Has anyone run into problems using Pearl Fresh litter (small silica bead-type litter)?

We almost lost our female tabby as she had ingested some of it. Hope no-one else runs into this problem.

Catherine Godwin cgodwin@hotmail.com

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Answers

We use that type of litter and, thankfully, have encountered no problems. When we first broke out the litter, our MC seemed interested in munching on the beads, but he quickly gave up on that past time once the beads stuck to his tongue. I imagine they taste pretty awful, too. I'm curious about what happened to your tabby, and I will keep an eye out for any renewed interest our cat may show in the beads.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2000

Wow! That's scary. What happened? I use litter pearls and have for 9 months or so. My Maine Coon is allergic to silica dust and sneezes and wheezes awful. I tried feline pine, but my other cat didn't like the feel of it and wouldn't use the litter box anymore. My brother tried litter pearls and said that his cat wanted to eat them too. I've never seen my cats try to eat it, but I would like to know how it could kill them.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000

Hi, Jennifer.

We had used the litter pearls for only about 3 weeks and stopped because our MC kitten really didn't seem to like it. We went back to using Swheat (a clumping-type litter made from wheat).

About 2 weeks after we had changed back to Swheat, our 6 year-old tabby suddenly became very ill, had an extremely high temperature and was drooling. After extremely expensive trips to the emergency vet and our own vet, many tests, etc. we were told that they weren't sure what exactly was wrong with her and she was sent home on antibiotics. About 3 days later, she managed to pass about 5 or 6 of the silica beads. We took them to our vet the next day and he said that they must have been what had caused the problem. This has obviously proved to be true, because since she managed to pass them she has been fine. We believe, and our vet agrees, that she must have had these caught in her paws and ingested them while grooming. While we were using the litter, she showed absolutely no interest in ingesting it -- in fact, she really didn't like it much more than the kitten did.

The really frightening thing about this was that it was at least 2 weeks later that she became ill, so we didn't even think about it being caused by the litter.

I hope no-one else runs into this problem.

-- Anonymous, May 11, 2000