The Best Eco-Cat Litter (A post for Cat People)

This isn't very glamorous of a topic, but it IS essential if you are a cat owner. I mean, isn't everyone a cat's human?

As has been discussed, our special cat, Atreyu, has quite the bathroom (and anxiety) issues. We have been incident free since last July (which is great, because the next step was anti-psychotic drugs... :S).

(grr, don't take my photo!)

Part of our pre-emptive strike against 'accidents' of the bowel kind and undue stress is to find the perfect cat litter. It's recommended that for his disorder (some psycho-somatic disorder in cats) that he have his OWN litter box and it be scooped several times a day....

Well... we live in a tiny 700sq ft apartment... so he gets to share in his extra large catIT box.

(Atreyu and Asteya's litter box... right next to Andrew's desk. Also, Andrew was wondering why I was taking photos of the litter box...)

As you can see by where the litter box is placed (also because of his accidents, we couldn't keep it hidden away or he'd forget where it was. No really.) it is extremely important that we have litter that actually absorbs smell. Andrew does all his school work at that desk (and hours of League of Legends and Plants vs Zombies video gaming).

I practice yoga not two feet away. We have friends over all the time and chill in the living room. There is no way I want our living space to smell like cat poo.

I also wanted to make sure that our litter was environmentally friendly. For the longest while we went with Pine cat litter. Andrew liked the smell (even though I know 100% associate pine litter with waste smell) and the cat movements only smelled for a few minutes before being absorbed. Then it stopped clumping... which is really gross.

A month ago we finally caved and tried a new litter: Blue Buffalo Walnut litter. It's like the magical cat litter fairy has shown us the way.

Although it looks really frackin' weird since it's so DARK, there is absolutely NO smell whatsoever. Even when we forget for a few extra days to empty the litter. None. It is the BEST for clumping and we have much less tracking around the apartment.


Oh, and did I mention it was made of walnut shells in the USA??

Be an Eco-Cat-Yogi: Adopt from your local shelter

Two years ago when Andrew and I decided to grow our family to include a cat-person, there was never any question that we'd adopt from our local SPCA (animal shelter).

(Atreyu when we first adopted him)

Our cities have an alarming feral and stray cat problem that just keeps growing- why would we buy from breeders or pet stores when we could rescue a cat already in need of a home?

Although it wasn't free, the cost (which honestly wasn't that bad- 120$ish) included a spay (or neuter), first vaccinations and a microchip implantation. We signed our statement saying our little 8 week old kitten would be an indoor cat that would forever keep his claws and brought him to his forever home.

The experience was even more striking when we adopted our second (and final!) cat-person: Asteya a year later. She was already a year old, had obviously been abandoned by her humans and was slow to trust, slow to love. It has taken her over a year in a half to become openly trusting and affectionate, although she was never actively UNaffectionate, just cautious. Although it breaks my heart that someone obviously abandoned her, I'm so glad we were able to find her a loving, healthy home.

Beyond the 'rescue' aspect of adopting from your local shelter is the fact that feral and stray cats have a significant negative impact on the environment. They are a huge killer of local birdlife and have been pointed out as responsible for species extinction for certain countries like Australia and New Zealand.


Summer means cat-breeding time and as this cbc news clip shows, Nova Scotian (and presumably cities nationwide) SPCA shelters are facing epic cat population crisis.

If you're thinking of adding a kitten to your home, ADOPT from your local animal shelter :)

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Cat Napping...

purr purr purr purr.... *paw to face.

I love both my cats, but the past three weeks have been *cat*astrophic (harhar).

Since Atreyu didn't know how to jump until 6 months after we got Asteya, he got used to us carrying him around so he could sniff and explore things he couldn't normally reach. Like books on the bookshelf... Sometimes Andrew calls him his little prince... awww...

No seriously, for the past three weeks, every night has resulted in three to four wake ups from my cats. I haven't had a full night's sleep the entire time... and we don't even have the hope that they will eventually grow out of the multiple times a night wake ups. Our cats are no longer kittens, so they will be this way forever.

(What? I can jump down from here right?)

A bit of background:

That cute, fluffy black cat? That's Atreyu. We adopted him from the SPCA when he was 8 weeks old. He was a premature kitten that spent the first 7 weeks of his life in a kitten incubator... and obviously has come to us with cognitive impairment... and a vet diagnosed anxiety psycho somatic disorder. Yep, when little Atreyu get's stressed (which he's scared of everything, including the toaster popping) he demonstrates all the symptoms of a bladder infection: inflamed bladder, pain, clenching and inability to pee... without the infection.

