This would never happen with my current group of rabbits - redux

Not only would it never happen. The perfect example is little miss diva Butter.
She was looking all possibly friendly when I decided to lay down in front of her so I could pet her.

Well, so much for possibly friendly as she snorted and charged.

Luckily my glasses too the worst of it.

However, my head did get covered in rabbit pee as she was sitting in the pee she used to mark the dog bed as "hers".

Nope, don't think I'm gonna get kisses out of this one.


Previous - This would never happen with my current group of rabbits

Those expenses you never think about

Many shelters/rescues provide or ask you to estimate what the annual cost is of owning a pet.

Everyone thinks of the obvious; food, cages, vet visits, toys. . .

But no one often thinks of:

• storage containers
• stuff to clean up puke or poop
  
• bedding for incontinent pets (rabbits)
• diapers for incontinent pets (rabbits)
• baby gates (rabbits, dogs)
• new flooring (cat, dog, rabbits - four times)
• new bags of aquarium gravel (dog)
• ruined treadmill (cat)
• ruined air mattress (cat)
  
• new light fixtures (rabbit)
• new room fans (rabbit)
• new refrigerator cord (rabbit)
• new printer (rabbit)
  
• new telephone and answering machine (rabbits)
• new computer keyboard (rabbit)
• new foodsaver (cat)
• new Christmas tree ornaments (rabbit, dog)
• baseboards (rabbit)
• trim (rabbit)
• drywall (rabbit)
• furniture (rabbit)
• chewed up books (rabbit)
  

Gratuitous Rabbit Tocks

Diet with a T

Garfield by Jim Davis
PAWS inc.








Garfield is right, a diet is die with a T. Especially when a rabbit is given an inappropriate diet. Rabbits digestive system are very delicately balanced. Inappropriate diet can cause life threatening health problems.

For a healthy rabbit, there should be three parts to the diet; hay, pellets, and vegetables.

And right away, some of you are probably thinking, "hey, where's the fruit?"

I didn't list fruit because I do not consider fruit to be an overall part of a rabbit diet. I consider it a treat. Something to be given sparingly.

Thus portends my overall philosophy to how I feed my rabbits. I take a conservative approach. I know that there are people who have rabbits who subsist on only pellets, or even substandard pellets and do just fine. I also know people who live on junk food and still haven't had a heart attack.

But my goal as a rabbit owner is to keep them as healthy as I know how. And this means that my rabbit's diet consists of hay, vegetables, and pellets.

The San Diego House Rabbit Society has a nice food pyramid on rabbit diet.
Hay - rabbits should have hay available all the time. For healthy adult rabbits, I feed timothy. Timothy is a common hay to find. It's high fiber and lower in protein and calcium. A good timothy should be green and dry. A rabbit won't eat the hay if its gone brown.

My favorite brands of hay are Oxbow and for bulk online purchase, Farmer Dave. If you live in an agricultural area, you may be able to find hay locally.

Vegetables - vegetables are the other important part of the rabbit diet. I give my adult rabbits a daily salad of 1 cup of salad per 3 pounds of rabbit. These sites contain good lists of rabbit safe vegetables:
National House Rabbit Society
Carrot Cafe

One vegetable to avoid - iceberg lettuce. Just like for people, iceberg lettuce holds no nutritional value. Some people say it also causes diarrhea. I don't know if it's true since I don't bother with it. But it's a vegetable that's not worth wasting any of your money on.

A note of caution, there is some debate if vegetables are ok for young rabbits. If you take the conservative House Rabbit guidelines, wait until they are a year old before introducing veges.
There is a line of thought that the young rabbit's digestive system can't handle veges until they're older.

This is an issue in which no one is very sure of.

But whenever you start giving your rabbit vegetables you want to start slowly and introduce one vegetable at a time. If the stools soften or you see diarrhea, stop and try again with vegetables at a later date.

One further word on vegetables - Carrots are not a true part of the rabbit diet. They are considered a treat because of the high sugar content. I give a baby carrot as a treat. Never full size carrots.

Pellets - this is such a tricky area for many rabbit owners, particularly first time owners. Not all pellets are created alike. The bags of pellets that contain fruit and/or seeds may look like they'd be appetizing and provide nice variety for your rabbit. Unfortunately, the pellets sold in many pets stores are absolute junk. It would be like you eating fast food every meal. While it may not kill you right away, you will eventually get sick.

