Speaker 1: This is pet Life Radio.
Speaker 2: Let's talk pets. This episode of Catitude is brought to
you by Pretty Litter, World's smartest cat litter.
Speaker 3: Hello, Blai lovers, Welcome to Catitude. I'm your show host,
Michelle bern And what great day I have. First of all,
it's Friday the thirteenth, when we're recording always a special day.
Speaker 2: I think it's a special.
Speaker 3: Day for cats. Don't ask me why, I just do.
And I have a very special guest, and we're going
to talk about a product that not only is it
great for the pet parent, it's great for your cat too.
So stay tuned, we'll be right back.
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Speaker 5: Let's talk pets on petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 3: Welcome back, Gabyone. I'd like to welcome Jennifer Cookson. She
is the director of R and D Innovation at Pretty Litter.
Welcome Jennifer.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Michelle. It's great to be on.
Speaker 3: I'm so excited to have you. Can you share a
little about your background with our listeners?
Speaker 2: Sure? So, I don't come from a traditional cat litter
background or pet care background. I am a material scientist
that started out in the cosmetic and personal care space.
There is though a lot of overlap in the science
between making a lotion surprisingly or deodorant in building out
cat litter. So it's been an interesting transition. But I'm
excited to be in the field and to be supporting
Pretty Litter.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm excited to have you on. Do you have
cats yourself?
Speaker 2: I do, And I was very nervous because it is
feeding time that she would be making some sounds and
appearances on this episode.
Speaker 3: That's fine, Hey, we're all about me out, Okay, So
let's talk about cat litter. There are a lot of
cat litters out there, and pretty is of course often
described as a smart cat litter. So from a science standpoint,
what makes it different than traditional litter.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so traditional litters are I would say passive, right.
Their main function is to absorb moisture and control odor,
but they don't interact with the biology of what's happening
in the box. So pretty litter is engineered as a
functional substrate, the amorphasilica. It works to absorb moisture and
control odor like litter because of its high surface area
and rapid absorption, but layered into that is also a
pH responsive indicator that is designed to react to biochemical
shifts in urine, so let's say pH for instance, So
instead of just trapping waste, it can translate certain changes
into something visible. So that's the real distinction. It's not
just a passive litter, it's it's responsive to your cat's biology.
Speaker 3: Okay, thanks for telling us that information about pretty litter.
Let's talk about why it's so important to know about
your cat's help because cats there's two things. So one
they're often thought of as an afterthought in pet care.
They're getting better, but that's still kind of the case.
And then the other thing is that cats are very
stoic creatures. They hide what's going on with them. I
had that happen with my cat, really scary situation. So
let's go the first question. Why do you think that
cats have been considered an afterthought in pet care?
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if I would characterize it as an
afterthought so much as it is very difficult to treat felines, right. They,
like you mentioned, they're stoic. They tend to hide symptoms
until it becomes either critical or an emergency, and then
they're not well known to play nice at the event, right,
So care can be very difficult for a cat. I
myself probably don't have as rigorous as that routine as
my dog does because of those matters. I think a
lot of individuals tend to think of cats as being
able to take care of themselves.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: They were bred to hunt mice and kind of be
these independent creatures. So I don't know so much if
it's an afterthought as much as a characterization of cats
and their personalities that make them seem very strong, much
stronger than they actually are.
Speaker 3: Yeah. In other words, they fake us out all the time. Yes,
So now let's talk about that. Since they're such stoic creatures,
and they're so hard to understand when it comes to
their help. And for all the misunderstandings us as cat parents,
there can cat levers have, even those of us that
know a lot about cats. Why is early detection so important? Then,
most cat parents think.
Speaker 2: Well, early detection is a very good tool to prevent
having crisis or emergency situations. Cats can become dehydrated very quickly, right,
So if you start to notice changes in the output
of their urine, let's say, or even the pH because
they're dehydrated, it is critical that you are able to
track trends and patterns that maybe you're seeing in the
litter box to then articulate that to your vet before
it becomes a crisis.
Speaker 3: Okay, thanks, So how does pretty litter work?
Speaker 2: So pretty litter highlights changes in urine pH so it
can tell you if the urine is becoming more alkaline
or more acidic, and those changes over time. So tracking
how it looks over time can really be a good
insight into cat health. For instance, if the cat has
let's say, urinary crystal stones that form, right, that tends
to happen when the pH of the urine becomes more alkaline,
and so if you're starting to see that change, that
is typical. So blue with the pretty litter would be
the color. If you're starting to see consistently blue spots
where the cat is peeting, you know that might be
a flag to say, hey, I'm going to talk to
my vet to see if this is something we should
look into. Right, because the more facilica crystal is also clear,
it is able to detect blood, which off is not
observed in your regular clay substrates, and so blood is
always a concern when you see it, whether it be
in the uriner feces, and so that again is one
of those early indicators of let me call my vet
and have a conversation. It is in no way to
replace regular vet visit, but is it a tool that
can help you to have more direct and proactive conversations
with your vet.
