One of the most important purchases you will make if you own feline pets is a cat litter box. With that said, there are a lot of options out there to consider when it comes time to buy your cat litter box.
By understanding what is available, what you need, and what to look for, though, you will be able to make an informed decision.
It’s worth considering when buying a cat litter box is how much attention you, the owner, will be able to give to it.
The bigger the litter box you get, the less often you will have to change it out completely. That is, the less you will have to totally clean out the litter and put in new as opposed to simply scooping out what is in there and going on.
Secondly, you should consider whether or not you want your cat litter box to have a cover on it. Hoods are generally optional and do keep the mess contained more efficiently.
On the other hand, your particular cat may decide that he or she does not like having a hood. So not only should you consider what you want, but also think about what the cat will and will not do.
Finally, if you are concerned about your own ability to keep up with litter box cleaning duties, make sure you look into the self-cleaning models. These cat litter boxes are activated by your cat’s motion and will “scoop” the box after every use. You simply have to empty a plastic bin once a week.
No matter what kind of cat litter box you choose, you will likely dislike and like various parts of it. You can always start cheap and basic and move your way up later. Just make sure that you have a litter box that will benefit you and your feline companion.
Disposable Cat Litter Boxes
There are many litter box options out there for cat owners. One such option is the disposable cat litter box.
Though it may seem wasteful at first glance, there actually are several good uses for a disposable cat litter box that make it something every cat owner should at least be familiar with.
The first and probably most common use for the disposable cat litter box is for travel. When you are traveling with your furry feline companion, you will quickly realize that patty time can be a problem.
Nobody wants to drag their dirty old kitty litter box into the car or onto an airplane. The alternative option, though, is the disposable cat litter box. It allows you to give your cat the facility he needs to use the bathroom while at the same time allowing you to have an easy clean up at the end of the process.
Another use for the disposable litter box is during a kennel situation. Whether it is an animal shelter, ally cat rescue organization, or even your local kennel to care for your cat when you leave town, the disposable litter box can be a great little tool.
Kennel’s may be kept clean without the expense of having to get brand new boxes for each cat. As the animals are adopted, the disposable cat litter box can just be thrown away. This eliminates extra clean up when there is a lot of turn over with the animals.
As you can see, the disposable cat litter box can be a great tool in a number of situations. Though for your pet in your home you will likely want a permanent box, you may want to consider keeping some disposable ones around for certain situations.
Whether it is for travel or for use in a kennel, the cat litter box is a good purchase for feline owners.
Automatic Cat Litter Boxes
Anyone out there old enough to remember the old skeleton hand coin bank? It was a classic novelty item that was sold through magazines in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Basically, the bank was shaped like a tombstone and accompanying grave. When one put a quarter into the slot in front of the bank, a skeleton hand would emerge from the grave and grab the quarter. Then the hand would retract it and take the quarter down below into the grave with it.
Well, while the novelty item was never brought back, some of the traditional mechanical designs of that little cat litter box has been resurrected and used to help create the automatic cat litter box.
In a different era, the automatic cat litter box would have been a Ronco item that would have sold millions of units via TV advertising campaigns. Today, however, that automatic cat litter box can be purchased in stores all across North America or, better yet, purchased over the internet and delivered right to your front door.
Basically, the automatic cat litter box has a sensor within it that alerts the litter box that the cat has entered. The sensor will also be notified when the cat exits the litter box. After the cat exits, a variant on the old “skeleton hand” will push the deposited waste into a secret compartment.
This totally eliminates the unnecessary problem of having to scoop out any material and dispose of it. The waste is deposited by the automatic cat litter box into a bag that can be collected at one’s convenience.
This is a very interesting cat accessory that truly aids the pet owner as it reduces responsibilities related to caring for a cat. An individual who has a very busy schedule can greatly appreciate the fact that the box reduces some of their cat work time down to zero.
Feline Care – Cat Litter Mats
Having a cat litter mat can save you in a lot of ways. If you have cat, you know they are capable of messes. Often times that mess comes in and around the kitty litter box and is quite preventable. At the very least it can be easily contained with the use of a good cat litter mat.
The purpose of a cat litter mat is to catch all that extra litter that spills off the feet of your feline as he exits the litter box after going to the bathroom.
The litter will stick to the feet of the cat and as he jumps out is shaken loose. This means vacuum cleanup or sweeping around the litter box that is virtually endless. While getting a cat litter mat may not completely stop the problem, it will definitely cut down on the amount of mess you cat makes.
The best litter mat to eliminate mess is one that is deeply ridged. The mat should be big enough to cover all the way across the entrance and exit to the litter box. If your box does not have a tent or cover so that the cat may enter from any direction, you may want to consider a cat litter mat on each side of the box to keep the area cleaner.
