Water-absorbing material and uses thereof

A chromogenic absorbent material for detecting proteins in an animal excretion in an animal litter, the chromogenic absorbent material comprising:

• an absorptive material which is porous, for absorbing the animal excretion, the absorptive material comprising:
• a water-absorbing polysaccharide providing absorptive properties to the chromogenic absorbent material;
• and
• a second polysaccharide providing structural integrity to the chromogenic absorbent material;
• citric acid;
• sodium citrate;
• and
• tetrabromophenol blue;
• wherein
• the chromogenic absorbent material is in the form of particles;
• the chromogenic absorbent material has a density of about 0.20 g/cm3 to about 0.39 g/cm3;
• and
• the chromogenic absorbent material has an effective porosity of about 0.5 mL/g to about 2.0 mL/g.

An animal litter comprising particles of a chromogenic absorbent material for detecting proteins in an animal excretion, the chromogenic absorbent material comprising:

• an acidic buffer for protonating amino groups of the proteins;
• a chromogenic indicator which is a pH indicator responsive to protonated amino groups of the proteins;
• and
• an absorptive material which is porous, for absorbing the animal excretion, the absorptive material comprising:
• a water-absorbing polysaccharide providing absorptive properties to the chromogenic absorbent material;
• and
• a second polysaccharide providing structural integrity to the chromogenic absorbent material,
• wherein
• the acidic buffer, the chromogenic indicator and the proteins are unreactive to the chromogenic absorptive material;
• the chromogenic absorbent material has a density of about 0.20 g/cm3 to about 0.39 g/cm3;
• and
• the chromogenic absorbent material is a porous material having an effective porosity of about 0.5 mL/g to about 2.0 mL/g.