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Anthony Verrelli
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Oct 15,
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If you&#;re a cat owner, you&#;ve probably heard about bentonite clay litter. It&#;s become increasingly popular on store shelves for its price point and unique features. But what exactly makes it so special?
Once upon a time, people began using bentonite (a type of clay) instead of sand in commercial cat litter &#; probably because asking sand to clump was out of the question!
Shortly after that, it became the official cheap, mainstream cat litter for most pet owners.
Today we love bentonite clay litter because of how easily it sticks together when wet. And though its price point and clumpiness seem like a heavenly match, bentonite clay litter isn&#;t without its potential downsides.
There&#;s a lot to unpack here. Let&#;s dive in!
Bentonite is a type of clay that becomes extremely sticky when wet. It&#;s made from volcanic ash, and has been around for centuries &#; in fact, it&#;s one of the oldest known materials used by humans!
Bentonite cat litter has a few distinct advantages over traditional sand, plant, or wood-based litter.
Aborbancy: Probably the biggest selling point of bentonite clay litter is its nature to clump. It can absorb several times its dry weight in liquid and expand up to 15 times its original size (just look online for images of clay litter dust forming these heroic-looking balls when damp!)
Cost Effectiveness: Bentonite clay litter is usually cheaper than other types of litter, and though that&#;s not usually a good thing, it can help balance the budget!
And part of why this litter&#;s so cheap is how stretchable it is. When your cat pees, you only need to replace the soiled bedding and clumps; the rest is good to reuse.
Odour Control: Bentonite clay is known to be very effective at absorbing odors &#; like a natural deodorizer. It also has a neutral scent (without any added fragrances), so it won&#;t make your home smell any worse than before.
Just like with any other type of litter, bentonite clay litter has its drawbacks.
Allergy Concerns: Some cats may be allergic to this type of clay, so it&#;s best to watch for signs of sneezing or irritation while using it. If you notice your cat is itching more or has red spots you didn&#;t notice on them before, switch back to the old litter and contact your vet.
Dust: Bentonite clay is naturally dusty and its dryness can cause respiratory problems if inhaled -not just for cats, but humans as well. To avoid this risk, make sure to buy a dust-free variety of bentonite clay litter and wear a mask when changing the bedding.
Toxicity: Bentonite clay litter is generally non-toxic for cats, with a few types containing baking soda or activated charcoal. But so many of them contain additives like fragrances or other chemicals that are dangerous if ingested in large quantities. Check the packaging on your litter to make sure there aren&#;t any added ingredients that could harm your cat.
Basically, The bentonite-to-litter process starts with grinding the clay to a powder, which is then mixed with various additives like fragrances and baking soda. This mixture is left to dry and then compressed into pellets, clumps, or granules. Finally, the litter is packaged for sale.
Sounds innocent enough.
But the real danger is that every box of bentonite-based litter comes from strip mining. That&#;s what convinced me to switch recently from clay litter to wood and tofu cat litter.
Strip mining:
I&#;m certainly not shaming anyone for using bentonite clay litter &#; heck, I still have two boxes of unscented Purina litter in storage for when (and if) my cat wants a change.
We all live in a commercial world, and while buying environmentally-conscious products is good for the planet, it&#;s not always good for the individual &#; at least referring to their wallets. Case and point: we have to choose our battles.
The short answer is yes, bentonite clumping cat litter is generally safe for healthy cats and kittens. But that doesn&#;t mean it&#;s necessarily the best option for your cat. Look around for alternatives if your cat and your budget allow it!
Have any questions? Feel free to comment!
Is Sodium Bentonite Clumping Cat Litter Killing Your Cat?
Update: October 11,
Just noticed someone has referred to this post in a forum: &#;&#;says that there&#;s no evidence that using bentonite clay litter is harmful for cat and humans health, but it&#;s best to avoid it&#;.
Let&#;s clarify our stand with regard to using sodium bentonite clumping clay litter since, evidently, it is not clear enough.
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We do not say &#;best to avoid&#;.
We strongly recommend that you avoid any clumping litter that has sodium bentonite as one of its constituents.
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Cat litter manufacturers cannot possibly be unaware of the dangers that sodium bentonite cat litter poses to cats. If there&#;s one thing you can be sure of, it is that cats will lick themselves after using the bentonite clay because this clumping variety of litter will stick to their paws. Every time your pets visit the litter box, they ingest the cat litter through inhalation and licking.
The litter accumulates in their stomach and swells, forming a hard lump that renders the stomach to the same state as blocked plumbing. The body will try to cleanse itself through repeated bouts of diarrhea during which time the stomach can hardly absorb any nutrient.
Unfortunately, only the diarrhea is diagnosed by most doctors, and medicines are prescribed upon such diagnosis. The patient eventually succumbs to a very painful death.
