Cats lived naturally before they were ever domesticated by humans. They did not need us to feed them or provide a litter box. Since we have brought them into our lives and homes, we have taken on the responsibility of feeding them and providing a place for them to use the bathroom. Your cat will be much healthier and happier if you stick as close to natural as possible in the food and litter you provide.

Fuller’s Earth, a clay litter marketed by Ed Lowe, first appeared on the shelves of grocery stores around 1948. His neighbor, fed up with the and ashes she had been using as litter, asked for him to bring some of the clay he worked with home so she could try it instead. She liked it so well that soon she would use nothing else.

Apparently, she had no clue that this extremely dusty clay litter tends to be detrimental to the health of cats. This dust is ingested whenever “Fluffy” cleans herself. Not only could this ingested dust lead to respiratory infections and intestinal blockage, it could also prevent her from absorbing the nutrients she needs.

Cat litter has come a long way since then. Now we can buy the original clay non-clumping cat litter, or we can opt for clumping cat litter, which first appeared in 1984. We can also choose to buy a silica gel litter, which first appeared in 2000.

Clumping litter makes keeping a clean litter box almost effortless. But what is used to make this convenient litter? Sodium bentonite, used to seal dams, ponds and basements, is a common ingredient in clumping litters. It says right on the container not to flush this litter down the toilet. Why? Because it swells up to 15 times its original size and clogs your pipes.

Clogs your pipes? What will this litter do to “Fluffy” when she ingests it from cleaning herself? It could result in her having a stressed immune system, increased infections, diarrhea, frothy yellow vomiting, bowel problems, kidney problems, respiratory problems, a general failure to thrive, anemia or lethargy. Worse, it could even result in her death.

Clumping litter also absorbs a lot of fluid. Once it is inside “Fluffy”, it can cause dehydration by absorbing most of the fluids she takes in. Dust from the litter, stirred up when she scratches around in the litter box, may coat her lungs.

What about silica gel litter? No health problems have been associated with silica gel yet, but it is expensive. It also tends to be rather noisy when your cat scratches around in it. Since it sticks to “Fluffy’s” paws, she will track it all over your house for you to step on.

So what to use? Sawdust is the best cat litter I have found. It smells as though you have freshly cut trees in your litter box, unless “Fluffy” doesn’t cover up her deposit. There are no harmful effects from fresh sawdust.

Best of all, sawdust can be obtained, usually free, from any sawmill or lumber yard. They have no use for the sawdust left behind from cutting up trees and are more than glad to get rid of it. Yes, it is still tracked around your house, but that tends to be a problem with any litter. Unlike other litter, though, sawdust doesn’t hurt when you step on it. And it is easily swept up.

Does it control odor? Sawdust works better at controlling odor than any of the commercial brands of cat litter I used in the past. Of course, if your cat neglects to cover up her deposit, then you must take care of the odor yourself.

There are natural alternatives that you can buy if you don’t happen to live close enough to a sawmill to take advantage of their sawdust. Sweat Scoop is made from naturally processed wheat and Feline Pine is made from sawdust compressed into pellets. Yesterday’s News is literally yesterday’s news, made from recycled newspaper formed into pellets.

Your cat and the environment will thank you when you make an informed choice about what to use for cat litter.