# Yesterday's News vs Fresh News for a litter pan?



## TheNinja (Aug 6, 2018)

I've done a bunch of reading and research and can't seem to find definitive answers. What are your thoughts on Yesterday's News vs Fresh News for a litter pan? They are pretty similar in price. Though the Yesterday's News now apparently has some new "softer texture" version as well as scented. However I have read that Yesterday's News *may* contain pine or some softwoods. Fresh News contains baking soda I believe...which I think i'm OK with as it's pressed into the pellet. I think Fresh News has larger pellets too.


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

Like you said Yesterday's News is only different from Fresh News in that it contains some wood shavings and lacks baking soda. Personally I use it for my entire cage and I LOVE it! Great at odor control, low dust (I switched to it after my rats had respiratory issues on carefresh years ago and its really helped), great at absorbing urine, and since its heavy the rats can't easily make a mess with it. Overall a great bedding and I use the unscented one. I will say that the many rats will initially nibble it but thats okay - a lot of people seem to freak out when they see this but its just the rats learning its not food. After a few tries they'll realize its not edible and leave it alone.


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

It's honestly hard to say what the actual ingredients are for any of these products. Yes, Yesterday's News is made of around 30% wood sawdust. Does that mean that other paper pellets don't contain sawdust? I don't know. Fresh News is made with baking soda. Personally, I think this is a good thing. Baking soda helps control odors. Do other products not contain baking soda if it's not specifically mentioned on the package? I don't know.

It's possible that all paper pellet litters contain wood dust even if it's not listed on the package. It's probable that all paper pellet litters contain baking soda (a good think, imo) even if it's not listed on the package. I see no reason to trust one brand over the other. That being said, I know that Yesterday's News contains softwood sawdust. I don't know that as a fact for other brands. For that reason, I'd take Fresh News over Yesterday's News. 

...but I'd probably base my decision off of price. The Petco SoPhresh fragrance free paper pellet cat litter is pretty good. Exquisicat paper cat litter from PetSmart might be an even better price.


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## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

I've not used Fresh News but Yesterday's News is pretty alright! I use Exquisicat now myself, which does have baking soda in it, but I've had no issues and it's a much softer texture than Yesterday's News. YN works great, but the pellets are very hard, and also kind of 'explode' when wet which caused me to have some shredded paper-like detritus from it which caused me a bunch of dust when I was using it as my rats' primary bedding in their old cage.


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## TheNinja (Aug 6, 2018)

Thank you everyone for your responses so far! I really appreciate it.

Would you use Yesterday's News / Fresh News type pellets for the entire floor and bedding of your cage? I got my cage used and it came with CareFresh paper style bedding so I've been using that. 

I also have a TON of old scrap cloth fabric from a kids' camp sewing project. I have those all through the cage and the rats love putting that in their bed areas. I love it b/c I can change it quite often and wash it in the washer easily and it's free and a large supply.

Anyway my ultimate question I guess is: My long term plan was CareFresh/Kaytee style natural recycled paper possibly with some aspen mixed in for price and smell for the floor of the cage. Then I am/was using a pellet style like FN or YN for the litter pan(s) which I cage frequently. Does this sound good or would I be better off going for YN/FN over the entire cage floor? I feel like that would be more expensive and not as comfortable, but probably better at staying put and helping with odor.


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## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

I used it as bedding for the full cage before in my old cage and it's fine! The only issue is a full bedding cleaning is a lot of heavy lifting and I ended up needing to vacuum out the bottom of my cage every cage cleaning day which I didn't really enjoy doing, but otherwise it's great. It controls the smell really well and my rats never really had any issues getting around on it or scooting it around where they wanted.

Just realize it may be harder to get the rats to only potty in one area if all the bedding is the same as what was in their litter pan, that was my only issue. I use fleece liners now with a litter box and it's cut down on stray poopies quite a bit as long as I keep on top of cleaning out the litter box!


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## i like rats :) (10 mo ago)

Can you use the scented perfume version for rats?


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## TheNinja (Aug 6, 2018)

i like rats :) said:


> Can you use the scented perfume version for rats?


its been a while since m rats passed away so my knowledge may be a bit out of date. But in general you should avoid any scented items or perfumes in or near their cage. 
Rats have very sensitive noses for smell. So if you can smell the scent if the bedding 10 feet away from the cage imagine how an anima can smell it if they are living in it all day and night and are more sensitive to smell.


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