All Things Dog Blog

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Natural cat litter is such a logical decision. If you're unfamiliar with Swheat Scoop, you may not even realize that it is actually made out of whole grain wheat that is processed without added chemicals to make it into a litter product. Purr and cheer!

Traditional clay litter has to be mined from deep under the earth's surface, meaning destruction of wildlife environments. What's more is that clay does not biodegrade. So after Meow uses it for a bathroom, it absorbs her liquids and holds them for an eternity in our landfills, releasing it as seepage over hundreds of years. Does this sound like it's good for our planet? Probably not!

Enter Swheat Scoop, a naturally-processed wheat cat litter. Do your ears perk up like mine did? It's just a no-brainer; this has to be better for our planet and our health than digging up the ground and displacing our wildlife and their eco-systems. And there's more.

What I love, love, love about this natural litter is that is is biodegradable in my compost pile. I'll admit it; I'm one of those people. I eat organic food. I compost my non-protein food scraps; yes, even dry wheat. It's so easy to do that my 5-year-old could learn how, not that I have a 5-year-old of course. But you get the idea.

So what's all the excitement about composting? It means fewer plastic bags of garbage sitting in our over-crowded landfills. Those very landfills that are lined with materials that prevent the contents from seeping into the earth where they can biodegrade naturally when allowed to mingle with the micro-organisms in the ground, if only the garbage could reach the ground. Between our plastic bags and the lined landfills, there's no hope for biodegrading action. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now and get on with this review.

You may be asking yourself what happens to the small brown solids in Meow's box when I send her litter off to the compost pile. There's not enough time to give you a composting lesson today, but I'll promise to make sure we cover the basics at #LitterChat, so watch for @Learnin2BGreen. That's one of our Event Barkers team members that will be sharing my tips on how to compost your non-protein, biodegradable household wastes, including Swheat Scoop. You're sure to learn a lot, and hopefully I'll hear from you later with questions. I'm happy to help :)

Just remember, that the solids are proteins and should not be placed in your household compost bin or pile. Proteins require special enzymes for proper biodegrading action. The rest of that story will have to wait for another day, like July 16 at #LitterChat!

An average kitty will not completely use up a 14 lb. bag of Swheat Scoop in a month. At #LitterChat we'll be giving away a 14 lb. bag to each and every winner, with our Grand Prize Winner taking home a whole year's worth of litter. Wow! We're also handing off other great kitty prizes like classy litterboxes, organizers for Meow's supplies, toys and treats. You can read up on the prizes here.

Patches and I hope to see you on Tuesday, July 16 for an hour of terrific litterbox tips, composting info, training help for your dogs, and much more. Join us to learn and to win.

Join Event Barkers partners All Things Dog Blog and DogTipper, along with sponsor Swheat Scoop for a Twitter Party to expand your horizons beyond clay cat litter. Don't forget to join in the PreTweet contest and the Rafflecopter drawing, as well as making sure you RSVP to win.

Happy tails!