The independent and more self-sufficient nature of cats makes them ideal pets for today's active and mobile life style. Despite their otherwise endearing qualities, litter care is a problem that has been a continuous challenge, ever since Edward Lowe coined the phrase "kitty litter" in 1947. Removing solid waste from the litter has always been pretty easy. Getting rid of odors from liquid waste without spending a lot of time or a lot of money is the big challenge.
That problem has been solved with Royal Flusher by combining liquid-separating trays with litter that sheds liquids but blocks and swallows odors. Solids are removed the regular way, by sifting, but liquids are eliminated by simply placing the fully- assembled system on the toilet and pressing the button on the front panel. Liquids are flushed right down the john.
Early Days
Many cats were farm animals that stayed out in the barn to catch mice. Even cats that were kept in the home were let out "to go". This was ok since cats were fast enough to get out of the way of horse-drawn carriages but house cats were no longer safe once cars began to drive down the roads. A box filled with ashes, wood shavings, or shredded paper was used to take care of sanitation but odors were produced unless the box was emptied and cleaned or replaced regularly.
Primary odors are released by evaporation and direct emissions of wastes. More powerful secondary odors are released by bacteria which grow in wastes, used litter, or residues which are not removed from the tray. If wastes are not removed promptly or the tray is not cleaned, odors will build and the cat will refuse to use the tray.
The Industry Begins
Ever since cats were kept in the home, there have been attempts to find a better litter system. The litter industry began in 1947 when a neighbor asked Edward Lowe for something to replace the ashes she had been using for her cat's needs. Lowe sold clay to garage owners to soak up oil spills and suggested the clay as a substitute. When the clay caught on, Lowe coined the name "kitty litter" and began to sell it. At first, cardboard boxes were used to hold the litter. Plastic boxes came along later. Until clumping litter was introduced in the mid 1980's, clay litter accounted for almost all litter sales.
The traditional system uses rectangular open trays made of plastic, in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors, filled with a layer of absorbent litter. Absorbent litter is most often clay, but walnut shells, sand, gravel, cellulose or alfalfa pellets, newspapers, and other materials may be used. Some trays will accept accessories such as covers, shields to reduce the scattering of litter, odor filters, etc. Over a lifetime of use, the cost of litter greatly exceeds the cost of the tray.
The US generates 400 trillion pounds of waste each year including about 8 billion pounds of used kitty litter. Cat wastes are undesirable material at landfills. Cat waste contains bacteria that can lead to diseases which particularly affect pregnant women and include organic acids which leach out heavy metals, causing them to enter the ground water. When litter is thrown away, it adds to the problem of already overburdened landfills. The greatest environmental impact from litter is the energy used to mine or collect it, haul it to the processing plant, process it into litter, haul it to the grocery store, haul it home, and haul it to the landfill. The most environmentally responsible system is the system that uses the least litter.
Litter is also costly. Many people using conventional systems attempt to extend the life of litter by separating the cat wastes and used portions of the litter from the unused portion. Solid wastes are removed easily by sifting, but liquids are absorbed by the litter which makes them difficult to remove. If the area with liquid wastes is not badly disturbed, a solid spoon can be used to pick it out and remove it, but when the used and unused portions become mixed , the tray must be emptied completely and refilled with new litter.
Clumping litter is more expensive than ordinary litter, but helps reduce the problem of separating used from unused litter. With clumping litter, liquid wastes form "clumps" which can be sifted and removed in the same way that solid wastes are removed. This works well, but not perfectly, since the clumps are fragile. The cat will break up the clumps by scratching and the very act of sifting the clumps will break them up as well. As a result, used litter will ultimately become inseparable from unused litter and the tray will need to be completely emptied and refilled. Clumping litter swells when it absorbs liquids. Clumping litter can cause serious intestinal distress and even death to kittens who lick clumping litter from their paws.
