Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Fresh Step Expressions

A reminder: Oprah is rebroadcasting the show on Puppy Mills tomorrow, May 29. Check your local TV listing for time and channel. If you missed it the first time, it is an excellent and informative show.

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A while ago we posted this picture of Percy examining a delivery of cat litter – Fresh Step® Fresh Expressions™ Lavender Valley™ Scoopable Litter, to be exact.



Jan has long wanted to try clumping cat litter but with so many animals and so few green papers, she didn’t think we would get to try it. That is, until Fresh Step sent her some clumping litter for us to test. She was really happy about this, although why she thinks washing litter pans and changing litter every 3 or 4 days is a chore is beyond us. She should be honored we allow her to wait on us.

The next time she changed the litter, she poured in Fresh Step Expressions instead of the usual litter. There didn’t appear to be as much dust as with our usual litter, which really made her happy. Until she started sneezing. You guessed it. She was allergic to the scent. We know this because she had sneezing fits until the scent subsided every time she added litter. But she agreed to try it for a month and she kept her word.

We, of course, had to immediately check it out and test it. Overall, we agreed with Jan. We liked it best when the scent diminished. It tickled our noses when it was fresh. We did, however, like that we didn’t have to stand in pee-stained litter. The litter formed a hard ball around anything liquid. But we did do a better job of covering our solids than we normally would, although we have no rational explanation for that phenomenon.

So, we liked it and we wanted her to try some unscented Fresh Step Expressions, but Jan went and did a Google search on clumping litter. She learned clumping cat litter contains sodium bentonite, a natural sealant. We aren’t going to go into the whole argument over whether clumping litter is safe or not because, although Jan has read so much about it (including information sent to her by Fresh Step) that her head is swimming, each cat’s human has to make a personal informed decision.

What we will say is that we liked the product and it certainly made Jan’s everyday job and litter change easier. But Jan hasn’t made a decision yet on whether or not she will try clumping cat litter again. Jan promised to post before June 1 and right now she is sick with some kind of a respiratory illness, so she's afraid if she puts this off, she won't be able to get back to it in time.

So we’re going to help her out by posting this and thanking the kind folks at Fresh Step for letting us test their product. We give it a thumbs up.

Oops. We must be catching Jan's fever. We meant to say, We give it a PAWS up!

(s) Crystal, Cotton, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron & Rusty

12 comments:

  1. Hi, guys! Sorry for not a-visiting often enuff. Get well soon, Jan!
    Though we don't use kitty litter, we understand the importance of scoopable non-messy litter, keeps the beans sane for sure! ;)
    Purrs and Smooches,

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  2. Wow, we posted on Fresh Step today too!!!

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  3. We used to use clumping litter but my Mommie got tired of the dust. Now we use crystal litter. I like that kind a lot.

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  4. We've always used clumping because Mommy and Daddy are too lazy to use the other type. But we've always preferred the Fresh Step because it seems to have the least amount of dust. We hope you guys find the right one for all of you!

    We're purring that Jan feels better soon.

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  5. Mom's been using clumping litter for years, but we're still waiting for her to do our official test of our Fresh Step Expressions sample.

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  6. I've used Crystal litter, but didn't like it, and also the clay based type, clumping type, and the nature-friendly green type, and all things considered, I prefer the clumping type, but do wonder about the internal clumpability of it. Gastric juices? I wonder.

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  7. What is it with humans and litter boxes. The boy beans are suppose to keep our litter boxes clean. They fight over whose turn it is and generally pull every sneaky trick they can to get out of changing the litter box. Mommy says we shouldn't feel too insulted as they don't even keep their litterbox (Mommy says it's called a bathroom) clean.

    Maybe if we try new litter they will be more motivated. We usually try to go in the yard so our litter boxes stay clean.

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  8. Wow you do it too. Mommy & Daddy thought me and Charybdis were the only cats that did that. The boy beans get mad cause when we see them cleaning the litter box we will sit and wait for them to finish and then jump in and get it messy all over again. One day me and Charybdis jumped in at the same time to go. Mommy thought it was funny to see both of us in there togheter, but we both wanted to be FIRST.

    Mommy wouldn't let Daddy buy clumping litter cause when Charybdis was little she tried to eat the litter and Mommy was afraid that clumping litter would cause more problems then non-clumping litter if she swallowed it. I am sure Charybdis wouldn't do anything that disgusting now.~Scylla

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  9. Thanks JFF for your concerns - SS concerns herself lucky to get the job. So no complaints there. That particular library is the mathematics/statistics library and there is nothing that interests SS or that she could understand :)

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  10. Lots of cats are reviewing Fresh Step and most seem to like it .That is good to know ! Thanks :)
    Purrs Mickey

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  11. Thanks for stopping by my blog and wishing me a Happy Birthday and Gotcha Day.
    Purrs,
    Missy Blue Eyes

    pee ess: Yup, my Mommy ML was scared of cats! That's why our neighbor kept me hidden when she visited that day. When she revealed me, the look on Mommy ML's face was priceless. And I jumped up and yelled, "Gotcha". Well, not really, but it made a good story. Ha ha.

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  12. I hope Jan feels better soon!! Purrhaps there is a clumping litter out dere which won't make her sneeze? Dat is, if Jan wants to keep buyin' it.

    We has to be sooo careful with the stuff we buy, cuz Macy is EXTRA stinky and Daddy has a sensitive nose.

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