Friday, June 28, 2013

Tidy Cats Glade Kitty Litter A Toxic Choice



Tidy Cat is offering a new kitty litter, Tidy Cat Glade Tough Order Solution.  Please don’t ever use this.  Artificial scents are virtually unregulated in this country and are the overwhelming source of scent in commercial products.  95 percent of artificial scent is toxic.  Even natural chemicals can be hazardous.



Women’s Voices for the Earth tested 20 popular cleaners from 5 top companies.  In their words, “We found reproductive toxins, carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and allergens, and none of these chemicals were listed on the product label.


Glade is owned by S.C. Johnson & Son.  In the product Glade Plug In Scented Oil Hawaiian Breeze the organization found limonene, linalool and eugenol.  Limonene and linalook, although natural, are known to provoke allergic reactions. [1]   Eugeneol, the active ingredient in clove oil, is also used in insecticides.[2] 

I would think that the chemicals in the kitty litter would be the same as the ones in the Glade air "freshening" products.  You don’t know if your cat is allergic to limonene or linalool until you expose them to it and you don’t know how allergic the animal is.  If you are unlucky enough, that one exposure may be too much for your cat.  These chemicals are terpenes.  There is no known antidote for them.  The only treatment is supportive.[3]    In the air terpenes combine with ozone to create formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical with a low acceptable exposure limit[4] and secondary particles of air pollution whose effects haven’t been determined yet.[5]


It is possible to consume too much eugenol. In fact the National Library of Medicine defines eugenol overdose as "poisoning from swallowing a large amount of eugenol oil (clove oil)." Some of the symptoms are shallow and rapid breathing, coughing up blood, blood in urine, burns in mouth and throat, abdominal pain, nausea, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, seizures, and even coma.[6]  Clumping kitty litter gets stuck on cat fur, especially if they have long hair.  It is not a good idea to let your cats ingest this.  


In addition to these natural occurring ingredients, the National Resources Defense Council discovered that Glade Plug-Ins also contain phthalates, chemicals that can cause endocrine, reproductive, and developmental problems.  Regular use of air fresheners increases asthma 30 to 50 percent.[7]
Another possible ingredient is synthetic musk, a potential hormone disruptor.  Synthetic musk increases the likelihood of breast cancer and liver toxicity.[8]  Stanford University researchers Till Luckenbach and David Epel have also discovered that synthetic musk enhances the effect of other toxic substances.[9]

Not only would your cat be breathing in and ingesting the above chemicals, so would anyone else in the dwelling.  Do you really want to set yourself up for future illness by using Tidy Cat Glade kitty litter, or any Glade products?



[1]Dirty Secrets Test Results,” Women’s Voices for the Earth, www.womensvoices.org, accessed 28 June 2013.
[2][2] The Bug Doctor, “The Darker Side of Eugenol,” pestcemetery.org, accessed 28 June 2013.
[3] John Said Kashani, DO, Asim Tarabar, MD, Steve Marcus, MD, Terpene Toxicity Medication, Medscape Reference: Drugs, Diseases and Procedures, emedicine.medscape.com, accessed 28 June 2013.
[4] Dr. Ben Kim, “Beware of toxic air fresheners,” Chet Day’s Health & Beyond Online, www.chetday.com, accessed 28 June 2013.
[5] W. W. Nazaroff, et all, “Final Report:  Contract No. 01-336 Prepared for the California Air Resources Board and the California Environmental Protection Agency, 10 May, 2006,” Mindfully.org, www.mindfully.org, accessed 28 June 2013.
[6] W. J. Rayment, Eugenoll, Indepthinfo.com, accessed 28 June 2013.
[7] Dr. Ben Kim, “Beware of toxic air fresheners,” Chet Day’s Health & Beyond Online, www.chetday.com, accessed 28 June 2013.
[8] “Synthetic  Musks,” The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, www.safecosmetics.org, accessed on 28 June 2013.
[9] Cynthia Washam, “A Whiff of Danger:  Synthetic Musks May Encourage Toxic Bioaccumulation,” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 113(1), January 2005, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

22 comments:

  1. So I'm on my 3rd pail of this stuff and I am now having issues with my cat urinating on my kitchen floor. Do you think the strong glade scent may be deterring my cat from using the litter box?