Rabbits do not need fruit or seeds in their pellets. They just need a quality pellet.
I follow House Rabbit guidelines and look for a pellet with at least 18% fiber content.

My healthy adults get a timothy pellet by Oxbow.

When shopping for pellets, you want to read the labels and see how much fiber is in the pellet. Based on my experience, locally owned pet shops stock the higher quality pellets.

The other surprising thing for many new rabbit owners is that rabbits only need a small amount of pellets in their diet. A good brand like Oxbow lists how much to feed on the bag. Or you can follow the House Rabbit guidelines listed here.


Dietary modifications - Sometimes a sick or senior rabbit may need to have it's diet adjusted. This is something you should work with your vet on. For instance, it may be a natural inclination to switch to alfalfa to add calories to your rabbit's diet. But the additional calcium and protein in alfalfa may cause more health problems. So this is why you need to work with your vet if you're considering changing the diet or sick or senior rabbit.

Also, some rabbits have distinct dietary favorites. Some rabbits hate pellets. In that case, you would just add more veges or hay to the diet. I usually start with House Rabbit guidelines and tweak as necessary.

If you want a age by age guideline to diet, you can follow this from the House Rabbit Society.

Calcium - calcium is something that you need to be aware of in the diet of your rabbit. For many people with a healthy rabbit on a quality diet, calcium isn't something to worry about too much.

But too much calcium in pellets can cause health problems. And some health problems require a diet low in calcium. If your rabbit has a health issue that requires lower calcium, work with your vet to find out what is appropriate for your rabbit's situation. There are low calcium pellets available for rabbits with that need.

What about vegetables?
Newer research in the veterinary world suggests that the calcium content is not a worry in vegetables. Remember that vegetables are mostly water. It's the calcium in dry foods that cause the problems.


If I feed a quality diet will I avoid digestive problems in my rabbits?
You will certainly limit the chance of digestive problems(GI) occurring. And if your rabbit does have GI problems, you at least know that poor diet isn't likely to be the cause.

There are some health problems that can cause GI upset. Long haired rabbits may also be more at risk as they groom themselves and take that fur into their system. And some rabbits change their eating habits due to stress or temperature.

If your rabbit is having GI problems you want to have your rabbit seem by a vet to determine the cause and treatment. GI problems can be lethal.


Resources:
House Rabbit diet FAQ
CarrotCafe
H.A.R.E. dietary recommendations
Calcium
GI problems

see more crazy cat pics

Who are YOU?

see more crazy cat pics

Bunny Foo Foo

Today at shirt woot
I bought two

perfect for Easter

$10, free shipping

get one today, otherwise you'll have to pay more

Hmmmmm, rabbit

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the kitchen

I bring you Butter
Be careful, she just might kick your ass

She's vicious, and scary, and intimidating, and likes to bite, and charge, and snort, and box, and bite

Seriously

She's mean and nasty

People quiver in fear

Few dared to clean her cage

She bit first and never got around to asking questions

And she's spent the last 4 hours popping binkies

Rabbit Profile - Mumford

Rabbit Profile:

Name(s): Mumford

Sex: Neutered male

Age: 8 ish

Location: Rainbow Bridge as of February 18th 2008

Background: The sudden death of the no-name rabbit who I owned for a grand total of 9 days left me still longing for a nice bunny. Not one that was offended by my presence, ran the other way, squeaked, squealed, or thumped at me.

So yet another trip to the humane society was in order.

Mumford seemed nice enough, so home he went.

and quickly his body fell apart

• Spondylosis
• kidneys
• pink eye
• ear infection
• kidneys
  

Nickname(s):

• The Mumf

• Mommy's Mummy
• The Mumfster
  

Likes: me, me, and me.

Dislikes: the cats when they were in HIS kitchen. Rufus, after Rufus knocked him down. Twice

Favorite Food: Bananas

If he was a cola he would be: Strawberry pop, sweet and sugary

Distinguishing Characteristics:

• old, and looked it

• Loved kissing - him licking me that is. Especially my face.
  