(I will allow you to photograph me and my beautiful face)

Asteya was adopted from the SPCA when she was about 1 year old (1.5 yrs ago). She had obviously been abandoned and hadn't had a full meal in a long time. She's now a huge fatty who would eat until she blew up. We have to feed her in a muffin tin.

(this angle makes me look thin... it's like magic!)

These two are the bestest friends (ok, so Atreyu thinks they are and Asteya just tolerates his slow tendencies like she's resigned to living with a brother who is special). Night time means they take turns waking us up. If we shut our non-latching heritage version of "french" doors (complete with windows) they knock. For hours. We've even started feeding them extra food RIGHT before we go to sleep at night. It only works if we go to sleep at midnight (which is crazy, I need more than 6 hours of sleep).

If we leave the doors open they take turns. It goes something like this:

3:45am Asteya decides to jump on the bed and "blurp" at us a bunch cuz she's kinda hungry.
4:30am Asteya has resulted to running over the bed (and our bodies) repeatedly with her rolly polly body. Atreyu thinks it's a fun game and decides to join in.
4:45am I give up and stumble out of bed to feed them.

(this is where for the past 6 months the noise would stop)

5:15am Atreyu is now very excited about the running game... and keeps it going. Over our now awake bodies.
5:30am Atreyu decides he now wants cuddles. Resulting is walking over our bodies until we pet him to his satisfaction.
6:00am Atreyu is asleep... and my alarm goes off.

Sunday Andrew and I bought ss-cat (haha, SCAT... the most ridiculous name ever). It has a motion detector and will release pressurized air to anything within a metre. Last night, despite the risk that this would stress Atreyu out (and cause another psycho-somatic faux bladder infection), we gave it a try. At 4:45am, when Atreyu started knocking on the doors, we placed the sscat outside, shut the doors and waited. One SSSSSSHHHH and we were rewarded with an extra TWO hours of sleep.

And one very traumatized cat the next morning (he needed catnip bubbles and lots of love before he'd even come near the door).

Who needs children really?

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

The Eco-Sacrifices we made for our Cats

Emergency trip to the vet. Yep, the majority of my Friday was spent consoling and soothing our cognitively impaired cat, Atreyu as I discovered from a 3 hour emergency visit that he also has crystals. 

(Atreyu saying HI!) 

Weirdly, we call our cats "pooper" or "kitten" or some variation. Our friends now refer to them as such as well, our Peruvian friend calling them "Poopina and Poopino". 

(Asteya in her favourite place, an old box that delivered Andrew's WoW headphones... she LOVES that box. Also, the Medical Food made her gain weight, so she now has a tummy...)

Sigh. Although Atreyu is recovering well from what appears to be a potentially fatal blockage, both Andrew and I are disappointed. Crystals mean no more nutrient-rich, grain-free environmentally friendly food. We'd prided ourselves in buying Canadian made, grain free foods that would help keep him healthy (ahem, fail) and his coat shiny. Due to the presence of crystals in his urine, formations caused by insufficient water uptake and can cause sceptis and death within hours, we will have to feed him grain-filled Medi-Cal Urinary SO for the rest of his life.

When I voiced my concern regarding the presence of grain to the vet, however, she wasn't very sympathetic. "There is no harm in feeding grain to a cat, corn isn't bad". Unless you care about the planet, the monoculture crops and pesticides taking over our soil and air. Sure grain isn't "bad" for your cat, but it's a filler- minimal nutrients. Like eating white bread. Or MacDonalds. 

We also had to cave and purchase another cat fountain. I was so happy to unplug and give our previous plastic monstrosity away. Our cats were drinking enough from the twice daily changed water bowls we left them, why have something use up extra electricity? Except they obviously weren't (since they BOTH have crystals now).

Saturday was spent purchasing a new, stainless steel and easier to clean, cat fountain. They adore it, but the energy leeching away irks me. At least our friend yoga sessions will now be graced with the peaceful sound of trickling water.

(Atreyu is often confused by things... like water, flames, generally anything at all. Since he doesn't have object permanence, every time he sees it, it's like the first time all over again!)

Our two cats remain eco-friendly in a few ways though....

