According to many experienced cat owners, wood litter for cat litter In terms of price-quality-convenience ratio, it is the market leader by a large margin. Interesting facts Igor Stus, the owner of eight cats, shared with our website about this type of filler and his experience of using it.

– I have been using wood tray fillers for a long time and am very pleased with them, although we have tried the most different types. All the shelters and shelters I know also give preference to wood filler. I was curious how and who came up with the idea of ​​using sawdust in such an original way.

History of sawdust, or "pellets"

A short search on the Internet led me to Germany back in 1947. A sawmill manager named Rudolf Gunnerman came up with the idea of ​​pressing sawdust in order to... throw it away. The problem was that transporting sawdust to a landfill turned out to be expensive - it is very bulky and light.

The trucks had to make many trips and the movers had to shovel for a long time, and, ultimately, the cost of removing sawdust became very high. Rudolf Gunnerman began to press them so that more would fit into the body, and such briquettes or sawdust granules were called “pellets.”

A few years later, after emigrating to the United States, Gunnerman proposed using his invention as fuel. And, by the way, this method is very effective: pressed sawdust gives more heat than wood, if calculated by weight, and burns almost completely. In the 1970s, Gunnerman filed a patent for his invention, but exactly when pellets began to be used as wood filler for cat litter is unknown.

There are more forests in Russia than in any other country in the world. Of course, we have already thought of pressing sawdust - this is not Newton’s binomial, but animal lovers in our country still use an imported invention, and all because most Russian wood litter for cats is made from waste or from deciduous wood, while imported ones - from coniferous species. The latter absorb and “hold” the smell much better.

How wood litter for cats is now produced

Modern pellet production is a high-tech process that does not rely on sawdust pressing alone. They are sorted into different categories, ground to a dust state, special mechanical devices are used for molding, cooled, and dried. During production, temperature, humidity, and composition of raw materials are taken into account.

But the ingredients of this “dish” remained the same - only natural wood, no chemical additives. This is why pellets are ideal for the hygiene needs of animals. In addition, “cat” wood filler remains one of the cheapest. Cost in pet stores, according to at least, in Moscow starts from 20 rubles per kilogram.

Here it is important not to confuse kilograms and liters: despite pressing and granulation, pellets remain a very light and voluminous substance. And, most importantly, for cat needs there is no point in buying more expensive, high-quality pellets - the absorbent properties do not differ very much, and three kilograms of wood filler in the tray absorbs up to 12 liters of liquid.

For me personally, as a very lazy cat owner, pellets have a very important quality. After a portion of pellets is used by cats, you can simply pour it completely into a garbage bag, without sorting. The tray remains clean and dry and smells like sawdust.

Well, this is of course a matter of personal preference. Wood filler causes allergies in some people, which may be due to essential oils contained in sawdust softwood trees used to make it.

But in any case, wood litter for cat litter is very useful invention and a great alternative for those who prefer natural and pure products for themselves and their animals.

Igor Stus

What canned food tastes best for cats?

RESEARCH ATTENTION! You and your cat can take part in it! If you live in Moscow or the Moscow region and are ready to regularly observe how and how much your cat eats, and also remember to write it all down, they will bring you FREE WET FOOD SETS.

Project for 3–4 months. Organizer - Petkorm LLC.

One of the main problems of cat owners is how to arrange a toilet for their pet. What should I put in the tray and should I put it at all? Here's what our forum members think:

• I take pressed sawdust (Siberian cat "Forest", for example). You can change it every 3-4 days. There are many advantages: cheap, environmentally friendly, smells of wood, convenient to use, can be thrown into the toilet.
• Silica gels are distinguished by the fact that they retain 100% odor and can not be changed for 3-4 weeks, removing only solid waste. In addition, silica gel does not stick to the paws and, due to the shape of the granules, is easily thrown out of the tray. A five-liter bag is enough for a month and a half.
• And we’ve been using “Clean Paws” for about 4 years now, it’s clumping. Like.
• My favorite filler is pine sawdust. Cheap and there is no cat smell at all. I change the tray every two days. There is enough sawdust. They absorb and smell only of wood. I have a cat and four kittens who wore them. And it doesn't smell.
• I am allergic to any fillers that contain even the slightest bit of dust. Therefore, there are two options: either silica gel or wood pellets. Because cats have arrived in the regiment, we’ll go broke on silica gel. That leaves "Ephedra". Use with grill. Only the filler is on top of the grate, which is why the sawdust falls down perfectly, from where it is removed (into the toilet).
• We used Pee Pee Bend before, the smell started after a week. Now we use WC cats silica gel - there is no smell even after a month.
• And we do it simply. handful sawdust under the bars. The cat's paws are always clean and there is no smell. We change it every 2-3 days, flushing the swollen sawdust down the toilet. What's on top is big, easy toilet paper collect and into the toilet. And most importantly, they cost pennies!
• I bought a 5 liter bag of sawdust and couldn’t be happier. I pour it evenly, and thin layer and I don’t clean it up for several days, the sawdust increases three times in size, there is no smell and it absorbs everything. However, we remove solid waste immediately.
• I use Siberian Cat - super clumping, in my opinion, it is better than pee-pee-bent, absorbs odor better and 5 liters last for a month. package.
• Kittens often try to eat litter, so it’s worth buying mineral litter without additives (there are special ones for kittens).
• We use CAT SAN, the cat is very happy, there is no smell at all for the first 5-7 days, then it needs to be changed. When we bought a deeper pot, the cat began to dig much less and more quietly. I am very pleased with kat san!
• I tried silica gel cat step, but it didn’t last for a month. Two weeks maximum. It became all yellow and the cat refused to go into it. From what I liked: the cat is clumping; I didn’t like it: it’s a Siberian cat, but the tree one has to be changed often.
• I really like “Kotyara” - it lasts quite well for 3-4 weeks (I empty a full 3L package at once). I tried other silica gels and didn’t like them.
• I use wood filler - pressed sawdust. There is no smell from the tray; there is enough filler from morning to evening. I tried many fillers. The worst was the one that clumped with clay.
• After a long search for a suitable filler, I found optimal scheme for my cats (I have two). Under the grate I pour compressed wood (for example, kitkat), and on top of the grate - Brava mineral for long-haired cats (although I have both short-haired cats, but the granules do not fall into the grate). In general, the woody smell lingers, and in Brava they dig and row. Everyone is happy.

I tried wood filler (I also noted all of the above advantages for myself) and with clay (you can’t throw it down the toilet), but in both cases, the kitten, when burying it, dumps a third of the contents over the side and spreads it all over the place ((I’ll try silica gel, although of course it’s a little expensive..

And we have two pots (with and without a grate). We use the Siberian cat. I don’t really like it because... It doesn't absorb well, but at least you can flush it down the toilet. And I clean the pots every day. We have a clean cat. If it's dirty, he'll shit on our bed :))

The most beloved and popular among cats and their owners is wood filler. The demand for this product is explained by its affordable cost, ease of use and effective characteristics. The filler perfectly absorbs odors, and therefore no bad aroma will be felt in the house where furry pets live. Cats are designed in such a way that they like to have some substance in their litter box in which they can easily dig a hole. In addition, the contents of the toilet must please the little pet. As a rule, all animals without exception love this filler. Their owners are also delighted with the woody variety.

Types of wood fillers

Wood comes in two varieties: absorbent and clumping. The first option is granules made from crushed and compressed wood dust, which perfectly retains odor and absorbs moisture. High-quality filler is made from spruce and pine wood without the use of any additives. Such compositions have antiseptic qualities. Some companies use walnut shells instead of wood. Thanks to the introduction of innovative technologies in the production of filler granules, the filler granules are cheap, environmentally friendly and do not cause allergies.

The second type of filler (clumping) differs significantly from the absorbent version. If the previous option absorbs moisture from all the poured granules, then when using this type of filler a lump is formed. It is obtained in the place where moisture has fallen. This lump should be removed from the tray.

How to use the filler

Wood litter is usually poured approximately three centimeters deep into the cat's litter box. This amount will be needed for an ordinary deep toilet. If the accessory is equipped with a mesh, then you can reduce the layer to one centimeter. When solid excrement appears, it should be removed using a special spatula. If you begin to feel the emergence unpleasant odor, then it is recommended to replace the filler completely. To make it more comfortable for your cat to go to the litter box, you should rinse the toilet under water every time after you have completely thrown out the litter. running water with soap.

Advantages of wood filler

Wooden cat litter has only one drawback: it sticks to the animal's paws and fur. The pet subsequently spreads these sawdust throughout the apartment. Otherwise, the product consists of only advantages. Namely:

In addition, used litter from a completely healthy pet can be used as fertilizer after pre-composting. This product can also be used for rodents, who eat it with great pleasure.

Filler "Clean paws"

Modern domestic market offers a varied selection of wood fillers manufactured by many trademarks. The most successful brand was “Clean Paws”. “Clean Paws” is a wood filler that is produced to make life easier for people who have cats in their homes. Thanks to special research, it was found that the product of this label can be used all year round. There is no need to regularly replace the contents of the tray. It is only important to remove contaminants.

This is an incredibly beneficial filler. One package of it completely replaces four packages of a product from another brand. Due to the fact that excrement does not come into contact with air, this litter eliminates odor in the best possible way.

Features of choice

The litter you purchased may not be liked not only by the cat, but also by its owner. If this happens, this indicates that you purchased the product low quality. Cheap filler will not retain odor, does not absorb moisture well, and disintegrates quickly.