Song: You're the top, sung by Ethel Merman

Most memorable moment: beating up the dog. See here and here

Rabbit Rescue

yeah it's a plug for a product that I'll only use when they force us to at work


I also would like to point out that if that video was real life

• windows would have nagged Amy every 5 seconds to ask her if she wanted to actually use her computer
• windows would've crashed at least once
• and carrots would not have been what that rabbit left in the briefcase, rabbits are poop machines

The bunny curse continues

the Mumf passed today from renal failure

He had a tough weekend and passed shortly after coming home from the vet's office

At the time, it sounded like this was going to be a "making him comfortable" as long as we can thing, but things just must've been overwhelmed from the toxins in the system

I owned him just short of 2 months

He was 8ish years old

Don't you know who I am?

I am the Mumfand I have a vicious streak a mile wide!

I am an old, occasionally infirm fluffy little spitfire

I am sweet, docile, and a lover by nature

but when crossed, I will kick your ass!

Or, if you're a basset hound who knocks me over twice,

I will chase you down and bite your leg

and not let go!

Well NOW What!

Say that in the loudest, most whiny, and exasperated voice

Mommy's Mummy was in a snit ALL morning

He kept digging at me

I don't know what he was unhappy about

If he didn't like his menu again

If he was mad because every minute of my day wasn't spent petting him

If he was grumpy because the pain killer doesn't kill all the pain

I DON'T KNOW!

But if he's not in a snit, he's needy

I bought him a heat lamp

He ignored it

20 minutes after unplugging it, he ran under it

He periscoped to give a look see at it

Then he comes over to me a digs on my jeans

So I plug the damn thing back in

He intimidates Tumbleweed then snits off to the kitchen

He's damn lucky I like him

Update on the Mumster

He's kickin ass and takin names!

He tried to be neighborly to Tumbleweed
who was in Mumford's kitchen

Trying to eat Mumford's hay

Mumford was all polite and went up to Tumbleweed and presented his head for licking

But The Weed doesn't speak rabbit and got all bothered by it

tsk tsk

that wasn't a request

Mumford then put the lowly puss in his place by chasing him around the kitchen


Previous -

Mommy's Mummy is sick

Mommy's Mummy is sick

Well no, that would be too easy

he's old

and of course he has old guy kidneys

but he has old guy spine

and it has a bony growth

The Mumster didn't want to move or eat or drink this morning

This is The Mumster on the heated plastic thingy

This is The Mumster later in the evening after his vet trip

He has a flour sack look at the back end

It looked worse when he got home

Now he's running around the living room

It's going to be a chronic thing, probably not get better, possible to get worse and need lots of supportive care

He goes back on Wednesday for a re-check

moar funny pictures

Mumford's first dead bunny shot

I seriously hate it when rabbits do thisMommy's Mummy is awake now

Yes, it's another new rabbit

His name is Mumford

I didn't name him that

It came with him

and he's lived to be 8, so why change it?


He's 8, thin, and has really really small poops
He doesn't have his vet check (including blood work) until early January
at this age, it would not be surprising if something was found

He's a lover, of the "pet me dammit" variety

Yet another in the long line of Why didn't I think of this first?

Click the bunny rabbit to see.

moar funny pictures

It is with great sadness

that I announce the passing of the new no name rabbit at 7:20 am CDT.

An abstinence intervention

Since it's roughly 19 days until the new rabbit's neuter, and I most certainly don't like having any non-moving body part humped, I've decided to try an abstinence intervention with the new rabbit.

Since there really doesn't seem to be a rabbit abstinence program to use, I'm makin it up as I go along.

First, I tried the rational approach.

I very gently, in a firm but yet kind voice, told the new bunny that while I was deeply honored he chose me over Smudge to be his lust interest, I really don't appreciate being nipped and mounted. And I most certainly don't appreciate being sprayed.

I then informed him that any relationship we would have would just not work out. He's a lagomorph, I'm a human. Two quite incompatable species. And besides, what would the neighbors think?

This did not have any effect as he quickly jumped on my chest, moved up to my shoulder, grabbed some hair and tried to make out. He didn't even ask to hold hands first.


So next, I told him the story about Romeo and Juliet. True, this isn't quite the same thing, as there is no murder, or squabling families involved. Unrequited love just didn't work out for Romeo, or Juliet for that matter.

Perhaps this wasn't the best allegory to use. And it had no effect anyway, as the bun then tried to mount my hand.


