Shiny Bits of Foil

Yeah, that was a horrible pun. But it’s for a good cause. Check it out: 

A cat litter system that uses washable, permanent cat litter made from 100% recycled plastic (biodegradable in 2 years in a landfill or 9 months in a septic system) and that automatically scoops, washes and disinfects the litter every 12 hours. You hook it up to your plumbing and piping, and twice a day it does it’s thing, keeping the litter is constantly clean, empty and disinfected. (Don’t worry, there’s a cat sensor to prevent it from giving kitty an UFIA. *nsfw link*)

Granted, it’s an expensive system up front. And you have to buy the sanitizing packs and, eventually, new litter as you lose some to attrition. But I want one.

They do offer a price comparison against other litter systems, but the cost is totally beside the point. I don’t want it for any marginal cost savings. I want it because it is eco friendly.

Regular clay litter is mined out of the earth (with a corresponding cost in resources and carbon output to any other type of industrial quarrying) and winds up in landfills that are really only designed to safely sequester trash, not raw sewage – in fact, the EPA says not to put any cat waste in the trash – only the litter. On top of that, you get dust (not good for you or puddy) and you have to empty it (exposing you to e coli, parasites and other nasties) and the yuck factor involved often leads to pet owners stretching out those changes as long as they can, making it even unhealthier for us and our furbabies.

Even if you’re using eco-friendly litters like pine and wheatstraw, how many of you are actually dump that stuff in a composter? Didn’t think so. That makes those little better ecologically than a subscription to the Times that you throw in the trash instead of recycling. And even if you do compost it (and, hopefully, only use it in the flower bed), you’re still continually consuming (in an economic sense, surely) highly processed and no doubt intensively monofarmed single-use biomass. Recycled, reusable plastic litter is a far better option, both in terms of resources used to make it and dispose of it (it biodegrades, wherever it winds up). And, although there’s not a huge margin of savings, it is less expensive over the course of a year than buying name brand clay litters, and most certainly less expensive than using fancy ecolitters.

This system routes all that waste into your water treatment system where all the other sewage goes, the granules are permanent so you only have to replenish what the cat tracks or what sticks to the solids. Plus, it’s disinfected every 12 hours.

Can’t afford one right now, but as soon as I can, I’m getting one. It’s healthier, aesthetically nicer and environmentally more friendly by a large margin than most other options.

And, let’s be honest, has an incredibly high geek quotient to boot.  Sweet.

Woke up today to discover that Parkour Kitty’s right pupil was all dilated and wouldn’t react to the light. Her left pupil was responding normally, she was eating normally and she was spazzing out around the apartment like the Roadrunner on a double Red Bull cocktail (also normal). But still, uneven pupils are not to be dismissed, especially seeing as how she is still recovering from being spayed last Friday.  So, enter one panicky morning call to the vet.

Turns out, kitty has a concussion. How did she get it? God only knows, although I have my suspcions. She seems to have downloaded the Extended Director’s Cut of The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (complete with DVD extras) directly into her neural nets at some point over the last few months, and appears to derive an inordinate amount of pleasure from launching herself across the house like she was rocket propelled, then hitting the brakes and sliding full speed under furniture, around corners and (inevitably) into whatever objects are in her path. I swear she does this last on purpose – a few weeks ago, she sent her full water bowl flying ass over teakettle by slamming into it broadside at ramming speed, and afterward seemed to be quite pleased with herself and the tsunami-like aftermath.

Given that, it’s entirely possible that she slammed her fool head into a cabinet, the couch or any number of hard, immovable objects that inhabit the space. We’re currently in mid-furniture-rearrangement, so there’s even more head-banging options to choose from than normal. Physics – it’s not just a good idea, it’s the law. One she ignores like an expensive cat toy, I might add.

In any case, kitty will be fine. There’s a little swelling around her eye and in her head, but the vet seems unconcerned. They sent hubby home with some eyedrops, pain meds and antibiotics, just to cover all the bases. But it’s mostly just precautionary (and, no doubt, a placebo sedative for anxious kitty parents).

Silly kitty. Stunt tricks are for real parkour kids.