My human was reading a magazine article recently on litter box issues, and how it is one of the main reasons cats get turned into shelters. It is also one of the main reasons cats get euthanized, because who wants to adopt a cat that doesn’t use the litter box? But behind these plain facts is something more complex and utterly tragic: many (maybe most of) these cats are being killed for something that is not their fault at all, but their humans’. Litter box avoidance is usually a human issue, not a cat issue. It is the humans who failed the cat, not the other way around. And cats pay with their lives.
Because of the scope of this topic, Human Litter Box Training is going to be an ongoing feature. I don’t know how often I’ll blog about it, or for how long. I’m not a veterinarian or a professional cat behaviorist (just a professional human behaviorist for cats), so I can’t help humans solve specific problems they are having with getting their litter box habits right. But I hope these blog posts help humans look into their own litter box behavior and see how they can make things better for their cats. Each situation is different and needs to be looked at individually — usually by the individuals involved, not by someone on the outside who has never met the humans, the cats or seen the inside of their homes. If your cat is having litter box issues, have him looked over by a vet to determine whether the problem is medical or behavioral, and if the problem is behavioral, get the number of a cat behaviorist in your area.
I’ll begin this series with an overview of litter box problems, and what in general humans might be doing wrong. The different parts of a litter box are the following:
- The location of the litter box
- The litter box itself
- The litter
- Accessories, such as scoops, litter disposal systems, etc.
The majority of cats will be fine with any satisfactory set up a human may put together for their litter box. In fact, we can be quite forgiving — but we do have our limits. Let’s look at these different elements and see how these areas could perhaps be improved.
Litter Box Location
Convenience, privacy and quiet are the keys here. When we cats are in the litter box, we are at our most vulnerable, and if we feel a location is dangerous, we won’t want to go there. A litter box should be in an area that is easy for the cat to get to and in a different room from where his food and water is (would you humans want to have dinner in your bathroom? Didn’t think so). It should be somewhere peaceful. Avoid turn offs like putting the litter box next to your washer and dryer — the sudden noises and movements that machines make are scary and off-putting. Are there other cats in the house? Make sure the litter box is in an area that is open enough for the cat to be able to escape any unwanted feline attention. There are few things scarier for a house cat than to be cornered in a litter box by someone in a hostile mood — or worse, to have a hostile cat blocking his way to the litter box.
The Litter Box
There are loads of litter boxes, and I have to say, most of them are built with human, not feline, comfort in mind. That’s okay for most cats and they’ll deal, but with a little bit of thought, you humans could make sure the litter box is as kitty friendly as it is human friendly. Are you concerned about us cats scattering litter or spraying the wall? (Some cats pee in more of a standing up position than squatting — that can be caused by arthritis, or sometimes it’s a guy cat thing.) Then get a litter box that has high sides. Please don’t bring home a covered litter box. Many of us will use them regardless, but we really don’t like them. How would you like to have a smelly outhouse as your bathroom all the time? That’s what it’s like for us cats inside of a covered litter box — and our noses are 15 times stronger than yours! What about those fancy, automated litter boxes? Look, we cats just want to get in the box, do our business and get out. All those moving, mechanical parts are a distraction at best, downright foreign and scary at worst.
The Litter Itself
Whatever your cat likes best is the right litter to use. Period. Corn, clay, ground walnut shells, diamond dust, whatever (okay, I am kidding about the diamond dust. Maybe). The important thing is to keep it scooped and relatively clean. You don’t have to change the whole box of litter every day, or even every week (unless your cat has a medical problem that causes him to create a mess of the litter box). Just get the lumps out promptly, have a regular litter changing schedule, and most cats will be satisfied. What about those absorbing crystals? Would you like to walk on them in bare feet? Cats generally don’t, either. What if you have a cat that has been declawed? You need to make sure the litter does not hurt his damaged toes. And please, please, please, no perfumed litter! It’s offensive. I’m surprised it doesn’t bother human noses.