This is a new application of an old product. Silica gel (or desiccant) has been used for many years to eliminate moisture in packaging. By forming silica into pellets, its ability to absorb many times its weight in liquid makes it useful as litter. The pellets stay hard even after they have been filled with liquid waste. This makes clean up easier. The pellets not only absorb liquid waste but they trap the associated odors inside as well. The problem with silica litter in ordinary litter systems is that cats tend to use the same area of the litter system and the litter in that area becomes saturated. Puddles will form in those areas and odors will often develop before the litter has been used for its advertised lifetime (usually one month). Ordinary silica also breaks apart with continued use and turns into sand that is hard to remove.
Some litters are made from various "environmentally friendly" products like wheat, pine, alfalfa, corn, recycled newspapers, etc. In terms of cost, ease of use, and odor control, these litters are generally inferior to clay or clumping litter but they appear to be a more responsible choice. Litters made from natural, recycled, and recyclable ingredients take up as much or more space in landfills as ordinary litter. The bentonite and the clay used to make ordinary litter are plentiful. It takes as much or more energy as other litters to make and move green litters and, once they become saturated with cat wastes, they have the same effect on landfills as ordinary litter. The most environmentally responsible action is to use less litter.
Various litter system are used with absorbent litter and sells at prices between $20 and $40. In one version, three nested trays with identical dimensions are used. Two of the trays have solid bottoms and are identical to standard, conventional litter trays. The third tray has a coarse grid of openings in the bottom. Litter granules can pass through the openings in the grid but typical cat waste solids can't. A tray-shuffling process collects solid wastes in one tray where they can be discarded, and collects used litter in a second tray. More litter pouring and tray shuffling is required to move the used, sifted litter to the third tray and make the system ready to use again. Another system uses a rolling action to separate the solids from the litter.
When used with conventional litter, sifters make the easy problem of removing solid waste even easier, but makes the difficult problem of liquid waste removal even more difficult, since the sifting and pouring operations mix the used and unused portions of the litter together.
Sifters are more useful when filled with clumping litter since the sifting operation will capture the solid wastes and unbroken clumps of absorbed liquid waste in the perforated tray. Even when used with clumping litter, the sifting, stacking, pouring and shuffling operation is complex and confusing, breaks up the clumps, and scatters loose grains of litter. The space between the base of the grid tray and the solid tray is filled with litter that will become contaminated and will not be removed by sifting. This means that all of the litter must ultimately be replaced. Also, with no convenient way to eliminate the residues, odors will eventually build.
Using microprocessor-controlled mechanisms, these systems automatically scoop used litter into a sealed bin following each use of the system. Odors are well controlled and the system is easy to use although reliability problems with these complex products have been reported, especially when lower cost litter is used. The owner needs to periodically empty the used litter storage bin and replenish the fresh litter supply. Clumps of absorbed liquid may be broken up by the litter comb. Saturated particles, too small to be collected by the comb, will mix with clean litter and coat the comb. Residues and saturated particles will require periodic emptying and scrubbing of the tray. Cost of the system itself is $100 to $200. The use of premium disposable litter leads to negative environmental impact and high cost.
These systems are intended for short term use. They consist of a plastic-coated cardboard or compressed cellulose tray, prefilled with absorbent litter. Following a short period of use, the entire tray and its contents are discarded. Initial price is quite low but recurrent costs are very high. Odor control is strictly a function of how often the tray is discarded and replaced with a new one. Adverse environmental impact is the highest of any system.
Cat owners have shown a great willingness to try new products which offer ease of use, and successful control of odors even though such products are often more expensive, have negative environmental impact, and fail to deliver the promise of odor control.
Royal Flusher solves the difficult problems of liquid waste disposal and odor control using a "white gloves" process that takes only a few seconds. Instead of being collected in the litter, liquids are flushed away. This means the litter lasts a very long time. In fact, many users never throw any of our litter away. Hydric litter swallows residues and odors. Replenish losses from scooping and scattering and one bag will last up to three months.
Royal Flusher is virtually odor-free, easy to use, saves money and the environment. It is dust and allergen free, and good-looking too. Royal Flusher is the logical conclusion to the history of kitty litter. Try it!
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