Buyer’s Beware on Yesterday’s News Cat & Bunny Litter

[lashkay]

Dangerous Objects Found in Yesterday’s News Litter by Susan August 2004 – March 2005: I have found objects in Yesterday’s News (YN) litter that could scratch or puncture a rabbit’s skin, and others that could cause an impaction or an internal injury if swallowed. The objects, shown in the photos below, include what appear to be and what feel like: sharp, hard metal shards small pieces of metal foil hard shards of plastic hard plastic plugs up to 3/8″ long shreds of lightweight plastic up to 1/2″ long Since I started carefully studying YN litter, every bag of it that I have purchased has contained staples and other sharp pieces. I have photographed the dangerous objects from only a few bags. One of my rabbits has been eager to eat YN litter. Since I began seeing for myself the foreign objects that are in the litter, I will not let any of my rabbits run the risk of hurting themselves on, or ingesting, those objects, some of which are so sharp that they could pierce skin or internal membranes. In a telephone conversation with a customer service representative at Purina, I learned that the 30 percent of the content of YN litter that is not post-consumer paper material is floor sweepings from lumber mills. The rep was unable to tell me what kinds of wood, or what other materials, might be in the litter as a result of the floor sweepings. But I prefer that my rabbits not have the opportunity to ingest such floor sweepings. Because of the potential dangers, I use YN litter only with a grid on top of it so that a rabbit cannot reach the litter. Under a grid, the litter works well. If you would like to report your findings of foreign objects in YN to the makers of the litter, phone 800-778-1205. To have photos of your findings included in this page, contact Susan. Note: All of the YN litter I use is cat litter; the customer service rep assured me that the only difference between the cat litter and the rabbit litter is size of pellets, not content. Bag 1 This photo shows the dangerous objects and, for size comparison, some of the good pellets. Bag 2 Bag 2 contained numerous short, sharp pieces of metal, some of which appear to be broken staples. An external or internal injury from a piece of metal could lead to an abscess. Bag 3 Bag 3 included something that looked and felt like a piece of rubber band. It has been circled on the photo. Bag 4 Some of the litter pellets, such as those near the blue plug, have metallic bits compressed into them. Bag 5

 

[lashkay]

Note: The above article on the hazardous content of Yesterday’s News is copyrighted 2001-2002. All rights reserved.

[Monkeybun]

Well, given that it is that many years old, I’m gonna take the article with a grain of salt… she couldn’t have studied the bags over a long period of time, it may have been a bad batch. And, of course, if it was an ongoing problem, no one would use it now.

[Sarita]

Yeah, that article is very old and I’m pretty sure that they must have a quality control to ensure that this doesn’t happen.

I used YN for years before I started using Lone Star Bedding and had no problems.

[BinkyBunny]

I am going to see what the update may now be five years later. So I’m checking around with a few good sources,(i wrote to author of the article, will be talking to my rabbit savvy vet, calling YNs, etc) and I’ll let you know what I find out. I think that either way it’s a good idea as this article does still pop up now and again and I would like to be able to address it if at all possible.

 

[Elrohwen]

I have actually found a couple of little blue plastic pieces in my YN litter. Otto doesn’t eat the litter or even dig at it – he only stands on top and pees – so I haven’t worried about it. However, it does concern me that their quality control isn’t better. I know from experience that plastic is hard to detect, but I have to wonder where it’s coming from in the first place.

[Beka27]

Like with anything we give our buns, it is our responsibility to make the final call whether or not we use it. I know personally, I inspect each and every litterbox before I put it in their xpen. It only takes a few moments to shift thru the litter and do a manual/visual inspection.

If you are experiencing a CURRENT problem with a bag of litter, contact the company and give them the applicable info so they can track what has happened and then remedy the situation. I don’t think reposting pictures from 8+ years ago is necessarily indicative of what the company is manufacturing today.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I almost wonder if
a) that wasn’t a bad batch that got out-that can happen
b) that someone was trying to make them look bad?

That being said-these things CAN happen-and we need to be ever vigilent-not only with litter but with food too! There are always product recalls-and contamination and all kinds of bad things. And one can’t fret too much, that’d make us crazy-but we need to wash our veggies-watch for illness diligiently and pay attention

I think, no matter if that did happen or not-it’s a good message Be careful

[Brittany-and-Freddie]

Actually I think this is still a concern with this litter. A friend of mine had a bunny die of stomach issues after eating this litter. The vet did confirm this and the owner found plastic and metal in the litter as well. This was less than 2 years ago…I hope they have gotten it under control by now but I am still very skeptical.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I have actually found a couple of little blue plastic pieces in my YN litter

Me too but not to the point I’m worried about it. Never any metal. I’ve always used YN and been happy with it. Next time I change the litter boxes I will check it though just out of curiosity.

[RabbitPam]

Hi, guys. We really need to limit of bumping up old threads. When a problem like this is 2 years old and has been addressed and resolved, it really just alarms folks who skip checking the date and think it’s current. I’m going to put a hold on it for now, while BB checks it out.
Thanks for understanding.

[Author]

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