Cedar Shavings are NOT Toxic to Pets

     As a child we always used cedar shavings with our small animals, rabbits and guinea pigs and hamsters.  And none of them had short life spans.  None of them died young, unless a predator got them.  They all lived to ripe old ages. There is nothing wrong with cedar chips.  We still use cedar to this day and have never had an issue.
       The only reason people keep telling you there is, is because they make a fortune from the new bedding.  It is made from recycled paper, the stuff you give away for free.  So yes, they make a fortune off of that stuff! 
       You would be more wise to stay away from walnut/wheat/corn in your cat litter instead of your small animal cages.  We have experienced first hand the dangers of that!  We used an an natural litter that was made from that stuff.  It was some walnut based cat litter we got at Petsmart.   We cleaned it every day.  We only have one small cat.  But the litter would never fully dry out.  So mold grew in it.   Not the obvious mold on the wall kind, either.   Within no time, like a week or two, I was sick and my cat was sick.   She was severely congested, so much so that she could hardly breathe and would not eat at all.  We had to force feed her.   She almost died from it.  She got to 3 pounds!  The only time she has ever been sick in her life, I might add.  So we threw that litter and box away and went back to what we know a clay or silica based litter.  I had tried that walnut litter to see if it would help me with my allergies to the chemicals in other litters like Tidy Cat.  We now use Cats Pride Complete or Dr. something or another's silica litter (can't remember the name).  That doesn't track out like the other litters.