Non-degradable cat litter
(inorganic cat litter) mainly include:
Fuller cat litter, bentonite cat litter, silicone cat litter, ceramic cat litter, zeolite cat litter ;
Degradable cat litter (organic cat litter) mainly includes:
Grass cat litter (pine wood) sand, bamboo sand, grass sand, paper sand), coarse grain cat litter (tofu cat litter, corn cat litter, wheat sand).
Fuller cat litter
Fuller cat litter is also called mineral cat litter to prevent clumping Fullerian clay-based.
Common fuller soils include kaolin clay, montmorillonite clay, sepiolite clay, attapulgite clay and other varieties.
In the 1980s, due to montmorillonite clay For its clumping properties, montmorillonite is singled out as bentonite cat litter.
Kaolinite clay, referred to as kaolin, is a kind of kaolinite mineral as the main component, with high whiteness, soft quality, suitable for dispersion and suspension in water, with good plasticity and high viscosity.
The wet expansion coefficient of kaolin is between 3% and 10%, and the smaller the particle size, the greater the expansion coefficient.
Sepiolite Clay
is a The main ingredient is clay.
The appearance is yellow-brown, dark gray, gray-white and other colors, clod-like, soft and light, sticky and plastic, and slippery to the touch. After adding water, it can be adjusted into a paste, and it can be hammered after drying to leave hammer marks.
Attapulgite clay is a clay with attapulgite as its main component, especially it is very similar to montmorillonite clay, and the two often coexist.
The soil is fine and slippery, sticky and plastic when wet, light in weight and small shrinkage when dry.
Throw it into the water, it fizzes, and it crumbles into pieces, but doesn’t swell.
Although Fuller cat litter does not agglomerate and is inconvenient to handle excrement, Fuller cat litter, especially attapulgite, disintegrates in water, especially Suitable for flushing toilets.
In other respects, Fuller cat litter is similar to bentonite cat litter, but its deodorizing ability is poor, and artificial flavors may be added to cover up the odor.
Bentonite cat litter
Bentonite cat litter is mainly composed of montmorillonite clay.
Appearance is generally white, pink, light gray, light yellow, lavender, with high liquid limit characteristics of significant swelling in contact with water and significant shrinkage in water loss.
The expansion ratio of sodium bentonite is as high as 20 to 30 times, and the water absorption of sodium bentonite is large, up to more than 500%.
Bentonite cat litter is usually made by sodium-based bentonite powder, water and additives, molding and drying.
Bentonite can quickly gather together, reduce the generation of debris, and facilitate cleaning, making it one of the mainstream cat litter.
But bentonite cat litter is dusty and has poor deodorizing ability. It can only be deodorized by adding artificial fragrance or other deodorants, which is easy to cause harm to the cat’s respiratory system.
And its high density and heavy weight lead to high express delivery fees and it is not easy for consumers to carry.
Silicone cat litter
Silicone cat litter is also called crystal litter. It is usually C-shaped block-shaped indeterminate silica gel, or spherical silica sand, which has large pores, high adsorption capacity and deodorizing ability.
Crystal cat litter
It is easy to generate silica dust, which is harmful to humans and cats. Crystal cat litter has poor agglomeration.
You can use a single-layer cat toilet or a double-layer cat toilet, so that the powdered cat litter can be filtered to the bottom layer, and the diaper pad can absorb the remaining urine .
Crystal litter
Usually additives are added to crystal cat litter. It is used for water saturation detection and ammonia removal.
Cobalt chloride is often used as a water detection agent. Anhydrous cobalt chloride is blue, and cobalt chloride turns red or pink when it encounters water.
Cobalt chloride can also be used as an ammonia absorbent to absorb ammonia gas in feces. However, cobalt chloride is toxic and allergenic and is not suitable for long-term use.
PH detection crystal sand
with crystal sand to detect urinary diseases, Using silica gel cat litter as the carrier,
add PH mixed indicator to the silica gel cat litter,
methyl red discoloration range is 4.2-6.2, from red to yellow,
The discoloration range of thymol blue is 6.7-7.5, from yellow to blue, and the color indication of cat litter can be adjusted by adjusting the ratio of methyl red and bromothymol blue in the mixed indicator.
By adding a dispersant, the mixed indicator is evenly dispersed in the silica gel to stably indicate the pH of cat urine.
The pH value of cat urine is generally between 5.5-7.5, and in most cases it is acidic.
If the cat urine changes from acid to alkali, the color changes from yellow (PH≈6.5), turns blue (PH≈7.5). There may be problems with the body.
PH detection crystal sand can keenly detect cat urinary system diseases, cystitis, bladder stones, urethral obstruction, bladder infection, etc. Able to monitor cats with a history of infection.
