Help! My pets are an environmental nightmare

So far, so good with my two new rescued cat-children (believe me, they're more work than my human kids right now.)  They have adapted to the munificent pampering they receive in our home, and seem to at least tolerate if not enjoy each other.

There was one factor, however, I kept delegating to the back of my brain as I focused on getting the cats acclimated. Finally, as I scooped poop from the litter box into a plastic (gasp!) bag, I could no longer ignore the fact:  These cats are an environmental shitfest. 

Their "wet" food, of which they eat two or three helpings once a day between the two of them, comes in itty bitty one-serving cans. I do painstakingly rinse and recycle each one, but still. Further, unless I completely bankrupt myself and buy organic cat food, it's undoubtedly factory farmed mystery meat.  (And don't give me that crap about vegetarian cats -- they have fangs, people. That's for ripping and tearing meat, not brown rice.)  I feel badly about this, more about perpetuating the practice than by giving them less-healthy stuff, honestly.  These are rescue cats, and I'm already giving them a warm, loving home. I mean, if it weren't for me, they might be living in an alley eating homeless people's leftovers.

Then I thought about the flea-tick prevention thing we put on their skin. Isn't that a pesticide?  Would it hurt the cats, or my kids?  Thankfully, a bit of research shows that these meds (Frontline, Advantage) are a better solution than sprays, powders or dips.

And then, I find out that apparently most kitty litter is non-compostable, and clumping litter in particular is very bad for cats' digestive systems if/when they digest it from self-grooming.

Now, I hadn't had a cat for years, and the new scoopable litter we're using now is like a miracle to me.  I only remembered the old clay stuff, which I simply dumped en masse in the woods near my house in Pennsylvania. But this scoop stuff -- the poop doesn't even look like poop anymore. Even the pee clumps. Awesome.  But you can't flush it, and it does smell like deodarant, among its other evils.

If you're looking for a good alternative, as I now am, I found some good user reviews. I understand my beloved Grist.org has some great info, too, but their new site Beta just isn't quite functioning yet.

Does anyone have any advice to share about any of this?

~BurbMom

Comments

[eg]

Burbmom -- Re: scooping -- you can scoop the waste into paper bags, rather than plastic (it's all clumped anyway). Re -- scoopable litter -- I asked my vet (a cat specialist) about the risks -- they use it at his office and it's safe. I tried some of the environmentally correct litter (and one of my friends swears by the wood pellets). The mess and the smell were not good for my sanity. At the end of the day, the clumping litter keeps me sane (and keeps my house from smelling like my cats). A couple of my friends have recommended the silicon litter (the reusable stuff).

Gizmo G.

[sam]

ok

[CalGal]

Burbmom - Good for you for rescuing! Good for you for working to acclimate your kitties! Good for you for being "green." To many cats are abandoned and abused here where I live. You have earned three points in pet owners' heaven.

Suggestion: dry food. Less fat, less water, cheaper, and better for their teeth. You can recycle the box. You can make your own cat food if you have nothing else in the world to do. That way - no cardboard. Right! Dry food won't make them poop less, but it may be less smelly.

Think of it this way, humans pollute so much more and for a longer life span than pets. Don't sweat it. Just enjoy your kitties.