I have nine cats, the result of some volunteer work with a trap, neuter/spay/vaccinate, and release program. (I had trouble with the release part!) With the price of cat litter soaring, I decided to try to use my daily Chicago newspaper, which is large, in litter boxes.
Starting by switching one box at a time (I have six!), at first I shredded sheets, which turned out to be a big chore and also resulted in tracked shreds. Then I tried laying down whole sheets and just tearing one page in strips, and that worked very well, with all the cats accepting the change. Although now and then a strip gets out of the box, it is nothing compared to the tracking of commercial litters. I completely change the used paper each day, so it is no smellier than my old boxes.
Since I need enough paper to avoid puddling underneath each newspaper section and strips, I bulk it up with all my other paper and light cardboard that I would recycle if I weren't reusing it. This uses up all my junk mail, including catalogs. Along with saving money, I have saved myself a lot of hauling of heavy litter. I still have to haul the used paper, now as garbage, but the bags are much lighter than those with litter.
By Barbara from Burlington, WI
I se shredded newspaper for my cat. He was pretty old when I decided to do this so wasn't sure of his acceptance. Never had a problem at all with the litter box. Seemed to help with the smell too!
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I have a pet tip. This may or may not work for your pets, but it does mine and maybe worth trying. I recycle my shredded paper.
