Gone South

Mrrrr Friends,

I think our hummingbird friends went south. There’s been no sign of them the past couple days…since the near ear incident.

You can feel it already, can’t you? Autumn is approaching. My coat is getting thicker. I’m eating a little more and catching a little extra naptime each day – shifting to “bear mode.” At the same time, I feel friskier when I’m up, out and about. There’s red in some of the maple leaves, yellow in the ash, Broad-winged Hawks are preparing to kettle, my Long Island cat pals tell me striped bass are restless, we’re seeing more bird visitors in a passing through kind of way, and my people are thinking about bird feeders and fire wood.

Speaking of gone south. My people had a recent bout of insanity.

Change is good; I love the gradual changing of the seasons and the radical reinventions of gardens and blogs. Changing my cat litter brand, however, is another thing entirely. Currently, I use Yesterday’s News, which is recycled newspaper re-made into nice ½ inch long pellets – kind of poetic justice for a blogging cat, don’t you think? I’ve used it ever since I adopted my people. It is very absorbent, can be flushed, is biodegradable, doesn’t track, and keeps smells neutral for quite a long time.

I am happier when I can go out and do some fertilizing and earth moving in the yard, but a good litter is the stuff that makes the convenience of the cat box a creative opportunity. The swoosh of litter against the sides of the box, the rhythmic crunching of digging, has inspired some great percussion compositions – I’m sure Max Roach patterned some of his best throw brush work on cat box rhythms.

Now let’s be clear. Their intentions were good. They would never contemplate clay litters – you know that is an environmental disaster, the mining of clay for cat litter. About 2 million tons of clay cat litter is mined each year in about 10 states, according to the US Geological Survey, mostly using strip-mining methods. And, not only is the manufacture of this stuff an environmental disaster, but the disposal – it isn’t biodegradable – is a nightmare too. It just sits there in land fills…doesn’t break down, pretty much ever. Yuck!

But the folks wanted to be able to compost our litter, which I think is a noble idea. They did a whole bunch of research and came home with – wait for it – World’s Best Cat Litter. I kid you not, this is the name. I looked at the label: whole kernel corn, processed without chemicals, soft to the touch…hmmm. And it is made in Muscatine, Iowa…Alex’s home state.

I am an open-minded adventurer. We poured it into a clean, dry box… It looked like stone-cut corn meal. It smelled like stone-cut corn meal. It tasted like stone-cut corn meal.

I do not poop in food, period. WBCL is food. If we get hard up this winter, we could all eat the stuff…imagine the complications.

Oom felt this was a valid position, but she urged me to “try it for a few days”.

Day 1: I held it.

Day 2: I did the door dance first thing in the morning, was taken out, and went straight to the back garden.

Day 3: I resorted to using Alex’s box.

Day 4: There is no record of my relieving myself.

Day 5: They relented, but in good trade union fashion, I waited for the contract.

Day 6: Fresh Yesterday’s News in my box, immediate use followed.

Let me be clear, WBCL seems like an awesome product. My paws got a little dusty yellow, but it smelled really nice…too nice.

I’m willing to try again, but they bought 2 big bags of pelletized newspaper, so I think further experimentation will have to occur at a later date. I’m relieved!