Speaker 3: Okay, So cat parents that tri pretty litters should not
see colors and panic. This is just an indication of hey,
this is a sign to maybe go ahead and get
your cat checked out.
Speaker 2: Of the vat correct and cat urine phs actually can
be very variable. It can change dependent on how often
they eat, how much they eat, If they're stressed. So
it's more about looking at patterns. So is it consistently
very alkaline that would be a red flag? Is it
consistently very acidic that could also be a red flag? Right,
So it is more about having this be more part
of your routine to track trends than it is a
you know, red flag. Right away, we don't want to
scare pet parents.
Speaker 3: Right now, Let's talk about the components of pretty litter.
So pretty litter contains silica, and that is sometimes a
red flag for some pet parents. Is it safe? One
of the misconceptions that maybe were heard out there in
internet and other news.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so not all silicas are created equal. So one
of the biggest misconceptions is that, And in fact, pretty
literally uses something called amorphous silica, which is non toxic
and safe for everyday use. It is actually used in
foodstocks and widely using consumer products and considered again non
toxic when handled appropriately, and I think it unfortunately gets
conflated with crystalline silica, which is a hazard. Crystalline silica
is kind of the you know, it has a consistent
uniform pattern and kind of this jagonist to it versus
a MorphOS silica as it says, it doesn't have a
uniform shape and therefore doesn't have the same health hazards
as crystalline silica.
Speaker 3: Okay, and other things pet parents might be concerned about
with pretty litter as far as dust control and as
far as safety to their cats.
Speaker 2: Sure, So this is an interesting one that I recently
worked with our social media team to launch a video
on because the question came up so much in terms
of dust. So we actually had a third party lab
conduct a test for us where we stimulated use of
pretty litter, so pouring, sifting, stirring, scooping, and the person
that was doing that or a monitor within what is
called the breathing zone, so areas that would you know,
any particles or dust would enter into the lungs through
the nose mouth. And in addition to that, we also
monitored the ambient air, so the air around the litter box.
How much was you know, dusting up into the environment
around you. What was really reassuring was that the results
for pretty litter were often below the detection limit of
the instrument. The instrument couldn't even detect us because it
was well below that detection limit. The ambient air also
saw no significant change from background, no spikes, and all
of the people that were pouring noted that if there
was a minimal dust cloud, it dissipated much more quickly
than the other clay substrates we tested. So inherently our
product is lower dust than some of the leading clay
brands based on that test, and it has been demonstrated
in my lab for doing dustiness testing to be safe
in terms of not having small particles inhalable particles free
from those So I think that also has been a
little bit of a misconception that we hope we can
we can start to have a dialogue around with the
pet parents.
Speaker 3: Okay, thank you, Okay, we're gonna take a short break.
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1: Begging to hear more of your favorite show. Coolful. Episodes
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Also dig us up in iHeartRadio, dan iTunes, Let's Talk
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Speaker 5: Let's Talk Past, Let's done on a put life radio headline.
Speaker 6: Radio, pet live radio dot Com.
Speaker 3: Welcome back, everyone, and we're talking to Jennifer Cookson. She
is the director of R and D Innovation at Pretty Litter. Jennifer,
you've given us some great information. So we're talking about
pretty Litter and let me ask you this. You know,
some people might think, well, you know, I've always used
this litter and maybe this is just a trend. I
don't know, what would you say to people that are
skeptical in that this is really a great tool to
not substitute for the vet, but to aid you in
having conversations with your vet in you know, giving you
a glimpse as to your cat might have something and
this will tell you what to be aware of.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So you know, the founder of our company, Daniel,
he has a story that he tells about his cat
that ended up passing away from a urinary trek issue
and how and that really inspired him right to create
this product that could be this tool to screen, to
be a preventative method, to to be able to say
that your cat may have something wrong and to have
those conversations with your vet. You know, as I discussed
earlier Clay substrate. You know, while it's great that it
clumps and a lot of people have, you know, different
reasons why they select it, it unfortunately is not able
to show you changes in the cats urine pH or blood.
