LocoReader

Ivy says:
We get some great questions in email (have one? email us!) and occasionally comments. These questions came from the comments.
Commenter Jane writes:
I used to use very expensive cat litter (I have three cat boxes), but realized that using the cheapest cat litter and emptying the whole thing every couple of days is the most economic way to go. Does anyone out there know of a litter that is flushable, doesn’t track on the floor?
I was just mulling over the cat litter issue this morning over at Animal Shak.  I use Arm & Hammer Super Scoop, but after finding out about the strip mining issue with cat litter, I’m thinking about using something different as well. Whaddaya think, Home Eccers? Do you have a good answer for Jane? Do you have a good answer for me?
Commenter Liz writes:
This is a little off topic, but the problem I always have is the garbage can. Since I scoop into the garbage can, I change it pretty frequently, but it still reeks. Anyone have any good ideas about how to manage this? It always smells awful in this part of the house, and it isn’t the litter box.
You could try to find a litter that is flushable, but if you live in an area where water conservation is a must like I do, that may not work for you. Here’s what I do. I always use plastic bags that I get from the grocery store* to scoop the cat boxes into. Then I take the tied up bag out to my outside dumpster.
I’ve also seen this litter locker at my local PetSmart that looked like a neat idea. The only  problem I can forsee with that is that you have to buy the bags that are used with it, and that seems a tad on the wasteful side to me. Not to mention expensive. However, it does look like it would do an excellent job of keeping the smell away.
And to prove we don’t talk about poop all the time at Home Ec 101, commenter Karen wants to know:
I’ve been reading your blog for weeks now but I just now noticed that both of your names are names of plants. pseudonyms?
That’s an astute observation, Karen! I never even noticed that myself.  Heather is really Heather’s name. Ivy is not actually my real name, but it is the name I have been using online since 1994. My real name is a name I really don’t dig for myself**. I have gone by nicknames for most of my life, and when I started going online, my dad told me to come up with a fake name because he claimed only crazies, stalkers, perverts, and us were online. So it was Ivy, and I’ve been Ivy ever since.
Eventually, I intend to legally change my name to Ivy Hogan, but I’m afraid it will hurt my mom’s feelings. Mom says she wanted to name me this name since she was a little girl. I still hate the name. Sorry, Mom.
And no, I won’t tell you what the name is. Some things are just for me.
*I use my cloth bags about half the time when I go to the grocery store and I get the plastic bags the other half of the time for this very reason.
**It is a very, very common name for women my age. It’s fine for other people, it’s a pretty name with a nice meaning. It just has never, ever suited me.