Accessories
Honestly, these are for you humans. We cats don’t care about them. But if they make it easier for you to keep our litter boxes clean and useable, then they are fine by us. Lots of humans swear by the Litter Genie for storing waste in a convenient and odor-free manner, and there are other containers like it too. Did you know that some litter scoops are better than others? It’s true. These items make the litter box area more efficient. Other things, such as litter box liners — not so much. Litter box liners are useless. They tear and pool urine and make things smellier and messier than they need to be. A proper litter box does not need them. I’ll dig further into accessories in a future post.
So here you have the litter box basics! Any specifics you kitties would like me to address? Any suggestions on how to properly litter box train humans? Let me know!
My Mommy uses liners because it is easier to clean up for her. They have a drawstring which is very helpful. Scooping every day is a must, but when that liner is pulled up, easy peasey clean up! I love fresh litter!
And of course, whenever possible, she buys a litter that is not ouchie on my toesies! Very important to take care of us declawed kitties. She actually looks for declawed kitties when she looks for new babies to care for. So that she can make our sensitive claws more comfy in the litterbox! Sweet, huh! Both Angel brandi and I agree!
Good luck with the articles! Great info!
As usual Sparkle, you bring up important information that will hopefully help humans to understand a kitty’s litter box needs AND how HUMANS are often the cause of ongoing problems associated with them.
A great idea!
Sparkle, this was a fantastic presentation of the issues! My Human scores pretty high in all areas, except the occasional lapse in daily scoopage. I am fairly forgiving of that as (1) I am the only cat and extremely tidy and (2) It’s a pretty big box in a nice quiet & private spot.
In fact, if the Human accidentally comes into the room when the box is, ahem, “occupied” she apologizes nicely and goes right out again. She does do *some* things right.
Pawsum posty Sparkle. Wees got mommy good and twained altho’ sum hoomans kuld use a foo lessons. 🙂
Luv ya’
Dezi
We have two boxes side by side right now. When they weren’t next to each other, I would try to climb in with Ralphie and that stressed him out. We also had to go covered since the woofies like to eat the ‘kitty cookies’ out of them.
Marty
we have two litter boxes, one upstairs and one in the downstairs half bath. buster always joins me when i use the potty in the downstairs powder room/half bath, so the activity becomes a bonding moment for both of us, meow!!!!
Great info, Sparkle! our mom is pretty good about timely scooping, especially for Minnie and Smidgen because they share two boxes – plus she doesn’t want a stinky house 🙂 there was a time before our mom kept Pip and Minnie separated that Pip would block poor Minnie from getting to the litter box so she had to go where Pip had trapped her 🙁 once our mom figured out what was going on she started separating them when she wasn’t home. we don’t think we’d like covered boxes cause they wouldn’t suit our style of piddling (standing on the edges with our front paws), mol!
Pip, Smidgen, Minnie, HOllie
It really chaps our hides that so many kitties are turned in to shelters because HUMANS fail them on this issue! Very good post!
Good info once again, Sparkle. The mom is pretty good about our litter boxes….she keeps them pretty clean which makes us happy.
Fabulous article, Sparkle! Humans really need to be educated about cats and their habits. Many humans are very ignorant about these things and it is always the cats who have to suffer. Too bad there is no fix for stupid.
I have had problems with three cats going outside the box. One had an infection and she was taken to the emergency vet as soon as I saw her do it because she has excellent litter box habits. The other times were behavioral issues with two cats–one caused by me because I raised my voice to him (it REALLY upset him–he was a Somali–a very sensitive and loving boy)–and the other cat was upset because some of the others started picking on her so she peed right in front of me to let me know how unhappy she was. With him, I had to use my “indoor voice”. My vet put her on Prozac and it did require some dosage adjustments before we found the right one but then she was fine and happy again.
So, I have to say–if you really pay attention to your cats and all the dynamics–a solution can usually be found. And Sparkle, you are totally right, the humans are the problem.
This is a great post! I did a sponsored post for a litter that talked about many of these same topics. I have a covered box and it helps guard against TW taking pics of me in compromising positions. I also LIKE eating at the “Litterbox Lounge.†When I won’t eat my gut rot, TW moves it by my box and I’ll eat it. Don’t ax. I have one quiet box in Pop’s poo room and one in front of the furnace room. It doesn’t seem to spook me when the heat/ac turns on and off. As far as washing the box, I can’t stress enough that mild dish detergent and water is all you need. Any harsh cleaners or bleaches are gonna give us UTI’s.
