If you use clumping litter, please read this.
 
If you don't like sad stories - don't read this.
 
I received a call today (Sunday, 6/23) from a ferret owner in Indiana who
uses clumping litter with her ferrets.  D.F.  found one of her 1 year old
ferrets dead, with clumping litter clogging it's throat.  Seems this ferret
enjoyed playing with the "litter balls" and in picking one up, it moved to
the back of it's throat, expanded, and clogged the pipes.
 
Some clumping litters can expand up to 15 times their own size.  Imagine
what this does to the pipes in your plumbing, not to mention in animals.
Reports are constant of kittens just learning how to use the litter box
getting sick and dying, because they are ingesting clumping litter when
cleaning their paws and bums.  Mother cats become ill too, but because their
systems are larger, they can flush out the clay before it clogs.  Small dogs
are in trouble in cat households, because they sometimes grab "snacks" from
cat boxes, and if the owner is using clumping litter, the dog may become ill
from ingesting the feces and clogging litter.
 
If you must use "clumping type" litters, let me recommend a new product
called Swheat Scoop.  It is made from 100% wheat and I have tried it with
ferrets and as long as the pan is kept deeply filled and is scooped every
day, it is great.  It will still cause eye and nose irritation if the ferret
digs in it, but it clumps by adhearsion, not expansion, so if it is ingested
by accident, it will be digested or pass through the system.  I will caution
you however - if you allow it to adhere to the side or bottom of the litter
box (because it is not deep enough or you are not scooping every day), it is
like trying to chip cement off - it becomes VERY hard.
 
Otherwise - this household is switching to Nature's Way Feline Pine pelleted
litter.  Wood pellets would be my next recommendation.  If I get donations
of clay litter, I will use it as long as it is not clumping.  I don't think
it is worth the risk any longer.
 
Sincerely,     Pamela Grant
[Posted in FML issue 1611]