With a hood, though, you can control where your cat is exiting the litter box so that the cat litter mat will be the most effective.
A litter mat is a great investment if your kitty is making a mess around the box or tray. Look for them at your local pet store, convenience store (in the pet aisle), or even in some grocery stores. They are readily available, and by going out and getting one you can save yourself a lot of cleanup time.
Clumping Cat Litter
Sometimes it is funny where progress can lead a person. There was a time when cat litter was just that, cat litter.
In other words, there were no unique or different spins on the traditional cat litter. Today, cat litter is comprised of a number of different variants including biodegradable litter, pine litter, clay litter and the highly preferred clumping cat litter.
Clumping cat litter essentially clumps its separate particles together to clump the cat’s waste and the litter into a brick like shape. This enables the cat’s owner to dispose of the waste relatively easily which is why clumping cat litter is as widely popular as it is these days.
Some cats are hypersensitive to traditional litter and may not wish to use the litter box when it is present. In the past, this used to lead to many cats being given up on by their owners. Now, clumping litter can be used as a substitute for cats that do not like traditional litter and refuse to use the litter box.
There have been, however, some unfounded beliefs that clumping litter is not safe for cats to use. Some cats might be adverse to it because of the dust that it kicks up and causes them to cough.
This has lead to wild speculation that clumping cat litter is harmful to cats. In actuality, there has never been any contention on the part of any veterinary medicine group that has ever put forward a belief that clumping cat litter is dangerous.
Ultimately, it is best to purchase the clumping cat litter and see if your cats take to it without any seeming problems.
If any coughing starts, then it would be wise to switch to a different type of cat litter variant. It is as simple as that.
Flushable Litter for Your Cat Box
Sometimes a really unique concept puts a fresh spin on a conventional item and the reaction from the consumer public can be quite amazing.
Flushable cat litter is one of those things that rival cat litter companies will stare at the boxes and ask “Why didn’t I think of that?” as this particular kitty litter offers an excellent alternative to the traditional type of litters.
The traditional version of cat litter required distributing the litter into a trash bag and then having to carry it out to the trash can.
Yes, this may not seem like all that big of a deal, but it is more than just the issue disposing of the litter. Flushable cat litter has other benefits to it as well.
First, flushable cat litter is generally biodegradable. The traditional version, however, is not biodegradable. As such, there are the obvious problems with environmental concerns that the cat litter that is not biodegradable. Many flushable cat litter brands offer cat litter than is comprised completely of organic material. In some instances, wheat is used as a main ingredient in such a cat litter.
This allows the litter to degrade naturally and in a relatively short period of time as opposed to the synthetic cat litter that make take a number of years.
Furthermore, synthetic cat litter can cause a number of repertory problems in cats. The dust that kicks up with such cat litter can get into the cats lungs and causing a great deal of wheezing and coughing.
Flushable cat litter that is organic will not cause such complications in cats and, thus, keeping the cat safe and healthy. Considering how much love we all have for cats, none of us would like to see any harm befall them. So, stick with organic, flushable cat litter.
Pine Cat Litter
Clay litter is the most common cat litter on the market and it comes with a host of problems that a pet owner would be wise to avoid. Cats can develop quite a problem if they inhale the dust that emanates from clay based litter.
One of the best alternatives to clay litter is pine cat litter. Pine cat litter has a host of other benefits to both the cat and the owner and should always be used over the choice of clay litter.
Cat urine has a very strong ammonia like smell. In clay cat litter, the urine is soaked up and absorbed by the litter in such a manner that the ammonia smells becomes part of the fabric of the clay. This causes the cat smell to greatly expand. Needless to say, such a smell is hardly welcome.
A pine smell would be much preferable and considering that pine cat litter is non-absorbent, the expansion of the cat urine order will be greatly diminished which another huge benefit over clay based cat litter.
This biodegradable cat litter has a strange reaction in the box where the waste degrades part of the pine pellets, which drops off the pellets and lands at the bottom of the litter box. This takes the stench and smell with it.
Pine cat litter is much easier to clean, simply scoop up the solids and flush them down the toilet. The pine cat litter won’t clog your toilet so there shouldn’t be a problem there
When the litter totally degrades into a dust like texture, the litter can be flushed or thrown out or deposited in the yard. As any pet owner can see cat litter that is made with pine is a tremendous variant on cat litter and it would be a great thing to get for your cat.
Silica Cat Litter
There will always be different versions of cat litter on the market as the variety that exists today is fairly high, but when one combines this with the fact that new versions are invented all the time, the cat litter shelves will never be empty.
Silica cat litter is a form of cat litter that utilizes silica gel to create the basis of the cat liter. Silica gel is a granular form of traditional properties related to silicate sodium.
