If you search for "cat litter" on a shopping platform, I believe you will be shocked by the variety of search results in front of you. As far as tofu cat litter, it has many colors such as yellow, green, pink, gray, purple, and so on. The fragrance of tofu cat litter is more, from the original milk, peach, green tea, and lavender, to chamomile, cherry blossoms, and so on. Any fragrance you can think of can be produced. But how should we choose when we buy cat litter? Should we choose the original or the fragranced tofu cat litter?
Would fragranced tofu cat litter be of better quality?
First of all, we must understand that the fragrance of tofu cat litter is obtained by adding spices during the production process. In order to ensure the safety of tofu cat litter, the dosage of spices is strictly controlled, and the dosage is relatively small. The addition of spices will not affect the production formula of tofu cat litter, which means that there is essentially no difference between original and fragranced tofu cat litter. There is no difference between the two in terms of physical properties such as water absorption, agglomeration, and dissolution. So there is no data showing that fragranced tofu cat litter is better.
Is fragranced tofu cat litter better for deodorizing?
The deodorizing effect of tofu cat litter mainly depends on the wrapping of the cat litter itself to excrement, so as to achieve the effect of reducing the escape of odor. Secondly, the voids in the tofu cat litter particles can not only provide good water absorption for the cat litter, but also have certain adsorption to odor, and a certain deodorizing effect. From these two points of view, there is no difference in deodorization between original and fragranced tofu cat litter. But in the actual use process, we will find that using fragranced tofu cat litter does not smell as bad as the original tofu cat litter. What is the reason? Compared with original tofu cat litter, fragranced tofu cat litter can rely on its own fragrance to cover up the odor of excrement, so we will feel that the deodorizing effect is better. Just like sometimes we use air fresheners when there is an odor in the room, our noses are not that sensitive, so we smell the freshener and ignore the odor.
Pros and cons of fragranced cat litter
Adding fragrance to act like an "air freshener" is the biggest advantage of fragranced tofu cat litter. While it doesn't really remove the odor, it does meet some of our needs.
But the addition of fragrance also has its drawbacks. The deodorizing effect of cat litter is actually our requirement for cat litter from our own perspective, and the cat itself may not care about it. From the cat's point of view, there are 60 million "olfactory receptor" cells on the cat's nasal mucosa, while humans have only 10 million, so the cat's sense of smell is much more sensitive than humans. We may only smell the fragrance of cat litter, but cats can smell both excrement and cat litter. The two flavors mix together making some cats don't like fragranced tofu cat litter. In addition, some tofu cat litter adds too many spices, resulting in a too-strong fragrance. This may be acceptable to us, but for cats with a more sensitive sense of smell, it has even reached the point where it becomes difficult for them to breathe. More than once I've seen cats sneeze constantly because of the strong scent of cat litter.
What's more, adding fragrance provides some unscrupulous businesses with the opportunity to cut corners. Tofu cat litter belongs to organic cat litter and can meet food-grade standards. The finished tofu cat litter should smell faintly of beans. If it is produced with expired or inferior raw materials, the smell of the finished product will be very different. But when the spice is added, the fragrance of the spice can mask the smell of the cat litter itself. This makes it difficult for us to distinguish the quality of tofu cat litter directly from the smell.
Should we choose original or fragranced tofu cat litter?
Through the above introduction, we have learned that fragranced tofu cat litter has certain advantages compared with original tofu cat litter, but at the same time, it also has obvious disadvantages. But that doesn't mean we can't use fragranced tofu cat litter.
Cat litter is for cats. If you like cat litter very much, but your cat refuses to use it, I advise you to give up this cat litter. The cat's preference is the fundamental starting point for us to choose cat litter. Therefore, if your cat can accept the fragrance of cat litter, you can choose fragranced tofu cat litter. If your cat is very resistant to the fragrance of cat litter, then honestly choose the original cat litter.
Don't choose cat litter with a strong fragrance. A strong fragrance can be a very strong stimulus for cats with a more sensitive sense of smell. This kind of stimulation will first make the cat resist the cat litter, which will cause the cat to excrete everywhere. What's more, long-term stimulation is very harmful to the cat's olfactory and respiratory systems. You can choose green-tea-fragranced tofu cat litter, which can not only cover up the odor but is also more suitable for cats.
Choose formal channels to buy. Because the concealment of fragrance gives unscrupulous merchants an opportunity, be sure to choose products produced by regular manufacturers. If you come into contact with a certain tofu cat litter for the first time, it is best to choose the original cat litter first, and then try the fragranced cat litter if it works well. When switching to fragranced cat litter, it is best to buy a small amount or trial size first. Buy in bulk if your cat can accept it.
