Cat Food and Litter

[chickpee]

Can anyone recommend an organic cat food. I tried Newman's Own and my cats hated it. I am about to switch to Swheat Scoop litter. Has anyone used this before? Do you think it is more eco friendly to flush litter deemed safe to do so or throw it out? Can you compost Swheat Scoop litter? Thanks for the help greenies!

[donnas]

I've used Swheat scoopable litter and liked it. I also use Arm & Hammer Natural Essentials litter because Walmart has it. I don't know if that one is as green as the Swheat one though. Since I've switched away from the clay litter, I've noticed the cat box doesn't smell so much. I've read that cat litter should not be composted because cat poo is toxic for the soil. I throw it in the trash. I also use biodegradeable cat box liners. Not sure about the cat food - I haven't found a green one that my cat likes, so I just buy the more natural versions of the regular brands.

[scarlett1120]

I'm not a cat owner, but for our dog we use Innova. They are always highly rated and they make cat food, too. Might be worth a try. Good luck...

[dancemom]

We have three cats and recently switched from the clay litter to swheat scoop, which was okay, but not great. Then we found the brand World's Best Cat Litter at Petsmart. It's made of a corn product, totally biodegrades and clumps beautifully (all with no smell or dust)! It is also flushable, but that always worries me. I really recommend it to anyone who wants to stop breathing the dust and filling the landfill with all of that clay! For food, my kitties are all happy eating the dry from a brand called Wellness (at Whole Foods or online) and the like a treat of wet food from a brand called By Nature (at Petsmart).

[screaminggreen13]

From a vet tech POV, I wouldn't recommend composting your cat little/waste. You never know what parasites you're putting into the ground if you don't have your cat's feces regularly checked. They can pick up things so easily.

[lovinglife]

My kitties have been using Feline Pine litter for years without issues. And although many brands including Swheat Scoop and Feline Pine say you can introduce it back into the soil, I don't think they intend to have the "kitty by-product" (read poo) thrown back into the soil.

As far as organic pet food, I look for smaller independent companies (usually family corps) that produce a high quality food with the best ingredients. It may not always be organic. Some organic food out there is made by what appears to be a smaller company but in truth is part of a bigger corporation whose principals are not so green.

I try to feed grain-free and high protein. They like BG (a Merrick food). They also like Merrick's canned food, which by the way, if you open the Thanksgiving Day Dinner smells just like Thanksgiving! And it is low glycemic if you have a diabetic cat. They also like Fromm, which has both holistic and grain-free varieties. Newman's Own is a good suggestion.

Unfortunately, we have to do so much research. And we can't rely on veterinarians unless they are specifically trained in pet nutrition.

[IvyQ]

We switched to Innova Cat food a few years back and cats love it, even my horribly picky one.

I tried eco-friendly cat litter years ago and was very dissapointed and switched back. I recently decided to give it another go. I tried the Arm and Hammer Essentials corn litter. It's probably not as green as some others but I figured that it had to be better then conventianal clay litter. The price is also right.

So far I have been pretty pleased. It clumps ok, not as well as clay, but I can live with it. It controls odor really well! I haven't smelled the litter at all since we started using it, so overall I'm pleased with it.

[Vimzero]

My cat loves wellness cat wet food and chicken soup brand dry food. There's also a great wet organic brand at blue seal if you have one of those by you. I. Don't usually feed him dry food but I give him some once in a while. I also adore feline pine and you can get that anywhere. It really doesn't smell bad as long as you scooeveryday and turn it. If you are concerned you could even sprinkle some baking soda but I usually don't have to.

[Phoenix-Firedancer]

I am lucky in that my cats are not picky eaters in the least. After I use up the cat food I have I am hoping to switch to something more green (although my live-in bf buys the cat food and tends to go for what's cheap, I am slowly changing that). I do however have two issues.
Number 1: I live in Canada and I am not sure what is available here for green cat food


Number 2: I would love to switch to a green litter, however my male cat is extremely picky about what he will use and I haven't been able to successfully switch him over to anything aside from clay! Would mixing half and half work to slowly switch him over (in much the same way you would switch a kitty over to new food by slowly mixing the new food in)? My other 3 kitties (all female) really could care less and are just happy to have a clean litter box!

I would appreciate any and all suggestions to both of my issues.
Thanks in advance

EDIT: I ran out of cat food today and bought the Wellness indoor cat. With four cats that brand will be expensive but I saw BG and Chicken Soup brands there so I might try those if they are good.
I also bought Arm and Hammer Natural Essentials...here's hoping the cats are agreeable to the change

[GeeGeeJo]

I've had my cat (and dog) on Blue Buffalo food from Petsmart/Petco stores for almost 6 months and both are doing well. The cat would rather eat those "grocery store" brands, but we're NOT going back. I thought she was eating less because she didn't like it, but it turns out that it's because it is so much more nutritious with fewer fillers and empty calories! Just like us! Who knew!

I'm tired of litter dust, especially when Roxie comes from the box straight to my bed! We're switching to World's Best with next box refill. (I can't afford to just throw out the litter I have left.)