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    1. That would be my guess. A cat's sense of smell is much stronger than ours. I find Glade to be overwhelming to begin with. A cat would probably be repulsed by it. At least there's an easy way to find out. Get rid of the Glade Tidy Cat, wash out the litter box, and add an unscented kitty litter. Hopefully your cat will go back to using the new litter right away.

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    2. My new roommate is obsessed with the Glade Hawian plug ins and candles. She has three plugged in her room. I gagged when I had to go in there. Now, she wants to put them in the living room, but I have a kitten, dog, and lizard that I don't want exposed to the chemicals or god awful scent. I don't know how to keep her from doing it.

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  2. About 5 days ago, I filled my cat's litter box with it and a day later she started having seizures. She had 3 in total. The first one was right next to the cat litter box with her head over the edge like she was about to go and use it. I believe that this product is the cause of it.

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  3. After using this product for about a week, one of my cats developed feline asthma. She has no previous history of asthma, so we assume it's the deodorizer in the litter. Until now, I thought the litter was great.

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  4. My cat started urinating blood after using this litter. Used the non-scented version since he was a kitten with no issues, only bought this one because it had a dollar off coupon. Save $1 and spend $100 in vet bills.

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  5. DO NOT USE THIS LITTER! I have 4 cats, one has ended up with a weird skin rash and respiratory problems..quit eating and drinking, another is sneezing constantly, another one has eye issues and another lethargic. This all started when we started using this litter. I am only hoping now that we've gone back to our old litter they will get better.

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  6. I took a jug of this home from the shelter because I didn't look too closely and it was all that was available. The smell was so overwhelming I ended up buying a few jugs of unscented litter to cut the odor.,

    I generally buy unscented litter for my own cats because all the scents are so artificial and they bother me, I can only imagine how they bother the cats

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  7. Oh this is really great and this the only litter my cat will use if I buy anything else he will piss and poop everywhere till I break down and get him his Tidy Cat with Glade.

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  8. Does anyone know if the Tidy Cats Litter Box Deodorizer also comes under this? (20oz)

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  9. Does anyone know if the Tidy Cats Litter Box Deodorizer also comes under this? (20oz)

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  10. I had used Tidy Cat only once ... years ago ... and noticed grey mold growing in the corner of the litter box. I would never use this brand again.

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  11. I am so glad I found this post. After I started using this litter my cat started constantly scratching herself. It obviously irritating her skin and feet. She started pulling her fur out. So thankful I saw this post once I started searching Tidy Cat liter.

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  12. Is there any cat litter that is safe for our furbabies ?

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  13. Is there any safe clean kitty litter for our furbabies on the market ?

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  14. I recently bought tidy cats with glade and my cat now has 2 bleeding sores, he has been hack/wheezing since too. I took him to the vet, $157 later he is being treated for a allergic reaction. Antibiotics and steroid cream were given. We have been using original tidy cats for years and never had s problem,i can't help but wonder is it the chemical in the glade formula??

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  15. Very scary. My cat has been scratching like crazy and we've ruled out fleas, ticks, mites. Thought maybe our one year old was stressing him out. But his scratching and subsequent fur loss coinsides with buying this litter for the first time. Will be notifying the company about his reaction ASAP.

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  16. I just bought this product and my cat started vomiting and is verg lethargic..the only change to his lifestyle is this litter. After reading some of these comments its confirmed my belief of this litter being the root of the problem

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  17. I just bought this litter and my cat has been vomitting and very lethargic after reading these comments its confirmed my belief that this litter is the root of the problem as his symptoms dont match to anything else

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  18. Bought this litter and our little boy kitten started sneezing wheezing and having watery eyes. Switched back to Old litter Arm & Hammer double-duty and I hope he gets better. Feel so horrible for having caused him this distress.

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