Hartz Scoopable Paper Litter

One of the nice thing about fostering is that, because we rely on donations, we sometimes get to try new products.  I was in the shelter the other day and saw a bag of Hartz Scoopable Paper Litter, and I thought I would give it a try.

I know a lot of people have a problem with regular clay scooping litter, fearing ingestion of the clay and what that might do to a cat.  I personally don't have that fear. I don't like and thus won't buy scented litter, not only for the fact that those scents are all chemical and I fear what that will do to a cat, but also because cats simply do not like scented litter. I am always on the look out for a litter that might work better, and this was new so I grabbed it. I had very low expectations since it is from Hartz - one of my least favorite pet companies - but I figured it was litter so how bad could it be.

Well when I opened it, the scent was immediately noticeable and strong. I wouldn't say it was overwhelming, and as someone who is very sensitive to scents (many make me sneeze) I know I'm overly sensitive, but it was getting there.  I thought I'd leave the bag open for a few days and see if it dissipated.

Sadly, two days later the scent was as strong as ever, unfortunately I was out of regular clay litter and so I thought I'd put this in the foster kitten's litter box and see what happened.

Now I will admit the kittens had issues with litter box compliance up to this point for reasons beyond their control, but at the time I switched them over things were getting better.

The first night, we had one (#2) deposit in the box, and two deposits on the towels.  The next morning the box appeared to be unused, and the towel was.. well once again let me just say how much laundry I have been doing lately..  Because of this I needed to remove everything from the cage and set up new bedding for the kittens. I left the box outside of the cage while I did this.

A few minutes later Tucker walked over to the box, climbed into the big white box behind it, and settled down in the bed - it was oh so cute so I took a picture.

And darn it if that picture didn't look like Odilia at BlogPaws when she was poopin

Completely stolen from Riverfront Cats
 you should go visit them!

So I reached down and picked him up, and yes, he was European.. I grabbed some towels, muttered about even more laundry.. when I realized he walked over the litter box to get to the bed to go pee.  My husband even commented he was 'going in the box' and I had hoped that meant litter box compliance, then was struck by how cute he was climbing into the bed, then did a *headpalm* at the whole thing and THEN realized how much these kittens HATE this litter.

Boiled down:
Pros:
 * it is made of paper and not clay so I am assuming it is environmentally friendly.

Cons:
 * It is made by Hartz
 * It smells strongly
 * The shape of the pellets are similar to wood pellets - which most cats do not like using.
 * The kittens refuse to use it.

Well so much for that experiment. I have to wonder why they made the pellets so big. I think if they would have made them smaller it would have been better. Would it have helped litter box compliance or would the strong scent they put in it still have caused the kittens to go elsewhere?  I do not know.

Well this product gets a big ol "Nope" from me and the kittens.  Your experience may differ.



(if you couldn't tell, this is not a sponsored post, I just thought I'd tell you about something new I tried)

Former Foster Friday - Odilia

I so love when I get to do these.. This time I kinda stole the images off Facebook to share them with you - but I'm pretty sure Odilia doesn't mind :)

Odi is doing very well.  Her momma got married and moved into a home with additional pets but she seems to have taken it all in stride.  She is still a petite little thing and still so very full of it, but oh so cute.

2013 - a year in review..

I like to do photo books at the end of each year. Usually I get a code for a free photo book in September, but this year I didn't get one until recently.

They give you a limited amount of time to do it.  After I got it, I spent the weekend culling through my photos and uploaded them to Shutterfly.  Monday came and I forgot all about it.. Tuesday I was a little stressed out with Jack not feeling well.. come Wednesday it was use it or lose it.

I was chatting with the awesome and amazing Rene, and I thought it would be so cool to see what she would do with it, and so I said I wished she would do it for me, and wasn't I ever so tickled that she took me up on it!

I made a couple of changes from her original choices, added in a few more pages to make sure I got all of the highlights of 2013.  The actual book arrived this week, and my husband LOVED looking through it.. I thought you might too..

 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Caturday Art Hop

Athena Cat Goddess Caturday Art Hop Links

Former Foster Friday - Miss Odilia and her paper..

and the highlight of my time with her..


I adore how she perks up and comes RUNNING (trotting really) toward the sound of ripping paper..

Amy, thank you again for adopting her and taking such good care of her.. (and feel free to send more pictures and write more blog posts about her for me)

Former Foster Friday - Odilia

These do have to come to an end at some point don't they??  You have no idea how much I love to take her photo.. Yes, I'm still sharing photos I took of her last month.

Remember this photo?  I had brought her a toy and we gave it to her that night.  The next morning...

Looks like there will be one more post next week.. and THEN I will be out of photos :)  I hope you have enjoyed these as much as I have.

Former Foster Friday... More Odilia

Why yes, I did take a boat load of photos.. did you think I wouldn't?

Of course you would, I'm so awesome

From every angle I look good

play break

Don't you want to give me a kiss

Another break

Wait, you need to take more pictures of me 

My stylists help me out

How about I sit over here

CHEEZE!

Happy Former Foster Friday!

Former Foster Friday - Odilia Halloween Edition

What, you thought I only took enough pictures for one post.. ha ha ha.. you are funny..

While I was with Amy, she wanted to get a picture of Odilia in a pumpkin. Two of my favorite things, how could I resist? She gave me some really lovely shot which was nice but a good part of the time she was facing the wrong way. We would turn the pumpkin and she would simply turn herself around. It was quite funny. Amy wanted to see if we could get a witch hat on her, which was a no go.

We stopped at CVS after the show (pictures tomorrow) and while there we saw the devil costume. Since Amy keeps calling Odilia "The Beast" I thought it was perfect. It was attached with two large pieces of velcro, one around the neck/chest the other around the belly, and so I figured it was going to be easy enough to get on and off with out freaking her out. We got it on her and she got very confused as to why we were laughing so hard. She knew something was different and she wasn't quite herself while it was on, but it was no more stressful to her than the first ten times I got the harness on her (time 11 she hated the harness and told me in no uncertain terms she was done wearing it). We left the costume on her just long enough to catch our breath and get a few good photos.. which again was hard since she wasn't all that into looking at the camera..

considering running away from those silly women

Former Foster Friday - Odilia

You knew it was coming.. Here it is!! :)

Why hello Traveling Jack.. 

Did you come here to play??

Odilia trying to catch a fly on the ceiling

She LOVES wadded up paper.

When you rip a piece of paper she comes RUNNING... 

She could do this all night

Playing with a toy I brought for her

I wonder if she recognizes this suitcase from BlogPaws?

Most but not all of the family.  There is another dog and another cat

Why yes Odilia, I do think you should have your own blog.. 

It was oh so nice to see her.  I felt bad because I forgot several key ways to interact with her.  At first it seemed like she grew out of her stimulation aggression but apparently not and she tagged me a couple of times... it didn't help that she's also anti-nail trims so her claws were a little long.  I don't blame her one bit as it was my fault for not listening to her signals (or in one case listening but not really caring because I was hoping to get in one last kiss)

Leaving was no fun.  Amy offered me joint custody which was incredibly sweet, but all of the reasons I let her go in the first place were still in full force and she is where she is supposed to be.  While I have absolutely no plans to go see her again I know I will at some point.  Amy has become a wonderful friend and I had so much fun visiting.