Question on recycling cat's sand
- To: "'m*@ucdavis.edu'"
- Subject: Question on recycling cat's sand
- From: V* A*
- Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 11:39:30 +0100
Dear friends,
Well it's not plants but maybe it could be of some interest to cat owners
in the group... Is there any way to recycle cat's sand in the garden? I have
to keep my two cats indoors, as much as I can, because they are both white
and risk ear and nose canker if they get too much sun (I gather this is
typical of medit countries, many of my friends from colder countries have
never heard about this risk). They do go in the garden of course, but stay
at home a lot, to their full satisfaction. Therefore, I must provide them
with the hygenic facility of this "sand", and then I am faced with the
unpleasant responsability of disposing of the used sand, which I must do
regularly and very often. It is perfectly legal to just throw it in the
litter bin, but I feel guilty, thinking of the millions of cat owners who
throw away every day tons and tons of this "sand". On the other hand the
stuff (in Italian, sepiolite, I imagine the english name must sound the
same) absorbs humidity and becomes glue-ish, and I cannot think of a way to
recycle it. Are there handy alternatives that can be composted? I thought
of chipped/shrudded material (before composting), but then, would the cats'
by-products affect the composting process afterwards? Don't suggest to use
plain dirt, I thought of it, but I would rather avoid the mess of little
catpaw's print on floors, carpets, sofas etc.
Any suggestion will be more than welcome.
Thank you,
Alessandra
Alessandra Vinciguerra
American Academy in ROme
via Masina, 5
00153 Roma
Italy
