pacific salmon.

 

[ChristineL]

@Dr. Jean Hofve - This is the response I got from them today:

Our Organic Soy Litter is made from 100% natural soybeans, providing an eco-friendly alternative to traditional cat litters. It's designed with your pet's health and the environment in mind.

What does "Organic" mean in our product? When we say "organic", we mean that the litter is made from organic materials, specifically soybeans. However, please note that while our litter is made from organic ingredients, it is not certified organic. This distinction ensures that you are getting a natural product without the potentially harmful chemicals found in some other litters, but it does not carry an official organic certification.

I responded by asking them to confirm if the soybean materials are non-GMO and not sprayed by glyphosate.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

My understanding is that certified organic products are always GMO and glyphosate free.

 

[ChristineL]

My understanding is that certified organic products are always GMO and glyphosate free.

I agree but I wanted further clarification on that...To me, their response was a bit vague...and they do not have certification.

 

[ChristineL]

Hi @Dr. Jean Hofve - So the company I reached out to never responded again to my additional question...oh well.

I found these organic wheat litters that I believe can be used for kitties: Organic Wheat Straw Litter | Blue Mountain Hay [can also be found on Amazon: Amazon.com] --> we placed an order directly with the vendor. We can't wait to give this a try!