Can I use beach sand for cat litter? Is it safe and how to clean it?

Hello, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Anything you bring from outdoors will carry a small risk of exposure to things like intestinal parasites, but overall these risks are very small and natural sand should be just fine to use. Heating it in the oven and then letting it cool is a great way to minimize risk.

I would recommend using shredded paper in her litter box instead of sand or litter if she has infected toes. Do not apply topical medication. If she is licking her feet excessively she may need an e-collar or something to help prevent her from licking. If it is very infected or painful then she really needs to see a veterinarian to determine if she needs antibiotics. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I don't recommend to use this in case the wood has some sort of chemical treatment. Remember that Sadie will walk on the wood and then lick her feet later. It's safest to stick to products made for pets so that you know there are no hidden chemicals that could be toxic. Also, some cats do not like any litter other than normal, clay based litter. I recommend to offer two boxes, one with clay based litter and the other with the new litter and see which one she prefers. Otherwise she may start eliminating outside of the litter box. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

As far as I am aware only sawdust that is treated with certain chemicals would be carcinogenic when inhaled. I doubt that the OkoCat litter is a risk for your kitties, but if you are afraid that it might be, why not change to "normal clumping cat litter or the cat litter made from plant material (which is not clumping, I am afraid).

I would not use a litter that has an aroma on a cat who is sensitive. I am not sure if you are able to purchase this certain litter system but if you are able to the Breeze litter system is great. It has pellets, not litter and when they pee it goes to a pad underneath. https://www.amazon.com/gp/css/homepage.html/ref=nav_youraccount_ya I use this for my cat and there is no dust, no smell and no tracking. Thank you for using PetCoach.

You could try a corn or wheat based litter like World's Best Cat Litter or Swheat Scoop, or a wood litter like Okocat if you want to avoid clay litter. You could also try a clay based low dust litter like Dr. Elsey's. Even though she is used to pellets the transition to a clay litter could be fine - I'd start by putting out a litter box with the new litter while still keeping the old one and if she starts using the new one take the old one away.

You can, however it isn't as simple as collecting a few bucketsful and dumping them in your tank. You will need to properly clean the sand to remove impurities and parasites. This involves soaking the sand, water changes, more soaking amd more water changes. It may take several weeks. There are videos you can watch on the bigger video hosting sites. It is much easier, and safer for your fish, to buy sand that has been prepared already.