We have a closed box but it has a fan that vents outside. Mom says they look like litter boxes on life support.
Great info!
The Florida Furkids
You are very correct Sparkle in that cats are owner surrendered often for litter box issues and/or behavior issues. It is the humans who do not want to be bothered to seek the solutions; often these are as simple as all the advice you have in your post today. It makes Mom L and Dad P very sad and frustrated when they see these cats lose their lives just because of that.
Do you read in our mind ? We have already written and planned a post about covered litter boxes very soon ! Thanks for your advices ; humans too often don’t know it and are not able to understand why they get litter box problems with their cats ! Purrs
Wonderful post, Sparkle! It always breaks our hearts to hear of a kitty that has been turned into a shelter for reasons like this. We don’t have any litter box troubles in our house, but we know they are common. We think this is a great series idea you are doing and will be sure to share this post with our furiends!
P.S. We have been voting for you in the Petties every day!
Great advice for so many humans Sparkle! Mommy has heard so many people complain about their cats not using the box and when she asks if they took the cat to the vet the answer is always no. The neighbors have banned their 18 year old kitty from the house so she stays in the garage because of litter box issues which we’re pretty sure is medical. It’s heartbreaking. We hope your advice is seen by lots that didn’t know how what to do so kitties are helped everywhere!
I have a cat with behavioral peeing issues. He’s been to the vet quite a few times for urinalysis and every time he’s come back clear. We tried a lot of different things. Adding extra litter boxes, changing the style and litter, putting them in different locations, etc. I will be completely honest with you, it’s been very rough and my husband has wanted to find him a barn home for a long time. We eventually ended up putting him on anxiety medication with our vet. He was on a quarter of a paxil every day. It took the medication 2-3 weeks to kick in but after he was on it for a while he went back to using the litterboxes. He was on it for a year before I started weaning him off. Today he is completely off the medication and has been using the litterbox without incident. I’d recommend anyone who has been struggling with peeing issues to speak with their vet about medication it was a lifesaver.
Bravo! Well done! Our Meowm tries to take all this into consideration. She does wish we had a bigger home with a room for the litterboxes, but that isn’t likely to happen. We make due and know that we have it better than alot of cats!
Good info Sparkle! I’ve got my Mom very well trained on litter issues – sometimes I go find her and ask her to accompany me to the litterbox so that she can clean it out the minute I “flush” (haha)….if she’s NOT where I am when the mood hits me, I’ll do my business then go find her and tell her in no uncertain terms that I’ve used my potty box and need her to clean it up ASAP! I trained her very early on – after 14 years we’ve got things down to a fine science!
Hugs, Sammy
Great information. I never thought about the closed litter box until I had two cats.
High side box with a nice cut out in the side for easy in and easy out; 7 pounds of clay litter that is completely replaced every week; box scooped a minimum of twice a day…yeah, no problems here…
Great job, Sparkle! So important! Many people need to be more understanding of their cats ….special time. – Crepes.
Very informative, Sparkle. Fortunately for our mom, we are very fastidious with our litter box.
Good reminders. If this is from Sparkle’s perspective how about sharing experiences in your home?
Very needed advice Sparkle. M says she has only had one kitty at a time, and she never really had any litter box issues, except once. Her first kitty started peeing on the bed for no reason. She immediately too him to the vet cuz she knew something must have been wrong. Sure enough, he had a UTI. Once that was cleared up, he was perfect with using the box. When they adopted me, they immediately too me to the basement and put me in my new litterbox. Then I could investigate the rest of the house from there. She has used that method with all her kitties – including my human sisfur’s kitties that use to come here to stay with me when their humans took vacation. It always worked. I think this will be a very good issue for you to write about.
This is a great information! Yes many litter box issues can be resolved by improving humans.
I really don’t like automated boxes. They must be disturbing for kitties and we can’t check if kitties made proper deposit.
The publicist has been very fortunate in that her myriad cats have been very good about using the box. A few misses here and there but nothing chronic. Of course there are three litter boxes with all of the Farm cats…
That was very informative Sparkle!! personally I will use the hebe bush outside, but I realise not every kitty wants to do that!
