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+--- Thread: How Do You Care for Your Cat's Litter Box? (/Thread-How-Do-You-Care-for-Your-Cat-s-Litter-Box)
How Do You Care for Your Cat's Litter Box? - Bloomsie - 05-14-2015
When more than one person own an animal, such as a cat, the emotional and personal level of each person are different. The number one concept that people often argue over is who knows how to take care of the pet.
My brother and I often argue about how our cat, Wolfy, needs to be taken care of. We decided to split our chores for him: I would deal with the litter box, make sure that he has his treats, food and litter while my brother would make sure that he has his medication (fleas and worms) monthly and would fill his bowl every morning with food.
Well, I happened to be out of town during the academic school year for University and he had to pull my weight while I was gone (which is understandable to be tired and the weight is put on me now during the summer).
The first thing he said to me when I came back was not a "hello" but instead to clean the litter box. I shrugged and agreed. I went to see the litter box and I was appalled. There were days of feces in the litter box and it wasn't entirely the color litter box was. I immediately asked him when he last changed the litter and he said about a week ago. I was peeved and I immediately throughout the litter box and bought a new one with new litter. But then he got angry at me for blaming him for doing a terrible job with taking care of his litter.
So with this point said, how do you take care of your cat's litter? Do you let it sit for a couple to a few days and then clear it all out, do you clean out the litter box every morning, or do you have a different technique?
RE: How Do You Care for Your Cat's Litter Box? - kfander - 05-15-2015
I have three cats and four litter boxes. I use scoopable litter, and I scoop the boxes at least once a day, sometimes more than once a day. As far as changing the litter, I don't have that on a schedule but when it remains discolored after scooping it, then it's time to replace the litter.
I live in a town that was built on coal ash from a paper mill that was here before the town, so my soil levels are very shallow. Apart from hauling compost, I compost pretty much everything compostable, including cat litter. I have three compost piles in the back of my property, and I compost everything compostable there. Since I'm using it to build up the soil levels on my lawn, I am not concerned about using cat litter, as I might be if I were using it for gardening, and I also don't mind having some clay mixed in with it. Generally, I use a mixture of premium scoopable clay litter, a fully compostable litter made from walnut shells by a company called Blue Buffalo, and sometimes other litters made from wheat or corn.
To answer your question though, litter boxes should be changed every day. It's been a while since I've had only one cat but when I did, I still scooped the litter every day. The house smells better and I've had cats who would refuse to use a litter box that wasn't clean. I went on vacation once and paid someone to feed the cats and change the litter. To make it easy on her, I bought some extra boxes and pre-filled them, telling he she could simply leave the used ones in on our back porch until we returned, and I'd take care of it. For some reason, although I presume the cats were fed, since they weren't starving, she never touched the litter boxes, and it was a mess, made worse by the fact that at least one of my cats decide enough was enough at some point, and used the floor.
RE: How Do You Care for Your Cat's Litter Box? - Bloomsie - 05-15-2015
So are you saying that you would redo the entire litter box each day, or just scoop it clean each day until the litter box has a slight discoloration? I'm just making sure that I'm fully understanding your perspective of caring for your cat.
I've started to do the same thing with the litter out in my backyard. My dad doesn't like it and thinks that it's not compost-able, but in reality, it is. The one thing I don't do is throw the litter in the back with my cat's feces. I actually make sure to scoop out as much as I can and throw it away and then throw the kitty litter outside so that it won't stink our backyard. So yes! I like your concept of making a compost pile in the backyard as it is definitely organic and healthy.
My brother had that problem, too. He didn't touch the litter box for about a couple days more than a week? And it truly was a mess. The entire box was filled and there were little "presents" around the litter box as well. I have a cat with OCD and if his litter isn't clean, then he'll go anywhere he can.
RE: How Do You Care for Your Cat's Litter Box? - kfander - 05-18-2015
Oh no, I don't redo the entire thing every day. If I'm only using clay clumping litter, it has to be replaced more often. But since I usually mix premium walnut or corn based litters in with it, they last a lot longer because it clumps better. Normally, I will scoop it once or twice a day, adding just a small amount of fresh litter to it. When I find that the litter that isn't clumped is discolored, then it's time to replace the whole thing. I do compost the feces along with everything else, but my compost pile is in the back of the yard, bordering a railroad track and a vacant lot so it's not bothering anyone. Plus, when I dump cat litter on the compost pile, I cover it with leaves (when they are available) or shredded paper and cardboard, so it's not sitting on top of the pile. My compost piles are large, one pile for each year, and after three years, there is no evidence of anything nasty. Again, I don't use it for gardening.
RE: How Do You Care for Your Cat's Litter Box? - Aradhya - 07-04-2015
At least once or twice a day, your pet’s litter boxes should be scooped. It’s even better if you can get to it as soon as your pet has finished his business. There are various self-cleaning litter boxes available in the market that uses a sensor to tell you that your pet has entered and then left the litter box. It is great to keep up on scooping duties for people. They tend to scare at least some pets away from using litter box and would not be a good option for a timid pet. Litter boxes made from plastic should also be replaced once every year due to the scratches they tend to get during the regular use can hold debris and odor.
To lessen the cleaning hassles, you can also toilet train your pet:
https://www.petsworld.in/blog/how-to-toilet-train-your-cat.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Toilet-Train-Your-Cat