In our house, we are using a natural pine clumping litter. It's flushable and biodegradable: "Feline Fresh" by the people at PlanetWise. No, I don't work for them, I just love the product.

We use Feline Fresh as well. I also carry it in my store for the following reasons:

It's made in the US and of natural pine.
It lasts four times longer than clay.
It eliminates odors from liquid waste WITHOUT harmful chemicals or perfumes.

We don't get any paper newspapers anymore and now read them online, but I like the idea of making litter at home.

It's really scary how much "stuff" is in everything, including most kitty litters. It's really unnecessary and harmful. Lately I've tried to look for something to change each day. Nearly everything at the grocery store (besides the produce section, which I do not bag things there anymore) comes in one or another type of plastic!

Feline Fresh, eh? I'll have to tell Cleo about that. I've heard good thing about pine litters, and it seems to make more sense than giving a kitty food for litter (like the stuff that's wheat and corn based). Thanks, guys!

I use a brand called Kitty Soft. It's made from newspaper and baking soda but the newspaper is compressed into pellets that seem to absorb more than any of the newspaper based litters I've tried. I have a kitty with kidney failure (CRF) and so he pees a lot more than a normal cat so absorbency is vital.

The kitty litter recipe does look good but between time, resources (I read the newspaper online), and the shear volume of cat litter I go through, I may not save any money (or even environmental resources) making it myself. I'm definitely going to give it a shot at some point because I'm worried that one day I'll go to the pet store and they'll tell me that Kitty Soft is out of business and I'll be up a creek (I've tried two other newspaper litters and neither were sufficient. And I seem to be allergic to the wheat and pine litters.)

Thank you for sharing this information!

Now what to do about the used litter?

I've heard it can't be put in the compost and it's also not good to flush it (flushing the litter puts a strain on our sewage treatment plants) ... so are there any options other than the landfill? Can it be added to a long-term compost pile, one that sits longer before being used? Or a compost pile that only gets used on non-edibles?

Any ideas?

You can certainly compost paper-based litter. Think about it: the components of good compost are nitrogen and carbon. Kitty pee is mostly nitrogen. Newspaper is mostly carbon. Pee plus newspaper equals great compost!

Pee is also pretty sterile most of the time (at least in humans it is, I'm not absolutely certain about cats), unless your kitty carries parasites like schistosomes, which are only common in the tropics. And composting your used litter in a hot pile, turning it often, can get the material up to a temperature that'll kill any problematic bacteria, viruses, and parasites anyway. If you add your litter to an already active compost pile, or start it with some aerated compost tea, worm tea, or worm castings, you can jump-start the beneficial microbial action, and chances are that besides breaking the litter down really fast into some great humus, you'll get enough good bugs to outcompete any potential bad ones.

The other advantages of composting (which goes for your yard and kitchen waste too) are that you don't have to use fossil fuels to truck the stuff away, you don't landfill it, and you can return all those wonderful, vital nutrients to your garden soil where they'll help feed plants that'll either feed you, fix carbon out of the atmosphere thus helping with global warming, make your yard a happier, healthier place for your pet, or all three!

I posted about clay litters, especially the clumping kind, on my blog as well some time ago. I only use natural litters now, mainly Feline Pine. Worlds Best Cat Litter is excellent, but a little more pricey. The pine litters do an excellent job on odor control.

I've read that it's ok to compost cat waste, but not for use in gardens or anything that will be consumed, because of its toxicity.

Anybody know the final word on this?

aj

I've been doing a lot of research into composting lately, and have read in many places that composting dog and cat waste is fine but it is only to be used on ornamental gardens, not on food gardens. Cat waste does carry some nasty bacterias & bugs, and Jennifer is right, the heat from the compost usually kills it, but it's still risky to use on food gardens. I have two compost bins, one for veggies & one for flowers, but if you don't have room on your property for two I have seen in-ground containers for pet waste ("Doggie Dooley") that might work better. Either way, it's better than putting it in a plastic bag to sit in the landfill for years!
As for the litter, I love Feline Pine, both the pellet and the sawdust scoopable versions. My cats don't bury in the pellets very well, so a mixture of the two kinds works the best for me. My husband has a hyper-sensitive nose and hates the smell of the catbox, but with the pine litter he doesn't even notice it & I can go a couple of days between cleanings.

I have been big on natural litters for many years because the clays were too dusty for my allergies, and I didn't want my kitties exposed to the synthetic and perfumed alternatives. I have had great experiences with the wheat (Sweet Wheat) and corn husk (World's Best) types as far as odor and cat-compatibility. I ended up sticking to the pine stuff though because of cost. I think it's just as effective as the others, but doesn't last quite as long. I have three cats and the 9 year old has bad kidneys so he goes all the time. I live in Southern California where you can get a bag of the Trader Joe's brand pine pellets for $3, so I recommend that to the folks paying $8-10 a bag at pet stores for the name brand stuff. Also, as a reminder, the rule is to have one more litter box than the number of cats you have in your home (I have four cleverly hidden throughout). So if you're having smelly problems start there and then figure out which litter you like. And for those who want to sneak by on less boxes because your cats are indoor/ outdoor, pretty pretty please, for their sake, read up on reasons why cats should stay indoors at all times.

My question is how safe is the ink on newspapers for our pets?

Another question is where can a person find "Only Natural Pet All in One Flea Remedy", "Neem Oil", and natural pine clumping cat litter?

My vet told me to stop putting baking soda in the litter box, as it's bad for the cats' paws (too alkaline) & it's not good for the cats to inhale the dust.

Also, this litter recipe is very time consuming. I think one could do more beneficial things in the time that it takes to do this process, like grow food & volunteer. If my time is eaten up with so many additional chores & lengthy processes in order to be Green, I think it's backfiring ---probably not so Green.
Also, that's a lot of water being used. I think of the people in Congo & other places who have to pay so much for water & do back breaking hauling of water for the most basic need.

It's not just this cat litter. It's the cumulative chores, often falling upon women, trivializing our lives. I mean, if it's only a few things & it makes one feel good, then great. But so much focus on life's little details & the creation of more mundane unnecessary processes, eventually takes us away from the bigger projects of making significant change with each other. Aside from discussing them on the Web, these extra projects increase our time spent isolated in our home units & make it less likely that we'll be reaching out, helping others in significant ways to create positive change in our communities.
I say, balance priorities. Spend that time in animal shelter, or advocating for mandatory spay & neuter, or promoting adoptions. Green is good, but Good can be bigger & sometimes greener.

I have an update and another litter alternative:

- Aquarium gravel or small stone gravel in a sifting litterbox.

The idea is to keep the gravel above the sifter so you may have to add another layer of finer mesh. You lift the sifter, pour out the pee, pick the poo out and put it in the trash, rinse the gravel and put it back. Once a week you washing the gravel thoroughly. More details here: http://www.panix.com/~mrw/page.cgi?2_4

- I did a bit of research on the issues with the cat poo. There is a parasite called toxo (toxoplasma gondii) that can live harmlessly in many animals. Cats however can shed the toxo eggs in their feces which can be a risk for particular animals, people with suppressed immune systems or pregnant women (can cause birth defects) to name a few. I haven't seen anything that indicates this is an issue with the pee, just the feces but I'm not an expert. I have also seen a few places where it's mentioned that the toxo issue is more about feral cats and that toxo in indoor only cats isn't as often an issue.

So at this point I'd rather be on the safe side and put the feces in the trash ... or as someone else mentioned compost for non-food gardens. My cats' pee is going down the drain at the moment.