Actually blood is again very much can sealed in that
clay substrate. And so I actually started using pretty Litter
before I joined the company, and I had done it
proactively because I have a cat. She is now thirteen,
and so I was concerned as she got older that
she would potentially have issues and I would miss them,
right because again cats are stoic, and maybe one day
I'd see her and she was lethargic and that would
be a cue, but maybe by then it would be
too late. And so for me, I thought it was
a simple way to integrate something into our routine that
wasn't cost prohibitive, it didn't compromise performance, and could give
me that peace of mind.
Speaker 3: Okay, great information, thank you, so Jennifer. There's so many
wonder things that pretty Litter does. What do you do
if you have multi CAATs like so many of us do,
That's a tough one. So I actually introduced my sister,
who has three cats, to pretty Litter. She is somebody
who maintains multiple boxes for her cats. But the performance
of pretty Litter can accommodate multi cat households. If you
look at our loyalty base, actually most individuals have on
average two cats. So this is a product that is
geared towards multi cat and I think my sister, if
she's listening in, is proof of that. And the trade
for her was actually very surprising. You know, she was
concerned about oversaturation potentially and you know the cost. But
I got this funny phone call from her where she said,
oh my god, I don't have to carry out so
she has the litter genie, right, and she said, I
don't have to carry out like ten pounds of little
clay chunks that I've scooped out from the cats this week.
She's like, it's unbelievable. Right, So there's these small benefits
that I think multicat parents see when they start using
pretty litter that goes beyond just the health monitoring.
Speaker 2: That can be really surprising for people.
Speaker 3: Okay, thanks, And even if you have multi like I
have three, what about if you have three cats and
you do have multiple boxes, two cats generally tend to
prefer the same And what if you have two cats
that like the same one, Yeah, kind of still tell no.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, that becomes the challenge right, unless you are like
actively following your cat and saying, okay, I'm watching it, Pete,
this is the color change, and going to attribute it
to that. Unfortunately, when you have multi cat households, when
you're starting to look at patterns, it's not as easy
to just design it to one cat, especially if they
tend to use the same litter box, despite if you're
offering multiple litter boxes. So it does become a bit
of a challenge. But I do think that you know,
for me, for instance, or my sister, that peace of
mind of seeing something that may be alarming, despite not
being able to attribute it to one of her cats,
is still something she values.
Speaker 3: I mean, anything with cat help is very valuable. Does
pretty little change color right away.
Speaker 2: It does, within thirty seconds, you'll start to see a
color change, and it can persist up to twenty four hours.
So we recommend that you're stirring the substrate every day,
and that's part of of you know, you're not scooping
like you would with clay, so you're just kind of stirring,
and that is that time that you're looking and seeing,
oh you know, what is that color? Okay, I noted,
So that is our recommendation and how it fits into
kind of that monitoring element.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and since pretty little changes right away, and if
you're curious, to me, it's not a big deal with
my cat piece to go look in the box and say, Okay,
this one is turning you know, blue a lot and
this one's pea. You know, it changes right away, so
that's not a big deal. I mean, you won't always
know when your cat's using the box, but it changes
right away, so it's not a big deal to follow
your cat, wait till they're done, go in the box
and just note it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, give them their privacy and then check it out.
Speaker 3: Yes, they like their privacy, that's for sure. It's always
so funny to me when my cat turns around she's
face in the wall and just peeing. It's like, Okay,
they just want their space. That's just how they are.
Speaker 2: It's very funny. So I did a very kind of
like citizen science experiment where I monitored my cat's lure
box with a motion detect camera and also a dust
monitor because I was really deep into this, like how
dusty is pretty litter And it was really insightful in
terms of a the exposure levels, which were you know,
nothing near you know, nonexistent, but mostly the pattern that
she was so routine in terms of like the time
in the morning she'd go, you know how short somewhere
where other times it seemed like she was just having
fun in there. So it was it was an interesting experiment,
but also learned a lot about cat behavior.
Speaker 3: You know, Pretty Litter needs to come up with cameras,
because that's interesting. There's so many cameras these days that
you can put and they're not that expensive, and that's
a great way to monitor your cat's health with pretty
litterary because even multi cat it's you know, recording, so
you could just take.
Speaker 2: A look exactly. Yeah, you know, a lot.
Speaker 3: Of times pet parents are not that you know, they're
anxious about their cats. They either don't worry at all,
or they're anxious all the time because we don't know
what's going on with them. How does pretty Litter work
to kind of alleviate the pet parents from this anxiety
make empower them to feel more confident.
