My wife came across a great plant based litter.   Its called CatWorks and is
made from peanut shells and skins.  It may not be widely available (about
$10 for 40#).
The pellets are about 2/3 the size of the paper based litters, the smell
containment is GREAT, and it clumps somewhat.  It is the best we have found
(based on our criteria) and we have tried many.  It's an alternative worth
looking into.
 
And now for something completely different.......
 
When I got my 1st ferret I wondered how long it would live.  Books said 5 to
10 years and I was satisfied.   Then he succumbed to lymphoma at 3 and I
wondered again.   My vet and other sources said they are geriatric at 3.
 She also said 3 to 5 yrs. was more likely.  Now I see that Dr. Williams got
Oscar to live for 8 1/2 with his problems and some one wrote about a 9 yr
old going strong.  I still don't know the curve for ferret lives and have
never seen one even mentioned.  These anecdotal results leave me
unsatisfied.  What can a ferret of a given age be expected to live and how
many do live to a given age?  Is 9 the exception or is 3?  There seems to be
a great of variability that could be quantified.  Both vets and owners would
benefit from knowing.
 
I would like to correct this and the FML can be the data base to do it!
 Here is the project I propose.  I would like to collect age and cause of
death data from all of you and create the lifespan curve.  I'm thinking that
a scale of 3 month intervals would be about the limit of accuracy possible.
 Possibilities include medical deaths only, all causes, male vs. female,
subsets of various diseases, etc.  I'm willing to do the number crunching,
but it will all depend on you since this will only be as good as the data
and sample size permit.   If this seems like a good I idea, I can go into
more detail later.
 
One other thing.  I am anon. and intend to stay that way.  I would have to
impose on BIG to forward data to me or set up a temporary place I can GET it
from (not appropriate for FML postings).  The person from CA who came out a
little while back was right that the Feds couldn't care less.  The state is
a different matter.  'Round here it's a $250 fine for importing and another
$250 for harboring each ferret.  My 7 would set me back some.  Worse, they
would be taken and dispatched one way or another.  Nothing is worth that
risk.  The NRA sticker about prying from my dead, cold hands also comes to
mind and ferrets carry enough baggage.
 
              Till next time...........Rudy the ferlosopher
[Posted in FML issue 1147]