The benefit of this type of cat litter is that it absorbs the cat waste material almost immediately. While some may scoff at the idea that the speed of the absorption is not anything that is important at all, the speed of the absorption will quickly and expeditiously eliminate the smell that will emanate from the cat litter box.
The ability of silica cat litter to absorb urine quickly has made this particular type of cat litter incredibly popular with certain cat owners as it makes the responsibilities of a pet owner much lighter as the elimination of the distasteful issue of having to deal with cat litter odor is removed from the equation. Certainly, anything that removes cat litter is going to improve any situation!
The ability to absorb these awful smells is also heightened by the fact that if one stirs up the silica cat litter in its litter box, the need to replace the cat litter is reduced. That is, you do not need to have to change the litter box as frequently with silica cat litter as you would a different type of cat litter.
Needless to say, people enjoy the fact that this silica cat litter allows a person to free up his or her schedule quite a bit because it eliminates 2/3 of the time that was needed to change a litter box!
How to Train Your New Kitten to Use Cat Litter
When you bring a new little kitten home, one of the first things you want to be able to do is train it to use a cat litter tray. Though for some this can be a frustrating process, there really is a right way to do it that will get results.
By understanding one of the better methods of cat litter tray training, you can get the results you want quickly so that you can enjoy your new kitten indoors for years to come.
When you first bring your kitten home and are ready to cat litter tray train him or her, go ahead and confine the kitten to a small area in your house. Usually a laundry or utility room works best. By nature, cats are clean animals and will want to bury their waste. That means that if you provide a litter tray, in most cases the kitten will use it right away.
After each time your new kitten eats, put him or her in the litter tray. Take the paw of your cat and gently scratch the litter in the tray with it. This will signal to your kitten what it is you want in the cat litter tray. Otherwise, he or she may not “get it.”
If, by chance, at some point you see the kitten sniffing or digging somewhere else in the room, pick him up. Place the cat in the cat litter tray to encourage him to finish his business in the tray. Go ahead and repeat the scratching exercise that you used right after eating.
As you can see, litter tray training does not have to be difficult. It does, though, require some vigilance on your part as well as some patience. If you follow the procedure, though, you can have your little kitten using the cat litter tray in no time.
Litter Training Your Cat – Your Cat Will Never Be a Problem Again
Anyone who has observed a cat grooming herself, patiently licking until every inch of fur has been washed, knows that cleanliness is an important feline trait. Simply put, cats like to stay clean.
That tendency is one for which cat owners can be exceedingly grateful, as it makes litter training a fairly easy process, unlike the more tedious house training that other pet owners may have in store for them.
While it is quite easy to litter train a cat, there are some things you can do to help your cat learn. First, find the right spot for her litter box. Your cat will be happiest if her litter box is in a slightly out-of-the-way area of the house, away from high-traffic areas.
If there are other animals or small children in your home, make sure they don’t have access to the litter box. Your cat may find them disturbing.
Even if your other pets are cats as well, you may want to consider getting them separate litter boxes. Some cats don’t like to eliminate in the same place as other cats. They see their litter boxes as their own territory.
Keep the litter box away from your cat’s food and water supply. It’s already been established that cats are very clean animals, and they don’t like to eliminate near their eating area.
After you’ve found an ideal spot for the litter box, the obvious next step is to show your cat where it is. Gently place her in the box and let her get used to the way it feels and smells. Some owners say it can help to rake your fingers, or even the cat’s paw, through the litter to demonstrate what the cat is to do with it.
Luckily for cat owners, it’s instinctive for cats to bury their waste, so once they have a litter box to dig in, they’ll usually adapt to using it almost immediately.
Many cats won’t use their litter box if it gets too dirty, so be sure to scoop out the litter daily. Change the entire box once a week, washing out the box with a mixture of vinegar and water to remove odors if necessary.
If you’ve taken all of these steps, your cat should adapt to using her litter box right away, and she’ll likely have very few accidents. If she does have an accident, try not to reprimand her.
Instead, take her immediately to her litter box and set her in it, praising her if she uses it. Clean up the accident immediately with the vinegar and water solution; if you get rid of the odor as quickly as possible, your cat won’t be as likely to revisit the area.
Every once in a while, a cat will refuse to use her litter box or will stop using it suddenly. There are several common causes, including stress or an overly dirty box. Your cat might also dislike her litter, so try changing your brand. If you own a male cat, and he has not been neutered, he may be marking his territory throughout your home.
If your cat won’t use her litter box, and a reason isn’t apparent, contact your veterinarian. Some medical conditions, such as kidney stones or urinary tract infections, can cause cats to stop using their litter boxes.