Lazy cat litter
Lazy cat litter is an automatic cat toilet The matching cat litter is also a kind of silicone cat litter. Lazy cat litter can be reused, rinse and dry after washing.
Each supplement can be used for 3 months and half a year, and the supplement is carried out by cats and feces and disintegrated.
Lazy litter is a special silicone cat litter, which increases the service life of the cat litter and has functions such as color detection.
Ceramic cat litter
Ceramic cat litter is also known as ceramsite Cat litter and ceramsite are often used as fillers at the bottom of the toilet.
The ceramsite structure has many pores and has a strong water absorption capacity. The ceramsite cat litter can be washed, dried, and recycled.
zeolite cat litter
zeolite was first discovered by Kronstein in In 1756, natural aluminosilicate ore boiled when fired, hence the name zeolite.
Zeolite cat litter is very similar to ceramsite cat litter. Both have absorbent pores and can be reused after cleaning and drying. It is recommended to use a double-layer cat toilet.
Grass Litter
Grass Cat Litter There are mainly pine sand, bamboo sand, grass sand, paper sand and other varieties.
The main raw materials are sawdust powder, bamboo powder, straw powder, cotton stalk powder, paper scraps, leaves, peanut shells, etc.
This kind of cat litter may be used as raw materials for production of various furniture scraps and recycled pulp, and the formaldehyde content is relatively high.
It is not ruled out that natural wood chips and grass powder are used for the production of grass and wood litter, but in the process of bonding and molding cat litter, binders are added, resulting in excessive formaldehyde as a whole.
The control of formaldehyde content is the first priority for grass sand. Grass and wood sand is easy to disintegrate in contact with water, and can be flushed directly into the toilet, but a double-layer cat litter box must be used, and the bottom cat litter box is covered with urine pads.
Coarse grain cat litter
Coarse grain litter mainly includes tofu Cat litter, corn cat litter, wheat litter, etc.
Use pea dregs, soybean dregs, mung bean dregs, corn cob, wheat bran, rice husk, rice flour and other raw materials, with guar gum and sodium polyacrylate , leavening agent and other additives.
It is light in weight, strong in water absorption, and can be flushed directly into the toilet.
The biggest problem with coarse-grained cat litter is that it is easy to spoil and become moldy, and the aflatoxin may exceed the standard, which will cause great harm to cats if eaten by mistake.
So what needs to be corrected is that coarse grain cat litter cannot be eaten. Don’t believe the food grade propaganda of cat litter.
Coarse grain cat litter is not strong enough to be crushed by cats, resulting in high loss.
The deodorizing ability is worse than that of silica gel and bentonite. Usually coarse grain cat litter has odor-masking derivatives such as green tea and peach, and also mixed with activated carbon to absorb odor.
Why not use pure activated carbon cat litter?
Mainly because of the severe discoloration, the cat’s claws are easy to turn black.
Cautions for cat litter
The formaldehyde content should be used as the main indicator of plant cat litter. Acute poisoning of formaldehyde is manifested as an irritating effect on the skin and mucous membranes.
Inhalation of high concentrations of formaldehyde can induce bronchial asthma, pneumonia, and pulmonary edema. Long-term mutagenic and carcinogenic.
It is very harmful, not only for cats, but also for people.
Aflatoxin
The content of aflatoxin in coarse grain cat litter should also be paid attention to. Aflatoxin is classified as a class I carcinogen by WHO, and it is also a highly toxic substance.
Aflatoxin B1 mainly contaminates grain and oil products.
In summer, bean dregs and corn cob are easy to get moldy. Check the strength to avoid causing more harm.
zearalenone
zearalenone mainly Contamination of corn, wheat, rice, barley, corn sand and wheat sand requires extra attention.
T-2 toxin
is widely distributed in nature and is a common It is the main toxin that pollutes field crops and stored grains, and is more harmful to humans and livestock
Long-term toxicity
Fungicide
Hexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) is often used as a fungicide to treat cat litter.
The cat litter added with PHMB fungicide has a good bactericidal effect, but it will cause aggregate toxicity if used for a long time.
Deodorant
Cobalt chloride is often used as ammonia scavenger and moisture indicator. In cat litter products, cobalt chloride toxicity grade: high toxicity. Inhalation can cause temporary neurological deafness and renal damage
R22 is harmful if swallowed. R49 may cause cancer by inhalation. R42/43 May be sensitizing by inhalation and in contact with skin.
Additives
There are various additives in cat litter, mainly It is to make cat litter look better, mainly to improve water absorption, agglomeration ability, deodorization ability, and adhesion ability.
The quality supervision of cat litter is not strict. It mainly depends on the self-discipline of manufacturers and industry supervision. It is very important to choose a reliable manufacturer.
