But all rabbit and companion pet owners have good reason to cheer!
SmartBedZ is a relatively new product, made entirely from straw, processed into pellets, that has the potential to positively affect the lives of domestic and companion rabbits, and other animals.
Rabbits do have a few unique
needs over other pets in respect of their bedding and litter requirements:
Commonly used sawdust or wood chips are more often than not made from
Pine and Cedar, which contain toxic phenols that are harmful to a rabbit's
respiratory system, and may cause other reactions, usually in the eyes.
The dust from these substrates can cause further eye and breathing problems,
even if they are 'dust extracted'. Searching out safe Aspen shavings is
not always an option for owners.
Some owners use straw - and whilst there is nothing wrong with straw,
if the rabbit gets a liking for it, this could replace eating hay. Straw
has little nutritional value to rabbits and should not be a substitute
for hay. Paper based bedding and litter
is available, and whilst offering more absorbancy than nothing at all,
it is often expensive and/or comes in bulk. Absorbancy is important: it
helps prevent Flystrike, sore hocks and urine scolds.
Owners of multiple rabbits have a significant proportion of their week
taken up with cleaning hutches, cages and litter. If a rabbit is litter
trained, this reduces this time spent, and is a good tool for all rabbit
owners. Many owners use from a selection or mix of newspaper, hay, straw,
barley straw, wood shavings, paper litter, and some owners use non-clay
based cat litter. Apart from simple newspaper and hay, none of these are
designed for, or particlarly eficient for a rabbit's needs.
The SmartBedZ website states that "Firstly, rabbits spend nearly all their time sitting or lying on their bedding, so all parts of pet rabbit bedding, including the litter, needs to have very low dust to avoid causing eye and nose irritations. Secondly, rabbits have a tendency to nibble on any and all materials within the hutch, so rabbit litter needs to be non-toxic and non-damaging to the digestive system. Thirdly, since rabbits are fairly large animals that rarely spend time out of their hutch, any bedding and/or litter needs to be super-absorbent to deal with the quantity of moisture produced."
"SmartBedz satisfies all of these special conditions, making it an excellent choice of rabbit litter and pet rabbit bedding....Pet rabbit bedding needs to be dust free to avoid causing eye and nose irritations. SmartBedz litter has all dust extracted from it during manufacture, making it an ideal dust free litter and underbed for rabbits. It also greatly benefits owners who may be sensitive to dust. SmartBedz is also heat treated in order to kill any bacteria which may otherwise threaten to multiply in warm or moist hutch conditions. The bedding also needs to be clean and absorbent. SmartBedz Universal Bedding and Litter is ultra-absorbent - up to 400% - and also acts as a good insulator from the cold, which is particularly beneficial when hutches are kept outside or in unheated outbuildings. Some rabbits may nibble on the pellets - but because SmartBedz is a natural straw product, this will do no harm. In fact, the high fibre content can actually be beneficial to digestion in plant eating animals."
We spoke
to Nigel from SmartBedz about the product
What instigated
the creation a new form of bedding?
The growth in popularity of environmentally friendly alternatives to
traditional clay based litter for cats and the lack of an effective
and safe litter that can be used for all small pets. Wood pellets are
the main alternative for cats but we were hearing that the quality of
these has deteriorated and the availability of the raw material has
reduced in the last few years.
How long has Smartbedz been available
now?
SmartBedz has been available nationally for 5 months. Prior to May of
this year it was distributed on an exclusive agreement but this has
now expired. The company was restructured in April and launched in its
present form on May 1st 2011. SmartBedz a trading name of Envirosmart
Products Ltd. The directors of Envirosmart Products are Mark Stone and
Nigel Bateson. Mark was previously in the construction business and
farming before that and Nigel has been involved in the the pet trade
for the last 7 years, before that he was also in the agricultural sector.
Do you have any plans to make
Smartbedz available in retail outlets?
