Shredded Paper Cat Litter: DIY Use and After Surgery

Shredded paper cat litter is what vets put in the box while a surgery site heals. The ASPCA and the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital both say so in writing. If your cat just came home with stitches, this is the page for you.

Below is what those instructions say, how to set up a box at home, and where the evidence stops. Some of the usual claims about paper - that it controls smell, that newsprint ink is fine, that it works for years - have no study behind them that we could find. We say so where it matters.

Can You Use Shredded Paper as Cat Litter?

Yes, for a short time. Shredded paper is one of the few litter substitutes that vets name in their discharge paperwork. Every source we found describes it as a temporary fix after surgery, lasting a week or two. None of them tested it as a cat's everyday litter for months at a time.

So the answer has two parts. After surgery, it is a vet-backed choice. As a permanent litter, nobody has shown it works well or badly, and cats themselves tend to prefer something else (more on that below).

Shredded Paper Litter After Surgery

What the ASPCA says

The ASPCA's post-surgery instructions for pet owners give the reason and the time frame:

"Litter dust can get into the surgery site of male cats and cause an infection. Shredded paper, a brand of litter called Yesterday's News (can be purchased at pet stores), or uncooked long-grain rice should be used in the litter box for at least a week after surgery."

The dust warning is written about male cats, which is why it matters after a neuter.

What a veterinary teaching hospital says

The Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital's discharge sheet for feline declaw and tenotomy surgery reads: "Please confine your cat and use shredded paper instead of litter in the litterbox for 7-10 days." Here the concern is the paws, not dust in an incision on the body.

Follow your own cat's discharge sheet

The two sources give different spans: at least a week from the ASPCA, 7-10 days from WSU. Recovery time depends on the procedure and the clinic. If your cat's paperwork names a different filler or a different number of days, go with that.

How to Set Up a DIY Shredded Paper Litter Box

There is no tested recipe. These steps stick to what the sources above actually support:

1. Empty and clean the box. WSU's wording is shredded paper "instead of litter," so do not mix the two.
2. Fill it with shredded paper. A home shredder works. If you would rather skip paper altogether, the ASPCA also names Yesterday's News pellets and uncooked long-grain rice.
3. Take out the waste every day. The CDC tells cat owners to change the litter box daily, because the Toxoplasma parasite "does not become infectious until 1 - 5 days after a cat shed it in its feces."
4. Bag it and put it in the trash. A 2019 review in Food and Waterborne Parasitology says litter box feces "should be collected daily, sealed in a bag, and disposed of in the garbage (not flushed in the toilet)."

You will see DIY recipes online that soak and wash newspaper or mix in baking soda. We left them out. We found no source showing they are safe for cats or that they work.

Where Shredded Paper Falls Short

Smell

We found no test of how well plain shredded paper holds back litter box odor. If smell becomes the problem once your cat is back on regular litter, an activated carbon additive is one option. Purrify is activated carbon sold in bags, and you add it to the litter you already use. Here is how activated carbon traps odor in a litter box.

Absorbency

There is no published absorbency figure for office paper or newsprint as litter. The only numbers come from makers of paper pellets: the package for Yesterday's News says it is "3X (By volume compared to clay) more absorbent than clay," and Fresh News says "3x more absorbent than clay." Those are the makers' own claims about their pellets, not about loose shredded paper.

Ink and glossy paper

We found no safety data on printing ink or glossy paper for cats. None of the vet instructions above say which kind of paper to use. If you want to avoid the question, plain unprinted paper sidesteps it, but that is a precaution, not a tested rule.

Your cat may not love it

The 2025 iCatCare consensus guidelines on lower urinary tract disease recommend "sandy, clumping-style litter (generally preferred by cats)" and list non-clumping litter among the risk factors for feline idiopathic cystitis. A 2025 study in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Science found cats preferred clumping clay litter. Shredded paper does not clump. For a week or two of recovery, the vet's instructions win. For the long run, these findings are worth weighing.

Shredded Paper vs Paper Pellet Litter

If you want paper in the box for longer than a recovery week, store-bought paper pellets are the next thing to look at. Two brands print this about themselves:

• Yesterday's News (Purina): "Made with recycled paper," "99.7 % dust-free, paw-friendly pellets," non-clumping. Directions: add "2 to 3 inches of pellets" and remove waste daily. The ASPCA names this brand by name for after surgery.
• Fresh News: "Made with 100% recycled paper," "99% dust free." Its maker also says the litter can be composted and used as a soil amendment. For used litter, that conflicts with USDA and EPA guidance, so we do not repeat it as advice.

Our paper cat litter guide compares pellets, crumbles and shredded paper in more detail.

What Can I Use as a Kitty Litter Substitute?

Only three substitutes appear in the veterinary instructions we read: shredded paper, Yesterday's News paper pellets and uncooked long-grain rice (ASPCA), plus shredded paper again from WSU. We found no veterinary source for sand, soil, sawdust or wood shavings as a stand-in, so we do not suggest them. Outdoor soil carries its own risk: Toxoplasma eggs can persist "in moist soil for up to 18 months," per the 2019 review above.