Great posting idea, Sparkle. My old sis Pee Queen was surrendered to the shelter because she “didn’t get along with the dog,” but the real truth was the dog scared her while she was peeing and she began to pee elsewhere. You probably know that story. While PQ never used the box to pee in again, my mom was able to get her to pee on a rubber mat which Mom rinsed off when PQ used it. It never once occurred to Mom to return her to the shelter (nor would she have taken her there to begin with!).
I agree with everything you say, especially that litter boxes should be for cats, not humans. I even wrote a post about it called “Litter Boxes are for Cats.”
Mom had to get us the higher litter box because well two of us have bad aims and Mom was tired of cleaning the floor every day. Now she only has to do it on occasion. (it’s much better!)
Those really are some great tips. We try to follow them all. We do have some litter that is very attractive to the cats so they will go where ever that litter is staying, including a plastic bag. Cats do like their privacy which I can tell by which boxes get used the most around here and there are six boxes. The one that gets used the most though is the one with the attractive litter. Anyway, great post.
so true….we gotta get more people to read this. we are pretty good though mom had to upgrade to higher sides since some cat (TIM) likes to pee standing up MOL
super helpful tips that should come in handy for all kitties!
Such a coincidence that you are posting this today, Sparkle, after we posted about our litter-box challenged, new Honorary Kitty. We pray this doesn’t keep Swizzle from being adopted, but it is the reason Mom plans to sponsor her indefinitely. Thank you so much for prompting her to do this by doing the same with the three precious kitties you are sponsoring. We have some litter box issues at our house on occasion, so Mom is going to follow your related posts quite closely. XO, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Great post, Sparkle! MomKatt is quite diligent about scooping and she’s always looking for ways to make the job easier for her and things better for us kitties in that department.
Purrz!
Selina
Plus, what if I turn toward the back and pee out the door? Seriouslie.
I pee with very little squat so mom was forced to finally go to a covered box. She hates it each time she takes the lid off to clean it. There’s always pee in the cracks between the cover and the bottom she said. Now..get higher sides in a another sort of box, maybe, but how am I going to get in without a pole vault and mom has nothing to cut hard plastic with. This is an issue for both of us. We both hate covered boxes.
Katie Bella hav yous looked at da NVR Miss litter box? http://nvrmiss.com/index.php It has da weally high sides and a low point fur yous tu enter tu and no lid. Might just be what yous lookin’ fur.
Luv ya’
Dezi
Yes my kitties have these boxes and they are pawesome! They might seem more spendy to some, but they are worth it and are tough- we have had both of ours for 2 years.
They are perfect for senior and/or medically special needs cats as my angel Ms. Phoebe who had an auto immune disease which caused her to have many health issues, that even affected her physically. These boxes were easy for her to get in and out of and were high enough to offer privacy and keep litter from being kicked out as much, and any waste too.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
None of us here like a dirty litter box, so our peeps pretty much have a no pass rule. They never go past one of our without scooping if it has been used.
What a great idea for a series, Sparkle!
“It is the humans who failed the cat, not the other way around. And cats pay with their lives.” Sadly when it comes to animals, they are always the ones that pay. And it is tragic.
very useful information.
All good points. Our Mom was pretty good about maintaining our facilities before Toby got his… issues… back in February. Now she’s downright obsessive about it. Not that we mind. 🙂
Great post, Sparkle! It’s really important for all of our humans to know this stuff.
We’ve got to admit our Mum will get a high score on this topic as she does everything right.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
BRAVO BRAVO STANDING OVATIONS BRAVO!!! WELL SAID SPARKLE AND HUMAN!!!
WE AGREE WITH EVERY SINGLE WORD!!!
HUGS MADI YOUR BFFF
Great info!
One tip I learned is don’t over clean… we did that once to poor alex and we paid the price!
Paws up for the great advice! So many cats in shelters over litter issues is just sad when it is easy to solve in many cases.
Thanks for the tips. Please make others aware of medical issues too. My fur sister, Bella, when she came to live here had issues. My human kept taking her to the vet. She has an irritated bladder condition called Feline Idiopathic Chronic Cystitis and needs medication. She is now much better and we are playing some but mostly ignoring each other.
Thanks fur the great advise to our hooman!!!!!