The next tactic was to explain to him that all of this sexual energy he has would make it very difficult for him to find a path as priest, or monk. That the path to God is through piety and chastity. Trying to have wanton sex with my appendages would be highly frowned upon by the Catholic church.

Now, it's at this point that some of you are frowning or crossing yourself over the thought of my rabbit being a priest.

But I don't recall anything in the Bible that says, "Thou shalt not have bunny priests".

Some commandments, beatitudes, and some scary things near the end; but nope, no mention of bunny priests.

And it was never discussed in Sunday school or religion class.

But I'm a "wedding and funeral" Catholic, so what do I know?

Well, perhaps he was thinking this over as he laid down for a bit.

Ah, maybe not, he must've just been resting up.


But I stayed with the religious theme and pointed out the 7 deadly sins:

• lust
• gluttony
• greed
• sloth
• wrath
• envy
• pride

See, it's the very first one listed. That can't be good. From wikipedia:

Lust is usually thought of as involving obsessive or excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature. Unfulfilled lusts sometimes lead to sexual or sociological compulsions and/or transgressions including (but obviously not limited to) sexual addiction, adultery, bestiality, and rape. Dante's criterion was "excessive love of others," which therefore rendered love and devotion to God as secondary. However, lust and love are two different things; while a genuine, selfless love can represent the highest degree of development and feeling of community with others in a human relationship, Lust can be described as the excessive desire for sexual release. The other person can be therefore seen as a "means to an end" for the fulfillment of the subject's desires, and becomes thus objectified in the process. In Purgatorio, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful/sexual thoughts.

Gonna go straight to hell, if he doesn't learn number one on the Church's 7 virtues; chastity.

Embracing of moral wholesomeness and achieving purity of thought through education and betterment.

And number two is - abstinence. See, the Church knows what it's doing.

Boy, he sure is fascinated with my hand, even tries to hump it if I lift it up.


I made one last attempt at the religious angle and tried to get him to at least think about joining an abstinence group. That it's important to save his virginity for his life partner.

It's understandable that he may not want to undergo the rigors of the priesthood, but he could stave off sex for a short time, while he waits for his bunny life partner to come along. She could be along any minute for all he knows. Not much time to wait at all. See, there's even a pledge he could take:

"Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship."

Over 2 million youths belong to the True Love Waits abstinence group. He could find some mentors to help him out in his abstinence quest. Now, I have no idea how many rabbits are in this group, but with over 2 million youths, there's gotta be some rabbits in there somewhere.

Weeeeeeell maybe that's not gonna work either, cause he's revved up without mounting anything at all.


So, moving on to sex toys.
Gotta admit, rabbit sex toys aren't something I have a plentiful supply of. So I'm gonna try using some dog balls (toys that is, not anatomical).

First, the grapefruit sized fuzzy ball.

Nope, nada

Next up is the bigger plastic ball.

Sigh, still no go.


Only 19 days to go

more funny pictures

A new bunny update

Saturday, Smudge, the alpha, finally discovered where the new bunny is. She immediately tried to kick his butt. She even got a brief chance when I didn't get the baby gate on the kitchen latched properly. Even though Smudge is old and smaller, she did drive the new bunny to hide behind the trash can.

I'm sure she was pleased.

Smudge also pooped around my bed. Even though she's always seen me as competition in the bunny hierarchy, she's never done this before. So, she did this because

• I have the scent of the new bunny on me
• Or my status as competition in the bunny hierarchy has gone up a notch, and territorial pooping is now in order

And even though the new bunny got to meet a real live girl rabbit, I'm apparently still the lust of his life. We've now moved into the bunny dance of love. So far, there is no emphasis (aka spraying) while showing his love.

I will note that it is difficult to move around in the kitchen with a bunny dancing around your feet.


Previous - there's a new bunny in the house

There's a new bunny in the house

And he gets to live in the most exalted kitchen.

The last bunny resident of the kitchen was the late President William Howard Taft.

Now part of the reason the new bunny is living in the kitchen is because he's intact.

How intact is he?

In the first evening, my head was mounted and my body had a full frontal assault from bunny spray.

Well, I did want a bunny that would like me (notice like, this kind of love I could do without)

Watch the pet count in the sidebar

It will move later this week

A SmudgyWudgy Update

Well, Smudge still doesn't like me in case anyone was wondering.

