Cat litter is one of the must-have items for almost every cat owner. At the same time, the consumption of cat litter is very fast, so many people buy a large quantity of cat litter at one time. One is to reduce the hassle of frequent purchases, and the other is to prepare for emergencies. But what follows is the preservation of cat litter. How to preserve cat litter that cannot be used up? Are there any differences in preservation methods between different types of cat litter?
Pay attention to sealing and drying
The main function of cat litter is to use its own water absorption to absorb cat poop and urine. Cat litter has excellent water absorbent and can easily absorb moisture in the air during storage. If it absorbs moisture in the air during storage, it will not be able to absorb cat excrement well during use. Therefore, in the process of cat litter storage, the most important thing is to ensure that the cat litter packaging is sealed and the storage environment is dry. If the cat litter is not used up, pay attention to sealing the opening of the cat litter bag, and then store the cat litter in a cool and dry place. This can not only prevent cats or family members from accidentally touching them and scattered on the ground, but also prevent cat litter from absorbing moisture in the air as much as possible. Unopened cat litter bags are generally well sealed and only need to be stored in a cool and dry place.
How long can cat litter stored?
Cat litter will be marked with its own shelf life on the package. We can use it as a basis, but it also depends on the actual storage of the cat litter. Generally, opened cat litter is not recommended to be stored for a long time, because although we will seal the opening, the airtightness is far less than that of unopened cat litter bags. This fundamentally leads to it can not be stored for a long time. Unopened cat litter, if the package is not damaged, will not affect its use during its shelf life if it is properly stored. In addition, we should also decide whether the cat litter can be used or not according to the actual situation of cat litter preservation. If the cat litter is found to be damp, such as blocks in the clumping cat litter, or even the cat litter is moldy and hairy, it should be disposed of in time. Even if the cat litter is still within the shelf life, you cannot continue to use it for cats. One is that the wet cat litter can no longer play the role of cat litter, and the other is that the cat litter will come into contact with the cat's body during use, and the moldy cat litter will have an impact on the cat's health.
Can the cat litter be used after beyond its shelf life?
The shelf life of cat litter is an important basis for judging the quality of cat litter, but it does not mean that cat litter cannot be used after beyond its shelf life. If the cat litter exceeds the shelf life, but there is no mildew, moisture, or no odor, it can continue to be used. Cat litter is used to absorb urine and odors excreted by cats. It has relatively little impact on the cat's health. Even if it expires, it will not cause great harm to the cat. If there happen to be one or two bags of cat litter that has not been used up within the shelf life, you can continue using them for your cat, but we recommend not to use expired cat litter for a long time. And it's best mixed with new cat litter. After all, beyond the shelf life, we don't know what will happen to the cat litter, and little impact does not mean that it has no impact on the cat's health. Moreover, some cats will also lick cat litter.
Is there any difference in the storage methods of different cat litter?
Although the types, materials, and appearances of cat litter are various, its fundamental function is to use its own water absorption to absorb cat poop and urine. That is to say, the focus of all cat litter in the storage process is to protect the water absorption of cat litter from being affected, so attention should be paid to keeping the package sealed and the storage environment dry. There is no difference. However, due to the different raw materials and processes of various cat litter, their shelf life may be different, and their damp condition will also be different. For example, tofu cat litter, bentonite cat litter, and other clumping cat litter will form blocks when damp; Pine wood cat litter will turn into powder when damp; Crystal cat litter will change color when damp. During the storage process, we need to check the damp condition of the cat litter according to the type of cat litter.
Tips for storing cat litter
It is best to buy cat litter in a small capacity bag, like 6L
We cannot seal the opened cat litter bag well, so it will greatly reduce its storage time. Especially in rainy weather, the opened cat litter is easy to damp. Buying cat litter in a small capacity bag can reduce the situation that the cat litter cannot be used up after opening. At the same time, even if it cannot be used up at one time, the remaining cat litter will be used up faster. It can shorten the time that cat litter needs to be stored. This can reduce the difficulty of preservation and improve the effect of preservation.
It is best to buy vacuum-packing cat litter
The function of vacuum packaging and ordinary packaging is to keep the cat litter in a sealed state and isolate it from outside moisture. There is no difference between the two at this point, but why do we recommend that you buy vacuum-packing cat litter? First of all, the vacuum-packing cat litter has a square appearance and uniform size, which is convenient for stacking. In addition, the vacuum packaging reduces the space between the cat litter particles, and the cat litter of the same quality will have a smaller volume in vacuum packaging, which can save space well. The most important thing is that vacuum packaging is easier than ordinary packaging to find out whether the packaging is damaged or air leaking. If there is air leakage in ordinary packaging, it is difficult for us to find out, but it will greatly affect the storage effect of cat litter. This cat litter is more prone to dampness and spoilage than other cat litter, when we find them we can only throw them away. And if there is air leakage in the vacuum-packed cat litter, we will easily find it. We only need to use this part of the cat litter in advance to effectively avoid waste.
Check the cat litter storage status from time to time
The preservation of cat litter is not just about finding a place to put it, but we also need to check the storage status of cat litter from time to time. If there is water leakage or moisture in the storage place, it should be remedied and dehumidified, or even transferred the cat litter to other places for storage in time. The cat litter with damaged packaging should be used in time to avoid waste.
