Whatever happened to Kitty Litter? March 13, 2008
Posted by ourfriendben in critters, pets.Tags: brands, cats, Kitty Litter, litter boxes, writing
trackback
To those of us who are constantly dealing with the litter box, the answer to this question may seem obvious. But our friend Ben begs to differ. You see, Kitty Litter and cat litter (believe it or not, the generic phrase is actually the appalling “cat box filler”) are not interchangeable. In fact, you interchange them at your own risk! Here’s the story:
Back in the day–in 1947, to be precise–a man named Edward Lowe invented Kitty Litter, a clay-based cat box filler, for one of his cat-owning neighbors, and an industry was born. But like the creators of Xerox, Kleenex, Coke, Q-Tips, and other pioneering brands, Lowe–or rather, the burgeoning Edward Lowe Industries–didn’t want people taking his product’s name in vain. As a mere layperson, our friend Ben would think it would be great for business (and flattering, too) if the name of one’s product became the generic for the entire class of those products. But businesses and their legal departments strongly disagree with our friend Ben here, presumably because if their brand became the generic name for the product, other brands could use it on their products, as in “Scott kleenex”* instead of “Scott facial tissue.” Brand identity would be lost, and God forbid. So companies and their legal departments vigorously monitor the use of their brands’ names, and go after people who use them carelessly.
How does our friend Ben know this seemingly arcane fact? If one is a writer and editor like our friend Ben, it is drilled frequently into one’s head. And if one sometimes writes and edits about pets, like our friend Ben, a particularly large power drill is used, since Kitty Litter is notorious for coming after you if you misuse their brand.
Which brings us, finally, to the point of today’s post. The vigilance of the Kitty Litter lawyers in protecting their brand’s integrity is a legend in the publishing world. But as our friend Ben was tending the litter box this morning (we favor unscented Ever Clean clumping cat litter at Hawk’s Haven), I began to wonder if Kitty Litter itself was a legend as well. As I thought about it, it occurred to our friend Ben that I had never, ever actually seen a box of Kitty Litter brand cat box filler. Have you? So I decided to investigate.
Fortunately, my good friends, Google and Wikipedia, came to the rescue on this occasion as on so many others. The baffled Ben discovered that Kitty Litter’s creator, Edward Lowe, changed his product’s name to Tidy Cat in 1964. (Today, it’s Tidy Cats.) Now, even our friend Ben has seen Tidy Cat–I mean, Cats–on grocery shelves, while of course cursing Ever Clean for not being on those same shelves but instead residing solely in far-off pet stores.
It turns out that Tidy Cat/Cats was bought by Ralston Purina in 1995. Our friend Ben has to wonder whether Purina’s lawyers are equally vigilant about protecting the Kitty Litter brand from generic use, but needless to say, I don’t want to find out by being the first to take its name in vain and receiving an intimidating legal document in return. If you feel braver than our friend Ben, let me know what happens!
And if any cat-lovers out there have a favorite brand of cat litter (no perfume, please, cats hate that and so does Ben) that’s available in grocery stores, please let our friend Ben know! Ever Clean is wonderful, but it’s a trial to buy.
* Please, Kleenex, don’t sue our friend Ben! I’m just using you as an example.
Dear Ben & Co,
I agree with your lofty estimation of Ever Clean, which never sticks to me or my friends the way Band-Aids, er, adhesive bandages, do. Generically speaking, it’s the cat’s … well, you know. — Tom Clump
We’ve been sold on Ever Clean here at Hawk’s Haven since we acquired our first cat, a Maine coon, and the cattery owner insisted that we acquire some Ever Clean along with her. We’ve never used anything else, and never had any cause for complaint–except that it’s only sold through pet stores! What a trial if you happen to run out when groceries are open but pet stores are long closed.
Well, I have eight cats–all needled, neutered, tended, adored–and we use a product called Woody Pet, which is compressed wood bedding/litter, and I think it’s fantastic. It breaks down to sawdust–I dump it in the manure heap–and the interesting thing is, I dump a quarter bag into a ‘fish box’, which is a tote box used by commercial fishermen to hold about 100 pounds of fish, about 1.5 feet wide and 3.5 feet long and 16 inches deep. This looks after the needs of the eight cats, only 3 of whom ever go outdoors. There’s no smell in the winter, and in the summer when it’s warmer and more humid, there’s minimal smell. I change the box about once a week, usually without scooping, whereas with anything else–be it clay like what you’ve mentioned, bentonite (the so called clumping stuff which will be around with the cockroaches when the world ends), yesterday’s news, which the cats hated. They like this fine, and it makes my life easier. I just checked and it’s available in the US as well as Canada, and I’d suggest trying it. It’s also cheaper, as far as I’m concerned. A bag (which weighs about 40 pounds, I think) costs me 6.99 and lasts for a month–again, with eight cats; where an equivalent amount of any other sort of ‘gritty kitty’ toilet product would last half that long and cost much more.
I don’t work for this company, incidentally–I discovered it by accident last year, and was completely impressed with it.
Thank you, Jodi, and of course you don’t work for the company! (The idea!) I really appreciate the recommendation and will keep an eye out for it down here. I’m intrigued by your mention of a manure heap–do you have horses, goats, or other creatures that contribute to it?
Oh my, my head is swirling… Dirt from the garden is so far working for us… though you can’t buy it from the store. ; ) But since our cat seems to like having two boxes (UGH), and one is in the dining room (we thought it was temporary – double UGH), we may have to invest in some corn, wheat, or pine substance anyway. Sigh.
I didn’t know it was a branded term. But I guess I can just call it cat litter and be fine. ; )
Cat litter it is! And we don’t have a basement, so our litter box is in the bathroom–talk about ugh! Too bad we can’t just walk them outside with the dog… which of course reminds me that *all* our outdoor cats like to come along on the dog walks, and often choose that opportunity to use the big outdoor litterbox as well. Poor Molly (the golden retriever) hardly knows what to make of it.
Still available in Canada as “Kitty Litter Scoop” and regular good old style “Kitty Litter”.
http://www.purina.ca/products/catboxfiller/cat/default.asp?page=kittenlitterscoop
Thanks, Pete! That’s good to know!