But I found out she likes someone even less then me.

That would be the vet.

Smudge spent 12 out of 14 days getting poked at least once a day at the vet's office.

The first time, like so many before her, she tried to commit bunnicide by leaping off the table and trying to fly past my shoulder.

The second time, she leapt into my arms to get away from him.

But after I caught her, she wheeled around and bit my arm.

I think she bit the wrong person. I'm merely the cab driver. He's the one who keeps poking her.

It bears pointing out that when the top tech substituted for the vet, she did not bite me or try to commit bunnicide.

She got 12 days of a vitamin mixture. And had blood drawn. Needless to say there was a bit of stomping and hissy fits being thrown in the carrier.

The vitamins made her coat look softer and thicker.

And since her last bit of bloodwork in the spring, she's now moved into kidney disease stage. She has 50% of her function left.

She also just had her thyroid tested. She's "disgustingly healthy" as my vet says (considering). But he doesn't like how her fur looks.

So she's now gets to go to the vet's every 4 months for a checkup.

Lucky her.

An open letter to Bane

to understand where this is coming from see the comment section of this story on Itchmo:

For 9 1/2 years I volunteered at a local animal shelter. And yes, it was a kill shelter. There were no other kinds.

Shelter work is hard work and dirty work. You quickly get used to poop, urine, vomit, and blood.
And you do your best to handle the fact that the shelter is the one that has to handle the failings of society.

The owners who treat their animals like disposable objects. The people who want to adopt a cat "that matches their decor". The college kids who adopt an animal in the fall, and dump the animal that next spring. The abusers. The hoarders. The dumpers. The people who adopt an animal and make no effort to understand it's needs and dispose of it when it has become too loud, too messy, or just too darn inconvenient. The people who buy animals based on fads or holidays and then get tired of it. You try to deal with the fact that most people only want kittens or puppies, while there are many fine adult animals waiting to find homes.

You try to handle the fact that the shelter has limited resources. And even though it is not government funded, is still called on to provide many of the services the government funded shelter should do. But, the government shelter can't fulfill it's mission because the state keeps cutting their budget. And the local government prefers to build pools and art centers.

You try to handle the fact that there aren't enough state animal welfare investigators. And you learn that the state really doesn't want or can't deal with the abusers, mills, collectors, and isn't shutting down bad shelters (kill and no kill).

You try to handle the fact that the man who just walked in the door with the stray mother cat and kittens seems so happy and relieved when the shelter takes them. And as soon as he leaves, they are taken in the back and euthanized.
Because there is no cage space. No hospital space. No foster space.
You learn that shelters and vets "spay" pregnant animals.

You learn about parvo/distemper, upper respiratory, kennel cough.
You learn how the slightest health issue or imperfection in an animal can be a death sentence.
You learn animals can go "cage crazy".
You learn that black dogs and black cats have a more difficult time finding homes.
And you learn that if an animal is not a cat or a dog, that it's time at the shelter may be very short indeed.
You learn that your favorite animal may be gone tomorrow, and that it did not go to a forever home.

You learn that you can't save them all.

And you learn that, frankly, people suck.

You see the toll it takes on the staff and long time volunteers. For the staff, the pay is minimal at best. The work is hard and dirty, the public is exasperating to say the least. Many of the volunteers outlast the staff. But in time everyone leaves.

Everyone.

But during your time, you saw and participated in a shelter in which everyday cages were sanitized, clean towels/blankets, and toys were given to the animals. You made tents out of sheets for the kittens to play in. You and others came from out of town to spend time with the animals. You saw the dog walkers come in rain, snow, or shine to make sure the dogs got their three-a-days in. You saw a volunteer nurse a rabbit through gi stasis. You saw dog trainers work with the dogs and other volunteers socialize the other animals.

You learned that animals are not given to labs or vet schools for experiment/research. You learn that animals are euthanized by injection and people must be licensed by the state to euthanize. And you saw that no one likes killing a healthy animal.

You learned that every animal is vaccinated, that they do their best to contain contagious diseases. You saw that the animals are vet checked and health problems addressed. That animals are spayed and neutered before they leave. You see dog training classes given.

You saw staff and volunteers spend their own money and lots of their own time on the animals. You saw the time and care given by the staff and volunteers in rehabilitating injured animals. Injured physically and mentally.