The only treatment is to remove the cat from the litter, and then to put the patient on holistic treatment using soothing laxatives to get rid of the poison. During this time, it is best to feed homemade chicken or fish broth or stock. If the treatment begins early, recovery is a distinct possibility.
Currently, apart from the organic varieties, there are three main categories of cat litter: clump, silica crystal and the plastic crystal varieties. The last one is used by Cat Genie automatic litter box and it is reusable (until you have to replace it). The first two types are used by Litter Maid, a Self-Cleaning Litter Box.
Apart from these two leading brands, clump and crystal cat litter are sold by various companies, either as a standalone product or as recommended litter for the specific brand of cat litter box.
Want more information on Natural Sodium Bentonite Cat Litter? Feel free to contact us.
If you are looking for a more detailed account, please read all about Cat Litter, its origin and development in the comprehensive guide on our Overview (Home) page.
The clump variety of cat litter comes as grainy particles that absorb the liquid from the excreta and also control the odor by forming clumps which can then be scooped out and replaced.
The most powerful clumping substance is Sodium Bentonite, a certain type of clay that swells up to 15 times its volume in the presence of water and is, therefore, extremely effective as cat litter.
Today, more than 50% of the cat litter sold in the U.S. is of the clumping variety, and most of it is made from bentonite clay which is usually procured through surface mining &#; a process detrimental to the environment. We are warned against flushing sodium bentonite cat litter as the cement like clumping property can block plumbing.
The now defunct Cat Fancy magazine carried an article by A. D. Shojaim, How Cat Litter is Made in its October issue. The following is an extract:
&#;Sodium bentonite, a naturally swelling clay, is often added as an extremely effective clumping agent. When liquid is added, bentonite swells to approximately 15 times its original volume. But because sodium bentonite acts as an expandable cement would, litters containing sodium bentonite should never be flushed; when they expand they can block plumbing.&#;
Curiously enough, the article made no connection between possible internal blockage that a living being may develop if sodium bentonite litter is ingested. Perhaps, the author did not take into account the possibility that cats could accidentally (while grooming themselves after having visited the litter box) or willfully (as is frequently the case with kittens) ingest this litter.
Marina McInnis, in the January/February issue of Tiger Tribe: Holistic Health & More For Cats writes about a mysterious disease that kept plaguing (and often killing) her kittens. She finally connects the symptoms to the clumping litter and replaces it with an organic litter. The patients are finally cured through holistic medication.
An updated version of her story may be found here. In her write-up, she refers to Shojaim&#;s article in Cat Fancy magazine. She also has archived on her site hundreds of letters from cat owners thanking her for saving their cats&#; lives through this one article.
But of course, those letters are not scientific evidence and neither is her &#;story&#;.
It may be pertinent to note in this context that clinical evidence of (suspected) bentonite toxicosis in a cat is published for the first time in the public domain by Marina as well.
May , Annie B. Bond&#;s article appears on Care2.Com: The Dangers of Clumping Cat Litter.
Stanford University&#;s eco-advice column answers a query in December on choosing cat litter. It talks of hazards of sodium bentonite litter and suggests alternatives.
There&#;s an article on About.Com that speaks at length of problems related to bentonite litter and also refers to Marina&#;s article as where the dissent originally started. I could not find its date.
In late I started this blog on my earlier domain kapush.net.
This list is more of a chronology leading to my own efforts than a &#;Further Reading&#; section and is by no means exhaustive.
Dr. Elsy&#;s sums this up with much confidence (under &#;Precious Cat Litter&#;, Question: &#;Are clumping litters safe for my cat?&#;):
Concerns that bentonite clays will &#;set-up&#; in a cat&#;s stomach are un-founded [sic]. Over half of the litters sold today include bentonite clay and have proven safe for cats since their introduction over fifteen years ago. In fact, the convenience of clumping clays have [sic] contributed greatly to the growth of cats as pets. In Dr. Elsey&#;s 25 plus years as a feline only veterinarian, he has never had a case where clumping litters have caused a problem with a cat.
In other words, there is NO EVIDENCE that sodium bentonite clumping clay litter may be harmful to cats. Anecdotal evidence, of course, doesn&#;t count.
Interestingly, Dr. Elsy&#;s says the following to the question &#;Are your litters flushable?&#;
No! DO NOT FLUSH our litters. These litters are designed to form hard clumps. A &#;flushable&#; clumping litter is a contradiction. If it dissolves or breaks apart in a toilet, it will break apart in a litter box. A true clumping litter is more convenient for you and better for your cat.
