ON THE ROAD: Kitty litter quitter

City Hippy is always delighted to welcome a new member to the collective. You can look forward to occasional (hopefully not that occasional? Ed.) posts from their green RV but for now sit back and enjoy the first installment from our new ON THE ROAD columnist.

A couple of years ago I did what I thought was the right thing by adopting a cat which would have otherwise gone to the animal shelter. The cat had suddenly become detached from its former owner who moved to a "no pets" apartment. Now I find myself about to do the same thing to the same cat because my husband and I are selling our rural home to live and travel in an RV instead. (Our plan sounds so un-green, doesn't it? Think biodiesel and solar.)

Anyway, we decided it is not fair to our cat, dog, or ourselves to take the cat with us.

Reason #1: Smitty, our cat, is a dog hater. The pet wars would escalate in cramped quarters.

Reason #2: The cat does not ride well and would require sedation each time we were on the road. I don't want to drug the cat to force it to adapt to our new lifestyle.

Reason #3: Kitty Litter: Our floor plan leaves little room for a kitty litter box. Truth be told...I don't want to be tripping over the pet waste receptacle constantly.

This is the 1st indoor cat I have ever owned. Although we currently live on over 2 acres, the cat is afraid of the outdoors. (The local coyotes may have something to do with his fears). Hence, I have pampered Smitty by providing him a kitty litter box. I had a few green things to learn.

Regarding kitty litter, "alternative" refers to avoiding clay based litters due to environmental concerns, and avoiding clumping type litters due to health concerns. Fortunately, I am able to shop at a co-op that stocks two of the top alternative brands. I have been using SWheatScoop.

A thorough review of Alternative Kitty Litters is provided by Marina Michaels. Marina is undoubtedly the definitive kitty litter authority, in my opinion.

My additional alternative suggestions:
Teach your cat to use the toilet
Teach your cat to ask to go outdoors
Get a dog and name it "Cat"

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