When was kitty litter first invented?

Answer 1

Edward Lowe sold industrial absorbents. When a neighbor asked for a better alternative to filling her litter boxes with ashes (her cat was tracking the ashes all over the house), he suggested an absorbent clay.

She was so happy that he packaged it in 5 pound bags and sold it under the name "Kitty Litter".

Later he went on to found the Tidy Cat company.

Answer 2

In the "olden days," litter boxes were homemade affairs, and the substrate used was anything at hand that the cat might dig into and use. Sand was popular if it could be easily sourced; garden dirt was a natural - after all, most cats were indoors-outdoors, and that is where they usually "did their business. Shredded newspaper was another.

Then, in the late 1940s, Edward Lowe, a young man who worked in his dad's company, which sold industrial absorbents, gave a neighbor a supply of an absorbent called Fuller's Earth to replace the ashes she was using in her cat's litter box. She was so "sold" on the clay that Lowe started marketing it as "Kitty Litter," first through pet stores, then by going to cat shows and cleaning cat boxes in exchange for a booth to market his product. "Kitty Litter" became immensely popular and a new industry was born.
Sources:
Syufy, Franny . "Cat Litter - To Scoop or Not to Scoop." About.com: cats. Newyorktimes company, Web. 9 Dec 2009. .

Answer 3

Kitty Litter Brand cat box filler was invented in 1947 by Ed Lowe, the son of the owner of a company that sold industrial absorbents, including sawdust and an absorbent clay called Fuller's Earth. Prior to this cat owners used whatever they could get: sand, coal ash, wood ash, top soil, sawdust, etc. He created the Tidy Cat® brand in 1964, which was sold in stores nationwide.

I recall as late as the early 1970s that my parents were still using top soil in a small wooden crate for our cats, before they discovered that Kitty Litter and plastic litter boxes were selling in the local grocery stores.

Bob Dylan included Tidy Cat in a publicity photograph of 1964!

Sally Grossman is holding the package, Bob Dylan holds something and Sara Dylan holds some celery, in their kitchen.

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Answer 4

Dog food was invented by James Pratt in 1860. Cat food was invented by the Ralston Purina company in 1957.

Answer 5

Cats weren't invented (except perhaps by God); they evolved about 20-25 million years ago from a common carnivorous ancestor.

Answer 6

John Nordberg of norfolk Virginia

Answer 7

who invented he litterbox

Answer 8

1947