• We still have grain-free food left, so it will be a 80(Medical)-20 mixture until it's gone.
• We use chemical-free pine litter
• They were both rescued cats (SPCA). An entire section of Alan Weisman's The World Without Us is dedicated to how cats are becoming a huge problem to birds. If you want a kitten, instead of adding one to the billions already present, rescue one and get it fixed.
• They're indoor cats. 
• The fountain at least is stainless steel and not plastic.
  

Despite their eco-rating rapidly slipping away with the ridiculous water fountain and expensive grain-filled stinky food, we love our cats. Even Mr. Atreyu, who as a premature kitten kept in an incubator became our special needs cat (I could write an entire blog post on his "moments", but then I'd REALLY be a cat lady...lol). Plus, my favourite is a purring mass of fur love while I'm in downward dog. 

article and photographs copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Needing some help on the eco-kitten front!

Since rescuing our little bundle of devilish "joy" Atreyu from the SPCA, I have recognized (even though I had a smidgeon of a hint prior to) that being eco-friendly with pets is difficult. I've also realized that practicing yoga with Atreyu really isn't that difficult- it seems yoga scares the crap out of him while at the same time he is irresistibly drawn to my rubber prAna mat.

 (I am in attack mode- I will get my humans!!!, yes i do the voice over)

 

As a premature kitten who actually had to be incubated away from his mother, Atreyu was kinda litter box deficient. Which meant that for weeks we had to keep it uncovered (ew!) and in the middle of our living room in plain view. Yay watching a kitten pee and poo! We have now migrated to the corner of the living room, but he can't seem to figure out how to use the litter box properly with a cover.

Finding litter that is truly eco-friendly at the detriment of perhaps having poo and litter all over the house (the risk you take if your cat is litter box-handicapped) has been kiboshed. I know. I am lame- we've stuck with the "pine" litter even though I know there is no way straight up pine could magically clump. Some chemicals are obviously in there.

We've also been changing the litter by.... GASP.... throwing the litter in a plastic bag and dumping it. This seriously makes me want to vomit just a little bit every time. It goes against everything we've tried so hard to change in our lives. Sadly, I have no idea how to get around this one, since our municipal composting facility won't accept litter. BOO.

Even though he's been pretty sickly- a sneezing machine spewing cat goobers all over (including my macbook screen... ewwwww), Mr. Kitten sure does drink his water. Thanks to an energy sucking little fountain that we have to leave running all.the.time. Supposedly the common thought is that cats don't like to drink a lot of water and as a result get little crystal in their digestive tracts. Which is in fact false, cats just don't like to drink from still water sources. Give them a running water source and they go nuts. Atreyu drinks on average about a cup of water a day. He may have uncurable respiratory illness, but he sure is hydrated! I hate the fountain's use of energy, but he just drinks so much water...

 (although he likes to check to make sure nothing has changed in the toilet, he never tries to drink)

On a behavioural view, Atreyu has been a bit on the extra wild side. He likes to chew everything... especially metal. Our first vet actually scolded us as bad kitten parents because he was "so mouthy". As if we weren't spraying him with water every two seconds, because that's how often he play-bites us. No claws, he can keep those in. Can't seem to retract his teeth though. Bah. It's not even like he doesn't like humans, he's constantly wanting to be wherever we are... bathroom, kitchen, living room...he's a social cat. So now I have to actually warn guests- like an embarrassed parent- "Don't pet him, he bites".

Three things we've managed to do well on this Eco-Kitten Journey; food, toys and sleeping through the night. Andrew was adamant that Kitten not have access to the bedroom at night, so right from day one he was shut out in his Kingdom; the living room. Now he really prefers hanging out in Atreyuland to hanging out with us (plus a friend stayed over once and after one night claimed Atreyu tried to lick her eyeballs all night...).

We feed Atreyu Orijins cat food, made in Canada from sustainably sourced, minimal synthetic ingredients. (Acana is owned by the same company). I guess cats shouldn't be eating grain, who knew? Orijins actually states the percentage of protein, vegetables and grain in their food, which we still weigh out twice a day (he gets an amount depending on his age and current weight. yep we're anal kitten parents). Our cat probably eats less chemicals than we do.

Toys are actually the easiest. Atreyu's favourite toys have been a paper bag from Love,Me Boutique (which is fantastic for more than their cat friendly bags!) and a random ribbon. We've been blessed with awesome equally cat-obsessed friends who have given Atreyu toy hand me downs that their cats are no longer interested in. He adores them.

