Pet Care Systems

Just What the Kitty Ordered

In Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, Pet Care Systems' production floor produces 44,000 lbs. of "Swheat Scoop™" cat litter on every shift. Swheat Scoop is made from wheat, environmentally friendly and has no added chemicals, biodegradable, and supports local wheat farmers.

The cat litter market in the U.S. is large, with one in three households owning a cat. Therefore, an environmentally friendly cat litter that is better for animals and people, as well as a product that helps support local farmers, is welcome.  Swheat Scoop uses nearly 200,000 acres of wheat a year, says co-owner Mike Hughes. Swheat Scoop is a big hit with the public and is sold in:

• grocery stores
• natural food stores
• chains such as Supervalu and PetSmart
• individual pet stores and animal hospitals

When owners Mark and Vonnie Hughes and their son Mike began Swheat Wheat production in a small plant in Central MN (before moving to Detroit Lakes), they made it out of semolina, a high-cost wheat used for pasta. In 1996, Pet Care Systems purchased a patent from a Texas entrepreneur to make cat litter out of red spring wheat and milo. According to Mike, "the wheat performs as well as or better than the semolina." The switch to a wheat-based litter allowed Pet Care Systems to lower their production price by 20% and increase their sales. At capacity, Pet Care Systems sells to one-tenth of one percent of the market," states co-owner Mike. Eighty percent of their customers are satisfied and "think it's the best thing they ever used," contends Mike. Currently, Pet Care Systems has a production staff of seven, but they be expanding soon.

Odor Free

Swheat Scoop litter is popular, in part, because if its effectiveness in covering odor naturally as well as being environmentally healthy for the cat, cat owner, and planet. When the wheat is ground, enzymes from the grains naturally neutralize the ammonia smell of cat waste. "When a person comes into your house, the first thing they notice, if you have cats, is the smell," says customer Vickie Bobish who runs Noah's Ark Pet Outlet in New York with 18 cats. "With Swheat Scoop, there is absolutely no odor, no urine smell." Most clay cat litters are not biodegradable and are made with bentonite clay. Bentonite produces silica dust, which can cause respiratory problems if a cat breathes it over long periods of time. Cats also occasionally ingest litter while grooming themselves, which, if enough is ingested, can cause dehydration and malnutrition.

Swheat Scoop, on the other hand, is safe for cats and kittens to ingest as it is made from wheat without additives. The clumping agent in Swheat Scoop is wheat starch. Alicia Cucia, customer and owner of Paws for Thought, a cat shelter and pet shop in Chicago, sums up the benefits of Swheat Scoop: "Sweat Scoop deodorizes better than any chemical on the market…I call it a hidden treasure… cats love it, it digs well, it deodorizes great, it flushes, it's biodegradable." Another plus for cat owners is that it only has to be changed in the litter box once a month.

A Growing Business

Pet Care Systems' venture with Swheat Scoop was financed in part by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, the Detroit Lakes Development Authority, and the West Central Minnesota Initiative Fund. "We're excited about Pet Care Systems. We think it will be a growing business in our community," states Larry Remmen of the Detroit Lakes Development Authority. Pet Care Systems is growing, and as it grows, it gives to the community. All the wheat used in Swheat Scoop comes from growers "basically in a 50-mile radius of the [production] plant," says Mike.

Swheat Scoop often makes a market for "secondary wheat", such as crops affected by diseases like fusarium, commonly called "wheat scab." Swheat Scoop uses wheat that cannot go into the food market as well as wheat that can. This provides not only a secondary market for wheat, but also a market for otherwise unmarketable wheat, which benefits both the community wheat providers and Pet Care Systems.