Therefore, when buying this or that filler, you need to pay attention to the strength of the package and carefully analyze the information about the composition of the product. If the product is produced by a self-respecting brand, then the label will indicate what components the composition is made of, what level of moisture it absorbs and for which animals it is designed. If the packaging contains all this data, then you can safely purchase the filler.

People's opinions regarding the filler

Wood cat litter has long received excellent reviews. The owners who tried to use it once no longer want to buy any other options. Moreover, the wood composition is suitable not only for adult cats and kittens, but also for small kittens. Therefore, there is no need to rack your brain every time about what to fill the animal’s tray with.

The fact that there are special cat litters was discovered in Russia only recently – a quarter of a century ago. Until the 1990s, there were not even trays for cats in our country; plastic trays (aka ditches) for photo printing were used for this purpose. Who else remembers these?

The most advanced urban cat breeders made with their own hands a “miracle of technology” - a dry tray made of two ditches. Holes were melted in the bath using a hot nail. Then it was inserted into another bath, and a “sandwich” was obtained, in which urine was drained through holes in the upper bath into the lower one.

Less advanced cat owners did it easier. The intelligentsia, who used toilet paper in everyday life, made bath fillers from finely chopped newspapers. And simpler people, who needed newspapers themselves, stole sand from children's sandboxes.

With the advent of the market economy, we now have special cat litter boxes and even special litter for them. Ironically, in the West at that time there was a boom in silicate fillers. At that time, silicate fillers were cheaper than natural ones and promised all sorts of benefits, for example, absence of odor and effective absorption of liquid. And natural fillers with the same properties also existed, but were much more expensive.

Over the course of a quarter century, the situation has changed dramatically. Today, natural fillers for trays have become cheaper than silicate ones. And this is their big plus!

What are the disadvantages of silicate fillers?

1. Most of them contain sodium bentonite. This is a chemical agent that, when interacting with water, creates a sticking effect. By absorbing moisture, bentonite swells - 15 times its original volume - and forms a dense, water-insoluble mass. Unfortunately, not all of this mass remains in the tray. Lumps of it stick to the cat's paws. And the cat gnaws them out of his paws and swallows them.
   Sodium bentonite itself is not dangerous to the body; it is even used in food industry– as an absorbent for clarifying wine or purifying moonshine. However, no one would think of swallowing already used bentonite.
2. Silicate fillers contain silica. When you pour the filler into the tray, you can clearly see this silica in the form of a rising column of white dust. The same dust flies in all directions when the cat digs in the tray. But silica is not just dust. When inhaled, it acts as a carcinogen and increases the risk of cancer.
3. Silicate fillers often contain artificial flavors. Their purpose is to give the cat's litter box a pleasant floral scent. But even a person, pouring the filler into the tray, sometimes holds his breath so as not to feel this stuffy smell. What can we say about a cat, whose sense of smell is much more subtle! Ideally, the cat's litter box should not smell of flowers or urine. It shouldn't smell like anything at all!
4. From an environmental point of view, silicate filler is a disaster. According to environmentalists, about three billion tons of dust are blown out of landfills by winds every year. household waste. Used litter that you throw in a landfill does not decompose. Never at all. This means that the mummified excrement of our cats will remain on Earth even when there is no trace of humanity left.

Having brought home a kitten, the question of the toilet immediately arises. For all cats living in apartments, this is a tray. But the tray needs filler. And here the question arises about choosing a filler.

The choice of fillers is so huge that it is difficult to navigate. There are also expensive clumping, simple mineral and cheap fillers made from pressed sawdust. Which one to choose is up to the animal owner. But all fillers are expected to absorb moisture well, completely absorb odor and, most importantly, to please the animal.

Expensive cat litter is not affordable for everyone. Clumping, expensive products are not always liked by animals, and are sometimes even dangerous for them. In veterinary medicine, there are many cases where small kittens ate a little of this filler, which led to serious complications and diseases of the digestive system.

Mineral fillers are cheap, but do not cope with odor. Which makes them less in demand. Compacted sawdust litter does an excellent job of eliminating odor and moisture, but cats easily spill it out of the litter box when raking it. In addition, sawdust sticks to the paws, and this spreads throughout the apartment.

We offer a solution to this issue, which will allow you to significantly save on fillers, completely isolates the smell, and the tray can be changed no more than once a week. All you have to do is remove the solid fragments every day and that’s it!

Let's take pressed sawdust, which copes so well with odor and moisture, and pour it into the bottom of the tray. You need very little sawdust, since when absorbed they will increase significantly in size.

We will place a grate with mineral filler on top. It passes moisture through itself, and the sawdust absorbs it and neutralizes it. In addition, all cats like the mineral filling; it does not spread on its paws throughout the apartment, does not stick to the animal’s fur, and, apparently, is very pleasant to rake.

The proposed method will save a lot of money. Housewives will not be horrified by the torn up contents of the cat litter, and guests will never smell an unpleasant odor.

So, if your cat just can’t get used to the toilet, she may simply not like its contents.