So, anyone have any suggestions to help with our litter-plasticbagtoawayland issue? How do you try to minimize your pet's footprint?

article and photographs copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Pre-Hurricane cooling thoughts. Why A/C's just aren't cool (pun intended)

I started writing this post, sitting on our building stoop, escaping the heat of our apartment. We watched as for the first time all week clouds marred the sky and a nice cool breeze soothed our skin. We even brought Atreyu (kitten) out in his cat carrier to enjoy the cool(er) air.

 view from our stoop earlier this evening

Of course, this breeze will tonight turn into hurricane force winds as Hurricane Earl comes blustering through Nova Scotia, first of the many hurricane season storms.

Wind was something I missed while living in Vernon BC. Nothing sounds the same as the wind passing through leaves, or the feeling of home when the wind makes the window panes whine and howl.

It's the heat that I cannot stand. This summer has had periods of hot, unusual for coastal Nova Scotia and this week gave us humidity of 40+ (celcius). Andrew and I do not have an air conditioner, only one lonely fan and three windows. Although tempting, we won't be getting one anytime soon.

Air conditioners are catastrophic polluters. Everywhere you look in the city you see the ugly boxes and huge contraptions suck huge amounts of energy as they give you the privilege of having cooler skin. Although most a/c's no longer have icky CFC's in them, their replacement isn't all that better. Many pump HCFCs into our air, which deplete the ozone layer and contribute to climate change through their coils. The "greener" alternative, HFCs are still considered a greenhouse gas.

A fan moving air across your skin will allow the sweat on your skin to dry and the body to cool itself. We've become so accustomed as a nation to feel cold all day, that coping in mid-twenties weather and using alternative means to cool our systems seems impossible. I'm not saying that a certain level of heat isn't dangerous, when you're elderly or a young child... or walking directly under the sun. But simply dealing with a week of heat a few times a year isn't worth the energy suckage and carbon emissions produced.


Sure, "cranky children" and "a bad night's sleep" aren't ideal... but then the reality is that neither of these things compare to destroying our climate. Sorry.


So, how to decrease you're addiction to the a/c?


1. Buy a fan. Fans use 90% less energy than a/c's and like I mentioned above, cool your body naturally. A few fans well placed can really make a huge difference. Especially at night.


2. Keep the window's wide open at night, allowing cool(er) air to flow through your home and shut your blinds and windows during the day. I was flabbergasted at how much cooler our apartment was the days this week that we kept the blinds and windows closed.


3. Drink a LOT of water. Seriously. Cool brita filtered water will immediately help cool off your body while hydrating your system with healing water. We really don't drink enough of it.


4. Make home made popsicles. We use smoothie juice with less sugar, but you can make your own smoothie mix from local fruits and berries. Now is the season!


5. Freeze your magic bag. Every night Andrew went to the freezer, took out his magic bag (cloth bag filled with beans) and used it to help fall asleep at night. Works like a charm.


6. Can't go cold turkey? For home systems turn your thermostat up to at least 26 degrees (celcius). Every half a degree below 25 degrees ups your energy consumption by 8%. Program your thermostat to start cooling only an hour before you get home from work.


7. Box a/c: try slowly adjusting the temperature each day to gradually get used to warmer indoor settings. Introduce a fan and start trying some of the alternative cooling strategies (like popsicles, yum!).


8. Reversible window fans are amazing at pulling the air and creating a much better cooling breeze!

9. Invest in non-hcfc air conditioners that are energy star- at least they use significantly less energy that conventional a/c's.

10. Check your coils- make sure that your a/c isn't leaking harmful ozone depleting chemicals into your home and planet's air.


For more fantastic tips check out "Ecoholic"; her website, or look into ordering her books (Ecoholic and Ecoholic Home).


Although Andrew would tell you right now that he would kill for an a/c, two weeks a year really isn't worth it for us. Even for the two years we lived in semi-arid Vernon BC, no a/c was had and we survived just fine.

Atreyu chillin' out on our floor- he might be warm but he still had the energy to go all "kitten" on me and attack my fingers. thank goodness he drinks about a cup of water a day. I heart that cat fountain.

Now, my yoga practice and productivity (ahem, wedding is t-minus 5 weeks) definitely suffered this week. But then, Yoga will always welcome me "home" when I return :)


Safe wishes to all my Atlantic Eco-Yogi(ni)s out there! I'll be enjoying the powerful beauty of the Atlantic Wind.


article and photograph copyright of ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Eco-Kitty: Our New Addition

Andrew and I are officially parents. Kitten parents that is!