SmartBedz is available in pet shops throughout the UK, most notably
at Pampurred
Pets and Kennelgate
chains. We also have listings with the 3 national wholesalers –
Vital Pet Products, Betpet and Pedigree Wholesale – and a number
of local, regional wholesalers which means that if you local store doesn’t
currently stock it they have access to buy it wherever they are. We
are seeing great interest in the veterinary channel and the product
is already available through National Veterinary Services (NVS).
Smartbedz is completely bio-degradable
and eco-friendly. Does this support a company ethos, or is it simply
the nature of the product?
The ethos and core values that Envirosmart Products adhere to are embedded
in providing solutions for consumers that are environmentally responsible
and sustainable. This and future products that we bring to market will
will embrace this philosophy.
Smartbedz is relatively expensive when compared to other products, especially
saw dust or wood shavings. What health & economical benefits are
there for rabbits and owners?
SmartBedz is not an expensive product to use whether considered financially
or environmentally. The benefits associated with it are (in no particular
order):
• More absorbent than other litters particularly traditional rabbit
and guinea pig litters – absorbs up to 4x its weight in liquid.
• Super absorbent - up to 400%. SmartbedZ absorbs liquid very
rapidly – will absorb 2x its weight in 10 minutes.
• Super odour binding (no smell) - Stops odours (ammonia) forming
by absorbing urine (urea) so quickly it hasn’t time to be broken
down.
• Stops hutches rotting and smelling
• No dust when using (dust extracted manufacturing process) and
doesn’t break down to dust when used
• – important in the respect
of respiratory and allergic reactions experienced with some other materials
• Absorbtion characteristics mean the pet is not standing/sitting/lying
on wet material – helps prevent fly strike and keeps the hutch
cleaner and dryer
• Long lasting - no need to change as often as shavings or straw,
spot clean between replacing (see SmartBedz
litter for Rabbits you tube video)
• Easy to clean – not wet, heavy and smelly
• Easy to dispose of - Highly and easily compostable – breaks
down more quickly that wood, paper and untreated straw.
• Environmentally friendly
• 100% Bio-degradable
It is more expensive per pack to buy than shavings, sawdust or straw
but it lasts longer, is easier to use, is more effective and easier
to dispose of, therefore it works out cheaper to use.
SmartBedz breaks
down much faster than alternative litters based on wood shavings or
straw. This means it can be turned into fertiliser, compost or mulch
relatively quickly for use in gardens or allotments. For owners that
don’t have a garden, e.g. some houserabbit owners, is the waste
suitable for domestic waste collection?
Yes!
Do you have any plans to expand your product lines, and if so, in what
direction?
We are looking at variations of pack sizes for SmartBedz and are currently
trialling a new food that has the benefits of ensuring clean, unsoiled
food at all times and zero wastage – hygiene, economy, convenience.
An area we are interested in but have no particular plans yet is the
natural maintenance of health and well being.
Absorbancy
We conducted our own absorbancy test, to demonstrate how long you could leave the litter before it became a damp threat to a rabbit's welfare. We started with 400g of SmartBedZ, which will sufficiently cover a standard litter tray. Over two days, 100 Ml of water was added daily and the litter was reviewed after a couple of hours. With limited time, we were not able to do the test over a few days, so cannot claim that this is in any way definitive, but what we did find was that after we had left the litter overnight, it was significantly drier in the morning than it was after the addition of water during the day.
You can see the results
in the video.
This test did not address odour issues.
The only rabbit available at the time to test this does not use a litter
tray or hutch, but earth!
Cost:
For rabbits & small furries::
5 Kg (6mm pellets)
£6.98 From on-line shop + £7.99 P & PFor larger animals
!0 Kg (8mm pellets)
£11.99 From on-line shop + £7.99 P & PStockists
"SmartBedz is available from independant pet shops, country stores and garden centres throughout mainland UK. We have found it impossible for us to keep an up to date list of stockists owing to the rapidly expanding network of stores that are stocking SmartBedz. If your local store doesn't stock it at the moment please ask them to order it in for you as they are able to buy SmartBedz through the majority of national, as well as many regional, wholesalers."