Speaker 2: I think that we always emphasize that this is not
a diagnostic tool, that this really is a way to monitor,
and so I think, you know, maybe just the framing
of that makes this more positive than it is negative, right,
that it can reduce the anxiety, perhaps because it's not
like you're taking, you know, a test that's going to
say you have X, Y and Z. It's really about
kind of integrating it into your everyday routine. I don't
know if that's this is I guess more in terms
of like a consumer behavior and you know, a psychological thing,
but I do believe that reduces a lot of the
anxiety that can be part of pet and cat parenthood.
Speaker 3: I think you're right. It makes the cat parent feel like,
you know, I might not know everything that's going on
with this cute little fluffball, but I have something that
I can monitor on a regular basis that can give
me signals, whereas my cute little cat does not. So
let's talk more about pretty litter. What did you find
as a scientist, what did you find out about pretty
litter that was really amazing to you as far as
what goes into developing the product and improving on the
product that most people wouldn't even think about.
Speaker 2: So as a material scientist, I would say the amorphosilica
itself has been really interesting and surprising to work with.
So there is a process that makes the amorphacilica gel
that it's you know, has multiple steps in it. However,
one slight change in it from whether it be pH temperature,
how long you hold the gel in the process can
result in a very different outcome in the particle and
the surface of the particle and how it actually performs
for a consumer. And so it's been fascinating to look
at a bag of let's say, an amorphasilica from Walmart
their you know, private label and ours and see how
dramatically different they are. As a scientist, I've done things
like scanning electron microscopy, which is looking at the surface
of these things fifty thousand times really granular, and the
difference in the scope across the silica caut litter category
is tremendous. It might not look at on the visual
from the consumer eye, but it is from that microscopic perspective,
which then translates to a consumer experience. So that's been
fascinating to actually see material science being linked directly to
a consumer outcome has been really, really great.
Speaker 3: And that has been fascinating to hear. I never really
paid much attention to morphasilica or silica, except for isn't
it silica that comes in little bags to keep moisture out?
Speaker 2: It does.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's what I know about silica. That's probably what
most of us listening know about silica. So who knew?
So let's talk about since pretty litter to me is
it's a help monitoring litter. That's what it is. How
do you see pretty litter and feline health monitor evolving
over the next few years. What do you see for
the future.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess we don't want to reveal too much,
but you know, we are constantly we are constantly in
conversation with pet parents but also vets. It's important for
us to hear from vets to what they think are
areas that are gaps in the industry and so having
better detection for other symptoms, whether that be renal health
to diabetes, to occult blood which a cult blood is
blood that you can't see. Those are becoming more important
for both pet parents and vets to see as being
those preventative or not preventative, but really early indications of
why you should bring your pet into see a VET.
And so I think looking at more of how we
can have health monitoring be more acute for the pet
parent is part of I think our roadmap for the future.
I think, you know, we have kind of an inside
vision of banishing the ugly? Does that look like in
terms of you know, pet parenthood, whether it be litter,
whether it be grooming, whether it be things that are
more towards We jokingly have like the back of the
cat in the front of the cat that we refer
to products on right now we're dealing with the back
of the cat. Well, you know, what are things that
involve health monitoring and peace of mind for pet parents
and can banish the ugly? You know that is prospecting
in a litter box, right that are end to end,
from cat head to end. So I think, you know,
there's a lot of things we're working on and a
lot of ideas we've got in the pipeline, and I'm
excited to be shepherding them into our twenty twenty six
and beyond.
Speaker 3: Well I'm excited too. You know, you're a cat parent,
you're also a scientist. You help develop and improve Pretty Litter,
which is a cat monitoring system, which is something so
crucial to you know, be aware of with your cats.
So we have lots and lots of cat parents listening
and maybe soon to be cat parents. If you could
tell them you should change this one habit after listening
to today's episode, what would you tell them? Of course,
I have bit related to their.
Speaker 2: Cats, I know. I mean that's a tough one without
just like you know, overtly promoting pretty litter. I have
found that, beyond the health monitoring, pretty litter also fits
a lifestyle. Right, So I am somebody who appreciates that
I don't have to scoop out clumps of urine every day, right.
I love that I only have to change it every
four weeks. There's a certain behavior that saves time for
me that I really love but also provides for my cat. Right,
it saves time without impacting my cat's health and well being.
You know that, I guess is is not necessarily a
thing to change, but you know, kind of an overt
promotion for pretty litter.
Speaker 3: Well a little bit more though, I'm curious, and I'm
sure you know all the cats levers are curious. We
talked about how pretty litter actually works, because we didn't
talk about the scooping part or not scooping, and how
it lasts for four weeks, but we talked about the
science of it. So how does one use pretty litter?
