Carly Martinetti of Gloucester appears in Disney/ABC Television Group’s “Startup U” on Tuesday  at 10 p.m.ABC Family/Ron Koeberer

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Soon, your cat’s litter box may save you a trip to the vet. 

Carly Martinetti — an animal lover from the small fishing town of Gloucester and a 2008 graduate of the University of California Los Angeles — has invented a product called Pretty Litter, a diagnostic kitty litter which she says combines fun with medicine. 

“The color changes when there’s a problem with your cat’s health,” Martinetti said of her colorful, sparkly litter. “There’s no perfumed smell at this time, but it does provide odor control.”

Martinetti said she’s researching advanced features such as adding an anti-parasitic agent to neutralize toxoplasma gondii, which can spread to humans — especially children and pregnant women — who handle cat litter.

The product can be ordered online and delivered to your door every month. One 3-pound bag lasts a month for one cat, she said.

It’s described on the site as “a low-cost, diagnostic litter with advanced odor-control, scoopable, flushable, dust-free, 100 percent ecologically friendly, and safe for cats.”

Starring in a TV show

Martinetti will soon be pushing her diagnostic kitty litter on a TV show about would-be entrepreneurs called “Startup U.” She’s one of 10 chosen for the program, which airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on the ABC Family network.

Similar to “The Apprentice,” the show follows 10 potential business owners as they are mentored by business leaders on how to launch a company in a grueling, seven-week program at Draper University in San Mateo, Calif., and through the pitch of their products to venture capitalists eager to find the next big tech innovation.

Of course there is a rich person involved: university founder and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper, who investments include Skype, Tesla and Hotmail.

If Martinetti doesn’t win, she’ll turn to crowd sourcing on the Internet to get Pretty Litter off the ground.

“I’d be looking to do a Kickstarter campaign,” she said. 

Dimitra Lavrakas writes for the Gloucester (Massachusetts) Daily Times.