I buy horse bedding kiln dried wood pellets to use as cat liter because it's much cheaper. Then a discussion happened

[testdepth]

too much

 

[alexs2006]

JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA

 

[thevalueman]

sounds to me like you JUST woke up in 2025....have you been in a coma???
YOU gotta get onboard....this is the new way we treat our "PETS" not like the old days.....just try to feed the damn cat Purina Cat Chow, and see what happens......DON"T EVEN start on the dogs.....not around here!!!!

 

[Bypass]

After mentioning how much cheaper it is to use the horse pellets ($7 for 40lbs) my 25yr old WOKE liberal daughter chimes in with "they are carcinogenic and shouldn't be used for cats". My wife then looks it up and tells me that not all are carcinogenic "but" they can be blah blah blah. The wood pellets they refer to are for wood pellet stoves not horse bedding.

Both seem to be worried about a cat pissing and crapping in carcinogenic wood pellets which I assume means the cats get cancer around their sphincter. My wife is telling me this while smoking a cigarette and my daughter is telling me this while vaping. CAN'T MAKE THAT UP!

BTW the clay used in regular cat liter does not break down at the landfill but the wood pellets turn to sawdust. LOL

Did you **** up and send her to college?

 

[BHPSteel]

Everything is considered carcinogeinic in California. Now that's out of the way, here's where the hazards lie.

Wood dust - which is pressed together to make the pellets - is a known human carcinogen. So, don't crush the pellets and snort them. Some of the chemicals that are used to process the pellets (formaldehyde) are carcinogenic too, which is why you shouldn't store the pellets in an unventilated area. If they are scented, the scent is probably at least as dangerous.

That said, used in a well-ventilated room that gets swept out regularly presents no greater danger to your cat than to your horse, or even you for that matter. The cat piss won't make them more dangerous either. Just make sure the litter-box has any dust removed.

Dust control, ventilation - and the risk is minimal.

If it's safe enough to use in a racehorse stable. It's safe enough to use in your cat litter-box.

One exception - but it's true for horses too - pellets made from pine or other softwoods contain phenols and a higher level of turpentine and other organics - make sure the pellets were well dried, ideally kiln-dried.