If you’re like me, you may have noticed that in recent years silica crystal cat litter- also known as silica gel cat litter- has made an appearance on store shelves. At first, there were only a couple of brands to choose from. Now, this idea has exploded- with all sorts of brands carrying and promoting silica crystal litter. But what is silica gel cat litter? Keep reading to find out all about silica gel litter- if it is good for you, your cat, the environment, its pros and cons, and everything else!
First, there are many names for silica gel cat litter. Know that they all refer to the same litter. I was confused when I first came across all the different names; I thought that they referred to different types of litter. They don’t.
Silica gel litter, silica cat litter, crystal litter, crystal cat litter, crystallized litter, silica crystal litter… all these naming variations refer to the same kind of litter made of silica gel beads.
There are, in essence, 3 kinds of cat litter: clay; silica; and biodegradable. All the fancy crystal names refer to the silica kind.
Silica gel beads are porous and absorbent. By using them in cat litter, urine is absorbed into the crystal, and odor control is provided because of this. Because these gel beads have so many microscopic pores, they can soak up cat litter up to 40x their weight in moisture.
Most of the urine contains water, which the beads also allow to evaporate into the air.
Be Chewy sums up what the beads are, nicely:
“Silica gel crystal cat litter … is made from sodium silicate sand that is processed with oxygen and water. The result is a bead with tiny pores that allows it to absorb around 40 times its weight in liquid. These beads are similar to the desiccant “Do not eat” packets you find in medications, shoes and other products that need to stay dry. But in silica crystal litters, they are specifically formulated to be safe for cats and do not contain crystalline silicate, which can be harmful to cats.”
What does the litter look like? Like little beads or pebbles. They are sometimes different colors or most commonly a white, or translucent white, color.
There is a common misconception that silica litter is unsafe for your cat. Usually, this is because it makes us think of the packages of silica beads that come in almost every product. They guarantee freshness and read, “Do Not Eat.”
However, the beads in this product are meant to absorb moisture in the product and to keep it from becoming soggy. They are dangerous if eaten because they are so small- they are a choking hazard. They are also somewhat toxic, containing something called crystalline. And they are, of course, not edible.
Silica Gel is often confused with these packets. The packets have crystalline silica, which is toxic. Crystalline silica is toxic, but silica gel is not at all. They are two separate items: apples and oranges.
In fact, if you are looking for dangers in cat litter, these are found in clay clumping litter in the clumping agent and in the ingredient sodium bentonite. Moreover, dust can be an issue with clay litter.
Silica gel does not have a clumping agent, sodium bentonite, or dust.
All this being said, it is not great if your cat is consuming the gel beads. And your cat should not be eating the gel beads in the preservative packaging of products, either. Those can cause choking among other problems.
It is rarer that your cat would take to eating the silica beads in the litter. If your cat is eating these, or the beads in the packages for preserving mentioned above, call a poison control line for animals and/or your vet right away!
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center Phone Number: (888) 426-4435
Is SIlica Safe For People?
Yes!
Silica cat litter is not dusty. Many cat litters, (clay, usually), are dusty. This can cause a problem for your cat and you.
If you have allergies, the dust can aggravate these. If your cat has asthma, and you buy a dusty cat litter, this can be very hard on your cat. Dusty cat litter can also create asthma in cats in extreme cases.
But, silica cat litter is not dusty and will be kind to the lungs of you and your cat.
While clay litter is technically classified as a carcinogen to humans, silica cat litter is not.
Crystal litter is non-toxic if ingested (but you still don’t want your cat eating litter- and I would call a vet and/or a poison control hot line if I saw my cat doing this as a necessary safety measure)!
Silica litter is non-toxic and biodegradable.
The problems with silica litter arises when you consider how it is made. Since silica gel beads come from quartz sand, they are not a renewable resource. It also takes significant energy to make silica litter, which is hard on the environment.
Silica litter falls between clay litter, as the harshest on the environment, and environmentally friendly/biodegradable litters, which are best for the environment.
For ideas on how to love the earth through cat litter, see Scientific American’s article on creative and earth-friendly litters.
Pros
-you need less silica litter to do the job. Less litter overall is disposed of.
-usually, you can find an affordable silica cat litter
-more eco-friendly than clay litter
-much safer than clay litter
-most cats will adapt easily to this type of litter (but who knows- a cat is a cat! Can’t put rules on them 😉 )
-less dust, less tracking, easier to work with
-less pricey than eco-friendly litters
-less scooping needed- crystals soak up urine so you only need to scoop up the cat feces.
-works in automatic litter boxes.
-silica, due to its high absorbency, makes the litter box too dry to sustain bacteria growth. This has been linked to preventing kidney problems and UTIs in cats.
Cons
-slightly more pricey than clay litter
-process of making the litter is not great for the environment
-not made from a renewable resource
-some brands add coloring and fragrances to the crystals which can be toxic. You may need to watch out for this.
Yes, silica gel crystals work very well and get the job done. There is no double about that.
Personally, I will never go back to clay litter because of its safety issues, despite the fact that it is cheaper.
To conclude, we have walked through the basics of what Silica cat litter is. We talked about what it is, if it’s safe for you and your cat, if it is good to the earth, the pros and cons, and if it gets the job done. I hope that this article takes the mystery out of this relatively new cat litter on the market.
We hope that this article gives you the facts that you need to make your own decisions about silica litter.
If you feel that silica cat litter would be a good option for you and your cat, check out Pretty Litter as an option for you.
Thoughts on cat litter? Please share below! We learn from each other! 🙂 🙂 comments are always welcome!
Further Reading:
https://www.petmd.com/cat/centers/litter/evr_ct_what_is_in_cat_litter
Hello Beth,
Thank you for this informative article I come across. I have always known silica to be used for shoes to keep them smelling nice, but never knew how effective it can also be in handling cat litter. I think maybe why I never knew could be because I am not a cat pet lover but I now realize that it should be a must have in homes with cat to control smells of cat litter. Since I am a dog lover, can’t it be also used to keep dog litters at bay?
Hi Nsikan, thanks so much for your response 🙂 I think you probably could use this for dogs, too. I am not a dog expert, but if you would like to consult with one, I can give you the address of a dog blogger who you could reach out to.
His name is Mark and his dog is Saffron 🙂
Interesting article, as I never before heard from Silica Gel Cat Litter. Smart that the gel takes care of the smell of the cat piss once absorbed. How much of this stuff do you need and how often does it need to be replaced? I can see why you are going to use silica gel in the future, as the pros far outweigh the cons. Also great that there is no danger to cats or humans. If it also can be easily cleaned out, then you have a winner.
Hi Jerry, thanks for your response 🙂 It is a lot easier to work with. There is less scooping involved, for sure. There are a lot of different brands out there now for silica litters, and you can get bags of different sizes. To give you an example, when I use Pretty Litter (which is silica), I go through one bag every 3 weeks for one cat. But, my cat is very large lol. They market this product for one bag per month, and this probably is the case for your average-sized cat. One bag is 5lb. For more info, see below!
https://prettylitter.sjv.io/c/…
Cheers!
Beth
