I started with clay kitty litter decades ago when we didn’t know its harmful effects. I then switched to newspaper, which of course bunnies chew and scatter. Plus, it had toxic ink at the time, and no odour control. Straw gets pretty disgusting with bunny pee. Slimy, and it’s hard to see how dire is the pellet situation, as they fall to the bottom. Who wants to dig through pissy straw to check their rabbit’s poo?
I’ve tried plain recycled paper (the soft crumply kind), and found that though it absorbs, it’s so light it gets flung out of the box and has little odour control.
As I’m a horse person, I knew that horse pine pellets/woodstove pellets turn into sawdust that tracks. Amazing for stalls, awful in the house. CareFresh bedding as litter controls odour, but I hate shavings on the carpet. I’m not paying more for their litter when it’s just crumpled paper I can get for cheaper as Absorption Corp.’s generic version (Walmart). Which didn’t work for me.
Besides, I think my macho bunny would hate purple or pink
Next was a recycled paper pellet product, Good Mews. But it’s almost as dark as bunny pellets, and hard to see how dirty it is, esp. in low living room light. Yes, that’s right. We take bathroom breaks at the same time while watching TV. Great absorption, but little odour control, and very heavy to work with. I have a spinal injury, so heft is an issue.
This week I found a Mad Scientist mix (great for Halloween) that satisfies:
-Low mess
-Odour control
-Manageable weight
-Good colour contrast to see pee and poo spots
I mixed 1/3 Carefresh bedding (the type with heat treated pine shavings=safe) with 2/3 recycled paper pellets. It works great! The pellets prevent the shavings from being tracked, and the light colour of the shavings shows where Borys has gone. The combo of treated pine and the little blue deodorant papers really control odour.
I’m fortunate in that he’s extremely specific about where he aims. I gauge more by the “ski hill” created as litter piles up in one corner, as by odour or timetable.
Every day—well, several times a day; he is a fertilizer factory—I just toss a light handfull of this mix on his dirty spots. I’m getting 3-4 days out of two litter boxes (for a Lionhead), with no odour, no urine stains on my bun.
When I say “no odour,” I mean it. I have a condition where I have a hyper sense of smell. The last time I had a cat, I had to keep the litter right beside the toilet, because I spontaneously vomit while scooping. So this discovery is a real blessing.