Pet Topic: Make Your Own Newspaper Cat Litter
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 08.21.08
Photo credit: Getty Images
Cleo, spokescat for the Environmental Working Group's Pets for the Environment offers a rundown on the pros and cons of various kitty litters on the market, as well as the dos and don'ts of poop disposal. (Be sure to watch the video of the toilet-trained cat, which always manages to crack us up and confound us simultaneously.)
More intriguing, however, is the recipe she gives on how to make your own newspaper-based cat litter. It sounds rather involved, although Cleo claims you should be able to make a two-to-three-week supply of litter in half an hour to 45 minutes—which is easy for her to say, since she can fall back on her "Woe is me, I have no opposable thumbs" schtick and beg off from what she calls a "great afternoon craft project." Cats will be cats.
DIY Newspaper Cat Litter
1. Shred newspaper in a paper shredder and collect it in an unused litter box.
2. Soak the paper in warm water mixed with a few squirts gentle, biodegradable dish soap. The shredded paper takes on a cooked oatmeal consistency. The paper won’t come completely clean, but the water will turn grey.
3. Drain the water (an old colander works wonders) and repeat the soaking process minus the soap.
4. Sprinkle baking soda liberally on the wet paper. Knead it in to the mixture (you might want to wear gloves to avoid getting ink on your hands).
5. Squeeze the remaining moisture out until it’s as dry as you can get it.
6. Crumble over a screen and leave to dry for a few days.
7. Once it’s dry, put about an inch and a half to two inches of the paper crumbles in the litter box. Scoop solids daily and change it once a week. It takes about a half an hour to 45 minutes to make a 2-3 week supply of litter. ::Pets for the Environment
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Pets: Eco-Friendly Cat Litter
TH Forums: Disposing of Cat Litter
TH Forums: Toilet Train My Cat?
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This is great! I did this for a while -- though I didn't use soap or baking soda (not sure what they do in the process) and I "cooked" the paper in boiling water. One thing though: you DO need gloves, unless you're into hands with the Goth look; also, the pot(s) you use will need a lot of scrubbing with good soap (I used Castile soap and baking soda) to get clean. Also, make sure you only use newsprint, not glossy paper because the latter will not disintegrate well into pulp.
Apart from this, the litter was the softest, lightest and most absorbent and in fact odour-absorbing I have used. Funny, I seem to remember posting about this a couple of months ago in response to a post about environmentally friendly cat litter...
Hey, thanks for the link Treehugger! Just wanted to point out that I didn't come up with that homemade litter idea all by my pretty-kitty self. The original idea came from Allie at Allie's Answers: http://alliesanswers.com
And, there are loads of other eco-friendly cat litters out there if DIY isn't for you. It's just a matter of knowing which ones are the best. Luckily for you my post talks about all of them!
Or, you could forgo litter altogether and teach your cat to use the toilet. We did. We bought a book on how to toilet train your cat and it worked. The cat stays safe inside, and there's no litter smell or mess and no landfill waste.
Now if only we had a composting toilet...
Is using all that water to clean the newspaper all that green?