When you use cat litter today, you may just pour it into the cat litter basin and throw it away after shoveling. But you may not have thought that before 1947, there was no such thing as “cat litter” in this world.
How does the cat go to the toilet indoors? How was cat litter invented? From sandy soil to all kinds of black cat litter today, this evolution path is very interesting. Today we will talk about the history of cat litter.
Before 1947: What did cats use for toillets indoors?
Before cat litter was invented, what did cat owners use to give their cats a toilet?
The answer is: sand, sawdust, ashes, dirt, old newspapers … everything.
At that time, most cats were free-range, so they went out to solve it themselves if they wanted to go to the toilet. But in the time of urbanization and bad weather, the owners have to prepare some substitutes at home. The problem is that these things have poor water absorption and do not deodorize, so it is very troublesome to clean them up.
This situation was changed in a cold winter in 1947.
1947: The birth of cat litter-Fullerite cat litter.
That winter, an American lady named Kay Drapa encountered an annoyance: the weather was so cold that the ground was frozen, and she couldn’t dig sand for the cat to go to the toilet.
She found her neighbor Edward Lowe. Luo Wei’s family runs a factory that produces products such as sand and sawdust. Luo Wei did not give her sand, but recommended a new product in the factory-a natural clay with good adsorption, called “Fuller‘s Earth”.
Kay was pleasantly surprised to find that this kind of clay can not only absorb cat urine well, but also reduce some odor.
Rottweiler immediately smelled the business opportunity. He repackaged the clay and sold it at the grocery store at a price of 5 pounds and 65 cents per bag, and gave it a name that everyone knows now: “Kitty Litter”.
This is the first commercial cat litter in the world.
However, the first generation of Fullerton cat litter has a fatal defect: it will not agglomerate. Urine will be absorbed, but it will not form a lump that can be shoveled off, resulting in the whole basin of cat litter becoming dirty quickly and needing to be replaced frequently.
1980s: a revolutionary breakthrough-bentonite cat litter
Fuller earth cat litter was used for more than 30 years, until a biochemist named Thomas Nelson appeared.
Nelson is a cat lover. He always thinks that traditional cat litter is too troublesome to use-it takes time and effort to dump the whole basin, clean it and replace it with a new one. He began to study whether there was a better clay formula.
He found that bentonite, a clay, would agglomerate when it was wet. When urine touches bentonite, it will quickly absorb water and expand, forming a compact mass. The shovel officer only needs to shovel out the lumps, and the clean cat litter can be kept for use.
This discovery brought the first revolution in the cat litter industry. Since then, the shovel officer doesn’t have to change the whole basin every time, which saves much trouble.
Today, ベントナイト猫砂 is still the most widely used cat litter type in the world. In the United States alone, the cat litter industry consumes 5 billion pounds (about 2.268 million tons) of mining clay every year, which is an industry worth 2 billion dollars.
21st century: Cat litter will be diversified and functional.
In the 21st century, the development of cat litter is no longer just “as long as it can be used”, but in the direction of environmental protection, safety and functional subdivision.
Tofu cat litter debut
With the enhancement of environmental awareness, plant-based cat litter began to rise. 豆腐の猫砂 is made of bean dregs, which is naturally degradable, washable and has little dust. Even if cats eat it by mistake, it is relatively safe. It has become another mainstream category besides bentonite.
Mixed cat litter comes out.
Since tofu sand is environmentally friendly, but the agglomeration is slightly worse, and bentonite is well agglomerated but the dust is too large, why not mix them together? Mixed cat litter came into being, and the 7:3 formula of tofu litter and bentonite was the most common. It tries to combine the advantages of both.
Functional cat litter began to appear.
The function of cat litter also began to “roll in”. Adding activated carbon to deodorize, adding probiotics to inhibit bacteria (the inhibition rate of some products exceeds 96%), and adding indicators to help detect cat urine and blood … Cat litter has changed from a simple “toilet pad” to a multifunctional pet raising tool.
New raw materials are constantly expanding.
The raw materials of cereals, coffee grounds, millet, coconut shells, cassava … cat litter are more and more diverse. The emergence of every new raw material is trying to solve a certain pain point-either more environmentally friendly, better foot feeling or more deodorizing.
概要
From a bag of 65-cent clay in 1947 to today’s multi-functional mixed cat litter, plant cat litter and indicator cat litter, the evolution history of cat litter is actually a microcosm of human beings’ increasing attention to cats. From “just catch something” to “knot up, deodorize, protect the environment and be safe”-the progress of each generation of cat litter corresponds to the higher requirements of shovel officials for the quality of life of cats.
The next time you pour the cat litter, you might as well think about this evolution story of nearly a hundred years. This bag of cat litter in your hand today took three generations of wisdom to become like this.