I know it's available just about everywhere.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you can get a six or eight ton
bag and we are soon to be launching a pale
size than twelve pounds, And basically the idea is to
create two inches of litter in your litter box. So generally,
for me, the six pound bag creates a two inch
litter layer in my cat's covered litter box. So I
have it delivered to me because I am part of
a subscription which I've maintained prior to my employment. So
every four weeks, I get delivered a six pound box
and that's kind of my trigger to know, Okay, I
got to empty out the other one. But the idea
is that you're scooping out the poop and things that
you visually see, but the urine is being absorbed into
the crystal, so the crystal itself can hold two hundred
x its weight in water. And so that's why you
know it's funny, because I've walked people through the math
of how it lasts this long, and it gets kind
of nerdy, But you know, you think about a cat
piece x milli liters per day based on its weight, right,
and if you have x grams pretty litter, it's going
to absorb you know, that much over the course of
this duration. And so that's kind of the calculation that
I've made in terms of my recommendation to people, but
anecdotally and using it, you know, for now five plus years,
I know that it lasts me about four and a
half weeks for my cat, and then I change it
out and replace it and start the clock starts again.
Speaker 3: Okay, and what about the odor?
Speaker 2: Oh, so the odor is also trapped in the crystal,
which is great. So Amorphousa does a really great job
of actually it's really good at ammonia control, but it's
also really good at odor control in general. And so
love that we have the unscented version and then we
have safe, lightly scented versions that don't smell like cat litter.
I don't know if you've ever had that issue, Michelle,
where you know, when you buy cat litters, it has
a fragrance that doesn't remind you anything more than just
cat litter. You're kind of like, okay, we're just trying
to cover up poop. And so I've appreciated kind of
the light sense to no sense that Pretty Little offers,
but also the odor control. You know, I'm never smelling
it or having guests make a comment, which has been fantastic.
Speaker 3: Okay, wonderful. Also another question, so say your cat's using
the pretty litter in the cat box and your cat
peas and it turns a color. It's absorbed right away,
but does the color remain.
Speaker 2: The color will remain for about twenty four to thirty
six hours, but it will fade over time. There is
kind of this inherent color indicator to the silicad that
you'll know when it's done because all of the litter
right will be a different kind of like little bit
yellowy orange color. And that's, you know, another visual indicator
to say, okay, we need to get new litter. So
it kind of has its own mechanism built in to
also tell you when you probably need to change out
the litter.
Speaker 3: Okay, great information. Now you have a great website where
can people find out more about pretty Litter.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we have our website PrettyLitter dot com where
they can go. We have a lot of information so
on the bag itself to provide you with insights in
terms of the color shifts and ranges that are indicative
of like pH and so there's a lot of information there.
We're very active on social media, so TikTok and Instagram
where we have cameos by vets that can provide tips, tricks,
all of that, and obviously always happy to engage with
followers and people reaching out for questions. Our CX team
is great at being extremely responsive and quick, so anytime
anybody has a question, they can reach out via our website.
Speaker 3: Okay, and where can our listeners buy pretty Litter?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so pretty Litter is offered online. We also are
on Amazon, and we are offered in select retailers like Target, Walmart,
and we are expanding our distribution to a few other
retail locations very soon. In this twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3: Year and Jennifer, I want to thank you and thanks
to everybody at pretty Litter because we have a special
offer for everyone listening. Everyone. If you go to PrettyLitter
dot com and you put in the promo code pecked
life that's all caps, pecked life, you'll get twenty percent
off your first order. Jennifer, thank you and thanks to
everyone at pretty Litter for this wonderful offer. Thank you
Michelle Jennifer, thank you so much for coming on Cutitude
and sharing this great information about pretty Litter. I hope
everyone enjoyed the show and I want to thank Pretty
Litter again for this wonderful offer. So just go to
PrettyLitter dot com use the promo code pecked life. That's
all caps, pet ife all caps for twenty percent off
your first order. So fantastic offer. Thank you, Pretty Litter,
And of course thanks to my cat crew Dennis, Charlotte
and Mollie. They've been using Pretty Litter. They love it.
It's been interesting. I've learned a lot about them and
it's given me some things to you know, watch the
pattern for because you know, Dennis is old, he's like seventeen,
so great stuff. So again, thanks Pretty Litter. I want
to give a thank you to everyone listening and supporting CATATU.
Thank you so much. And of course the show would
not be the same without the magic of Mark Winter.
Thank you Mark, and remember lose to hatitude, have cautitudes.
Speaker 5: Let's talk pets every week on demand only on pet
live radio dot com.
Speaker 3: The luver La