Households resort to cat litter for heating homes

HOUSEHOLDS are using cat litter to heat their homes, according to pet shop bosses, after the Ukraine war sparked a shortage of wood pellets.

Jollyes, one of the UK’S largest pet food stores, said its cat litter suppliers were “working overtime to fulfill demand” for wood pellets.

Britain’s largest supplier of firewood, Certainly Wood, said it expected sales to rise by as much as a fifth this winter, as families opt for alternatives to turning on the heating. It costs households

‘We don’t agree with cheaper pellets, as they can be of a lower calorific value and are also higher in dust’

around £600 to have enough firewood to run a wood-burning stove on evenings and weekends over winter, Certainly Wood said.

Thousands of homes are heated using wood pellets, with people having swapped out gas or oil-fired boilers for wood pellet boilers, and opting for pellet stoves which can heat homes.

John Hanmore, head of sales at Pellet Kings, said pellets used for cat litter and heating homes were essentially the same as long as they had a certain accreditation known as EN 1 Plus.

This basically means premium quality where the pellets produce less ash and are the highest quality.

Mr Hanmore said: “We don’t agree with the cheaper pellets, as they can be of a lower calorific value [meaning how much energy they generate] and also are higher in dust – which is bad for pets.”