Badabinski

Eating this stuff would be about as bad as eating any regular cat litter that uses Fuller’s earth as the primary absorbent. The extra special ingredient (powdered quartz) is effectively nontoxic when ingested. The real issue is the chronic exposure to very fine silica dust.

Edit: to clarify, I do not believe that it would be safe for humans or animals to use this as cat litter. Just realized that this comment might have been taken as a “well akshually it’s fine.” It is not fine, silicosis is a dreadful condition.

So I’d like to chime in. It looks the the two primary ingredients for ZEP-o-zorb are Fuller’s earth and powdered quartz.

First, Fuller’s earth. This is good stuff! It’s actually often used as an industrial absorbent for chemical spills (the purpose of ZEP-o-zorb), as well as in some types of cat litter. It totally makes sense why this stuff would work well for you, and I understand why you’ve been using it for a year. It’s perfect for the task and has basically no downsides.

Now, about the powdered quartz… Chemically known as silicon dioxide. It’s often refered to as silica. Silica is also good stuff! It’s in concrete, it’s the main component of glass, and of particular interest for your application, it’s very good at absorbing volatile organic smelly stuff. Seems perfect, right?

Unfortunately, powdered quartz has a downside. When it’s in a very fine powder, it produces a lot of dust. This silicon dioxide dust is incredibly harmful to your lungs. Long-term exposure to silicon dioxide dust results in silicosis, which is a really serious illness that kills tens of thousands of people every year. Inhaling that dust can also give you lung cancer, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or other autoimmune disorders.

I totally understand why you felt that this product was a great option! I don’t doubt that it serves as an absolutely excellent cat litter. I had two kitties that took the smelliest shits, and I was always searching for ways to fix that (either through diet, litter, stress reduction, or other things). I also understand how upsetting it can be to share something with people and be met with disbelief, denial, and accusations. However, I really want to urge you to look past all of that and reconsider your use of this product. The silica dust is practically invisible and tasteless, and it had the chance to cause you many years of problems. You and your cat deserve to be healthy.

I hate righty-tighty lefty-loosy. Depending on whether you’re looking at the top or bottom of the screw, you can see movement to the right or the left. I hate whoever came up with it, and I wish I had been taught the right hand method. It works exactly the same as the electromagnetic right hand rule:
an example of the right hand rule as it relates to a screw thread

Basically, you take your right hand, stick your thumb out, and curl your fingers like you’re grabbing a broom handle. Point your thumb in the direction you want the screw to move to. Want to screw something in? Point your thumb towards the thing. Want to unscrew? Point your thumb away from the object the screw is currently in. Then, just look at the way your fingers are pointing! If it helps, squeeze your fingers into a fist and see which way they move. Alternatively, bend your wrist in, and observe which way your fingers are moving. Works every time.

It sounds complicated, but there are plenty of people who are unable to intuitively differentiate from right and left the way they can differentiate up and down. I am one of those people. Thanks to this method, I’ve been able to develop the muscle memory/intuition to know which way to turn a screw.

It’s important to note that this only works for screws that are “right hand threaded.” If the screw is only getting tighter when you’re using this method, then it’s likely reverse threaded, or left hand threaded. If that’s the case, just use your left hand instead of your right hand.