Cat&#;s Pride (a flushable litter that claims not to clump as hard as sodium bentonite litter) echoes Dr. Elsy&#;s in support of bentonite clay:
Any suggestion that sodium bentonite will cause harm or fluid retention in cats is simply not accurate and has never been documented in the veterinary scientific community. In fact, numerous consultations, interviews, and tests by many vets have found no evidence relating normal use of a clumping/sodium bentonite litter with the sickness or death of any kitten or cat. For additional information visit http://www.sorptive.org/content/index.shtml
Again, there&#;s NO DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE that sodium bentonite is harmful.
By the way, don&#;t bother clicking the link at the end of the quote, it leads to a page not found error.
And, of course, without documented evidence, the following cannot possibly be connected:
There&#;s something interesting going on here.
The absence of documented evidence may imply that research conducted in this area yielded no evidence.
However, there isn&#;t any research that investigates what happens when cats eat clumping litter.
Anecdotal evidence that sodium bentonite clumping litter is harmful to cats is not acceptable because we need documented evidence.
But anecdotal evidence that no cat has ever been harmed by bentonite litter is more than enough to &#;prove&#; that such litter is completely safe.
Just for clarification:
In Dr. Elsey&#;s 25 plus years as a feline only veterinarian, he has never had a case where clumping litters have caused a problem with a cat.
is anecdotal evidence (and pretty pathetic &#;research material&#;).
And
&#;numerous consultations, interviews, and tests by many vets have found no evidence relating normal use of a clumping/sodium bentonite litter with the sickness or death of any kitten or cat.
is clever evasion.
No one claimed that normal use of any litter ever harmed a cat. Cats ingesting bentonite litter while grooming themselves or kittens playfully eating clumping litter on purpose are not normal uses of cat litter. Yet they happen all the time.
And we are back to where we started in this vicious cycle: there&#;s only anecdotal evidence of deaths caused by sodium bentonite clumping clay litter.
Some manufacturers clearly state that their products contain sodium bentonite, others don&#;t. If you find a &#;clumping&#; litter which also has the word &#;clay&#; somewhere in its list of ingredients, it probably has sodium bentonite in it. When bentonite is not present and the litter is made of clay, you are unlikely to find the clumping property emphasized.
You might also want to read about the few certified organic cat litter brands we have at present.
For more options, explore these Natural Cat Litter choices some of which clump pretty well
Apparently. Bentonite clay and other, similar ingredients found in inorganic cat litter have effectively stabilized and absorbed liquid nuclear waste for years. It is possible that sodium bentonite cat litter has absorbed more ammonia and urea from nuclear waste than it has from kitty pee (!). This came to light after an unfortunate incident at the New Mexico Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Workers had arbitrarily replaced the usual inorganic cat litter with Swheat Scoop which is made from wheat. According to James Conca,
Cat litter has been used for decades in radiochemistry labs and nuclear facilities to stabilize certain radwastes, like liquid scintillation solutions, evaporator bottoms, and other materials that have nitrate salts in solution.
Nitrate salt solutions can ignite when they dry out &#; which is why it&#;s tricky working with nitrate solutions in the lab and why you need to make sure they don&#;t dry out, something many a chemistry student has found out the hard way. So you need to stabilize nitrate solutions before they dry out, or prevent them from completely drying out.
The organic litter was not equipped to stabilize the nitrate salts and dried them to the point of ignition. Well, this was in and on Valentine&#;s Day, no less. Thankfully, there were no fatalities and the radiation released was not strong enough to cause environmental concern. WIPP, in spite of performing flawlessly for 15 years, was shut down after the incident and last I heard, it was supposed to reopen this year ().
Cleaning the litter box and replacing used litter is made extremely convenient if the litter clumps. The problem, therefore, is not the property of clumping but the agent used. This, of course, is easily overcome by switching over to an organic clumping material.
There are a number of organic clump litters available. Natural Wheat Cat Litter from Swheat Scoop is what we can probably vouch for (as long as you promise to NOT use it to absorb anything but feline waste!). Probably, because even though we use wheat chaff, it is not Swheat. We purchase the chaff of wheat from wheat grinding mills in our locality and so far, the stuff has been more than excellent as litter.
The litter &#;box&#; in our shelter is basically shallow trenches dug in the ground and filled with sawdust and wheat chaff with a bit of citronella oil thrown in for odor control.
EDIT (May 28, ):
One of my readers objected to the use of citronella oil (which is, indeed, toxic to cats if used in large quantities). I&#;m glad this point was brought up. Here&#;s a screenshot of the exchange. Click on the image for a larger, readable version. Or scroll down to the comments.
Recycled newspaper, wood shavings, sawdust, wheat chaff &#; anything organic that will not behave like cement is good litter for your fur baby.
Even silica crystals are not safe and, apparently, they are responsible for affecting the lung tissues of the cat with lesions eventually causing cancer of the lungs or the throat. Please refer to our post on the Problems of Silica Gel Cat Litter if you wish to know more.
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If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Clumping Bentonite Cat Litter.