Thai Cat Litter Brand Hide & Seek Utilizes Domestic Cassava Crops

A researcher at the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University in Thailand has come up with the idea of producing 100 percent Made-in-Thailand cat litter from cassava that effectively absorbs liquids and odors of cat urine and decomposes while also supporting Thai farmers raising the crop.

With prices of agricultural produce in decline, Thai researchers have found a way to add value to crops like cassava turning them into cat litter that is a necessary commodity for pet care. “I am a cat lover and have been using cat litter products for more than a decade. I noticed that practically 100 percent of cat litter on the market is imported and wondered why we weren’t manufacturing the product locally. I looked around at the agricultural products we had and tried various options like paddy husk or sugar cane pulp and found cassava to be ideal,” Dr. Lunjakorn Amornkitbamrung, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University disclosed to us the origins of the product now known by its trade name ‘Hide&Seek.’ “Cassava becomes very sticky when soaked. This is the quality that is needed when it comes to cat litter which needs to solidify and be absorbent. It is also a natural substance that can be discarded simply by flushing it down the lavatory.”

The cassava cat litter has received numerous awards such as the Best Inventions in Agriculture and Biology for the 2022 Fiscal Year organized by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), the 2021 Young Scientist Award from the Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Technology and The Prime Minister’s Export Award for 2021 from the Ministry of Commerce.

“Made from 100 percent cassava, our product is chemical free and is therefore safe for our feline friends and their owners. It also doesn’t produce dust from soil, rocks or sands that can be toxic when inhaled. It solidifies easily which means it can be cleaned up and flushed away since it decomposes naturally. Most importantly, the cassava cat litter is better at absorbing odors than other products on the market that are made from other materials,” he said.

As a researcher specializing in chemistry, Lunjakorn was able to find the right technology to produce cat litter from cassava. The process began with breaking down the root crop into small pieces and drying them before crushing them into powder. The next step would be to use adequate heat and pressure to get small pellets used for cat litter.

“The benefit of using plant-based raw material is that the crops can be replaced,” he said. “This is quite different from the products made from the quarried Bentonite clay which is a form of destruction of our natural resources.”

Replacement cultivation of cassava crops provides farmers with a steady income all year round. Lunjakorn intends to set up a cat litter factory in Chon Buri Province where cassava is planted. “We’ve had talks with the farmers and assured them that we’d offer a price of more than 10 baht per kilogram which is higher than the normal price they get at 4-5 baht. For that, they must cooperate by planting cassava with the desired quality to be used for the manufacturing of our product.”

“Hide&Seek” has been on the market for about two years. In its first year, its total sales reached 5 million baht and the amount doubled in the second year. Aside from the local market, the product has been exported to countries like Australia, Vietnam and Malaysia and will soon be available in Italy and Japan as well.

With the success of cassava cat litter, other entrepreneurs are considering the option of adding value to their crops. According to Lunjakorn, this might be possible with sugarcane pulp or paddy husk, but they don’t have the same level of stickiness which means some substances like tapioca flour might need to be added to the formula. “We’ve had several people consulting us on various possibilities of turning materials like hemp or paddy husk into cat litter. These possibilities need to be studied so that other formulas can be developed in the future,” he said.

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