[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by Jim Hall

uhh whats wrong with clay litter?

From my link above:

Clumping is bad for the health...
The main culprit is sodium bentonite, a natural clay ingredient that expands into a hard mass when it comes into contact with moisture. While this is convenient for cleaning, it’s not great for kitty. Cats inhale fine sodium bentonite particles when they dig in the litter. Once inhaled, the clay expands when it hits their lungs, causing asthma and other lung problems. Cats can also ingest the clay while cleaning their paws and some even develop sores on their pads from it.

Silica-based litters are not much better. This porous granular form of sodium silicate absorbs odours and moisture but is also easily inhaled by humans and felines. It’s been linked to lung cancer, bronchitis and tuberculosis. Some cats can end up with a fatal form of pulmonary tuberculosis called silico-tuberculosis.

...and bad for the planet
Both these conventional litters have an adverse effect on the environment. Produced by the destructive method of strip-mining, clay and silica litter can’t decompose any further because they are already in their natural state. When you consider that we send about two million tons of cat litter every year to the landfill that adds up to a lot of fecal feline matter hanging around.