Yep, we bit the bullet and got ourselves the cutest little terror from the SPCA. Now that our place is big enough to handle a cat, we had a few weeks of discussions, some research (ok, Andrew did all the research and I said things like: 'Yeah, but can't we just go and get one NOW?') and last Tuesday made a trip to the shelter.

Having never actually owned a pet since grade 2 (for both of us) we were a little uncertain what to look for. Andrew however, pointed out this little black lump of fur and said: 'Him'.

He is named 'Atreyu' (for all you '80s' children ;) ) and other than missing the litter box (ahem, THREE times, once on our pants) and generally being a crazy hyper kitten, he has been great. I guess being a premature kitten and taken away from mommy cat to be 'incubated' (kinda) messes up your ability to figure out where to go. Which means our litter box is in the middle of the living room currently. Beautiful.


In any case, the past week has been a flurry of spending. And I have never felt so terrible about the ridiculous amount of plastic and waste. 


1. A cat carrier (which is WAY too small for a grown cat I might add... Andrew's assurances it would do into adulthood... until he saw a ginormous cat at the vets...). Plastic... but 30% post consumer recycled!! (sigh).


2. A litter box... that is too big for him. ANOTHER litter box in which we removed the lid, as little Atreyu likes to do his business in the open air. Both plastic.


3. Litter- According to Ecoholic 2006, nearly 200,000 tons of pet waste are trashed every year (his poo is flushed and the litter composted). First attempt was clay. A bit more research later and Andrew vetoed that option (ahem, silica dust and such) and pine litter was purchased. Truly, I wanted to buy the recycled paper- Yesterday's News- litter. But after a 50% pee-in-litter success rate, I'm a little nervous about switching. Eventually, recycled paper litter is my goal. Andrew assures me that pine litter is made from scrap cuttings and pressed sawdust- so not really wasteful and in the meantime, completely compostable.

**please check with your local sewage treatment on whether you can flush cat poo... Andrew assures me that we can flush the cat poo (not litter) here in Halifax... I need to check on this one. 

UPDATE: HRM does not in fact support composting kitty litter pellets... and I have yet to find specific info on flushing the poo down the toilet. GAH. What complete utter waste. All this biodegradable pine going to the 'land where it will never biodegrade in anaerobic no oxygen plastic wrapped bag existence'. Awesome.


4. Toys- I dug in my heels and bought these 'Eco Terra Toys'- a weird fish and white sponge dealy. I figured Atreyu would hate them. Nope! The fish is his favourite toy! Honestly, the toy department has been the easiest eco- transition as his other favourite toy is a piece of string and some paper we had lying around. No new plastic toys for my Atreyu :)

5. Monstrosity of a Cat Tree. They were 70% off on sale... so we bought the less-ugliest one and I swear that once things have settled it's getting shoved into a corner. At least Atreyu adores it and attacks our feet and new couch... less. I had visions of making our own... or more likely asking my dad to make us one out of scrap wood and old rope he had at home. LOL. I am sure that would have went over well.


6. Water fountain. YEP Atreyu gets his very. own. water fountain. I'm sure he thinks his poo doesn't smell. I guess cats don't ever get enough water, since they despise drinking out of still moving bodies of water (i.e. plates-bowls etc). I gotta say, although I think it's SUPER wasteful (continuously running and all) the motor is small and he drinks a ridiculous amount of water. Concession #45628.


7. Food. If you see the word 'by-product' in the ingredient list, think stuff humans wouldn't touch like- 4-D animals: diseased, disabled, dead or dying (Ecoholic, 2006). And grain.. there is SO much grain in pet food. Which we all know how harmful corn and soy are to the environment.

This one I am happy about. We bought Orijens cat food which is Canadian made from healthy, non-grain (or minimal grain) ingredients that are regional (to their plant in Alberta) and sustainably sourced, with no sketchy preservatives or additives. This includes things like free-run chickens, lake fish and heritage pork. Pricey, but we are currently weaning Atreyu off the Iams and onto the Orijens (via scale... did I ever tell you that Andrew was a big weirdo when it comes to food and weighing stuff? Atreyu gets 28 grams per meal...lol).

What we still need? A brush... and to return the litter box and clay litter.


Finally- the best way to clean cat pee and get rid of the underlying odor they can detect? Water and vinegar. I have that down!

I will eco-fy Atreyu Mr. Kittens with all my Eco-Heart! Or accept the fact that I will see a whole lot of Wal-Mart (shudder) in the next few weeks.

Ideas on eco-fying a cat? :)


article and photographs copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com