We had ourselves a bit of snow Sunday night into Monday. We got about 7 inches here, and I understand other parts of the state got more snow than we did, bless their hearts.
I find this snow business utterly ridiculous, as if I wanted to deal with 7 inches of cold white snow, I’d still be living in the Northeast. You will please note that I am NOT. Of course, it apparently only does this about once every 17 years or so, so I don’t suppose I should complain too much, should I?
None of the cats were at all interested in going outside except for Joe Bob, who was just all kinds of unsure of what was going on.
Even he eventually gave up and came inside and settled on the heated cat bed on the couch for the rest of the day.
Last week, I stopped at Petsmart to look at their selection of litter. I’ve used Fresh Step for years and I like the way it clumps and I like the way it (mostly) prevents my house from smelling like cat poo all the time, but the dust is absolutely horrific, especially in the past few months. Every time I scoop the litter boxes (and there are currently 8 of them in this house) a great wave of dust goes through the house, and Fred reels around and gags and coughs and acts like a great big drama queen. In the interest of not having to listen to the coughing and gagging, and also in interest of not dying from a condition so rare that it’ll likely be named after us (Anderson Litter Lung), I decided it was time to see if I couldn’t find something that clumps halfway decently without the overwhelming dust.
I bought a bag of Precious Cat Litter, a bucket of Fresh Aire Litter, and a bucket of ExquisiCat Scoopable. I wanted to try the Cat’s Pride litter, but they didn’t have it at Petsmart or at Target either. Supposedly Walmart carries it, but I checked this weekend at Walmart, and nada.
Three days after I changed out the litter boxes and refilled them with the new litter, I can tell you that Fresh Aire is a nightmare – I didn’t think it was possible for litter to be dustier than Fresh Step – and doesn’t clump worth anything. The ExquisiCat is less dusty than the Fresh Step, but still too dusty. The Precious Cat appears to be the winner – clumps well, and hardly any dust at all.
(I had considered crystals, but don’t feel it’s safe to use with kittens. I don’t like the smell of World’s Best Cat Litter, and I did try Swheat Scoop, but the kittens immediately started eating it, so that went right out the door. I don’t care if it’s safe for them to consume – every group of kittens that comes through here has coccidia, giardia, or both, and I don’t want them eating potentially infectious litter.)
I don’t like that the Precious Cat costs more than the Fresh Step, but when weighing the cost against the dust, I’m willing to make that sacrifice.
(But I’m sure Anderson Litter Lung will still get me in the end. I’ve been inhaling that dust for years now.)
The other thing I like about the Precious Cat litter – it’s unscented.
That said, if you have a litter you absolutely love, I’m all ears!
The Bradys seem to spend a lot of time with their little mouths wide open.
“I KEEL YOU!”
“I BITE YOU RIGHT ON YOUR NOSE!”
“YOU BITE ME ON MY NOSE, I POP YOU WITH MY SHARP LITTLE CLAWS!”
“I KEEL YOU!”
“NO, I KEEL YOU!”
“They’re skeery.”
“You come here, Lady, I bite you on your face.”
Two videos today. The first, the Bradys hanging out in the foster room (with a visit from Corbie), shot sometime in December.
The second, Alice caught in the act of, well – just go see yourself (try not to fall asleep during the fascinating conversation Fred and I have.)
One thing the snow did was bring out the birds, who emptied our bird feeders in no time flat. Fred resorted to tossing a scoop of bird seed onto the ground every couple of hours to appease the birds.
The cats spent all day long in front of the side doors, watching the birds. Those birds drove them CRAZY.
Elwood and Corbie.
L to R: Tommy, Sugarbutt, Jake, Elwood, Corbie, Rhyme.
Jake, Elwood, Corbie, Rhyme.
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Previously
2010: Hydrox blew them out of the water at a hefty 5 pounds!
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Poor Cosette – she runs from us now because almost every time we go into the kitten room, we grab her up and shoot stuff down her throat.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.