You saw people who work harder in their retirement than they did in their working years.

You saw people become licensed investigators to fill in the gaps that the state leaves.

You saw the shelter work to prosecute the abusers and hoarders.

You saw the shelter setting up relationships with other shelters. They share knowledge, volunteers, and swap supplies. When one shelter has too many animals, sometimes another shelter has room to take the overflow.

You saw a no-kill shelter setup. And like with the others, resources are shared.

You don't understand when people say to you "I could never volunteer in a place like that".

But "that" shelter gave many animals:

• a name, not a number
  
• health care
• warmth and coolness
• food and water
• beds and blankets
• toys
• the companionship of other animals
• the companionship of people
• kindness
• compassion

and love

and for many of them, this was more than they ever had.

And if volunteering and working at a kill shelter made myself and all the others "false" animal lovers

than so be it

Bunny 101 - Should I really bring a rabbit home? - Basic Research

First, realize that rabbits are not like other pets. They have unique dietary needs, need proper housing, and have unique behaviors and body language. Before getting a rabbit, you should do some research.

First off, find this book, House Rabbit Handbook. This is the best book available for a first time bunny owner. It's a broad based book that covers everything from housing, behavior, to heath issues. This book will give you a good snapshot of what is required to own a rabbit.

Next, head to the House Rabbit website. This should be the first web stop of every bunny owner. This site has a lot of information about the care of rabbits. Many of their articles are written by vets, and rabbit rescuers. Many articles reference veterinary literature. Everything bunny 101 is here.

For a good introduction to the uniqueness of rabbit body language, head over to Language of Lagomorphs. The style is humorous, but many of the observations here, I've seen in my own rabbits.

When researching rabbit ownership, pay particular attention to diet, housing, toys, spaying/neutering, and the importance of your vet.
Here is a collection of links on those topics:

Diet

• House Rabbit Diet FAQ
• Rabbit safe vegetables
• Rabbit safe fruits
• The importance of fiber

Housing

• House Rabbit Housing FAQ
• A simple method of making a cage for a small animal. This cage is for a guinea pig, but the same method can be used to make a bigger cage for a rabbit. Examples of this can be seen here.
• Rabbits can also be housed in large dog crates, or puppy pens.
• I use these cages, they are quite nice, and in price comparison to other cages, you get better value for the money. They also are a proper type of cage to maintain healthy rabbit feet.
• Proper bedding is very important, you can make your rabbit sick and possibly kill a rabbit with the wrong type of bedding. Never use cedar shavings. Pine shavings are ok IF they have been oven/kiln dried*. Never use cat litter. And do not use litter made out of corn. More bedding details can be found here.

Toys

• House Rabbit Toys FAQ
• Why toys are important
• Phonebooks, phonebooks, phonebooks. Rabbits love to dig and shred them.
  
• My favorite online store for buying bunny toys
  

Spaying/Neutering

• House Rabbit Spaying/Neutering FAQ
• Why to Spay or Neuter
  

Your partner in your rabbit's health - Vets

It is very important that you have a vet for your rabbit. The vet MUST have experience with rabbits, and the experience needs to be with pet rabbits. Not lab or meat rabbits. Vets who specialize in rabbits are known as exotic vets. Many general vets can treat rabbits, but there may be more trial and error in finding one. You can ask around for recommendations or use one of the links below. When you bring your rabbit home, the FIRST thing you should do is make an appointment with a vet. Start the relationship off right away.

• House Rabbit Society vet list
  
• PetBunny list

And here are some considerations when looking for a vet:

• House Rabbit Finding a good rabbit vet FAQ
• San Diego House Rabbit FAQ on finding a good vet
• Selecting a veterinarian

Remember that many of the food and cages that you see in stores are not at all appropriate for rabbits. It is YOUR responsibility to educate yourself and learn how to filter through the junk food and inappropriate housing for rabbits.




* Note, many resources do not make distinctions between pine shavings and oven dried shavings. Oven dried shavings remove the oil that is hazardous to small animals. But, some people will still not want to use oven dried pine shavings. That is a personal choice by each owner. I use it because when partnered with newspaper is very effective at controlling the smell and has good absorption. Where I live aspen is not easy to find. And pine is very affordable. I have not observed any health issues caused by pine bedding such as liver problems.