UCB Parents Advice about Pets
Kitty's Poor Hygiene
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Sept 2002
Hi. Our very old cat died recently and my husband now says no
more cats. I've always had cats (and dogs) and to a greater or
larger degree had trouble with litter box issues. My husband
says no more because the last two cats we've had have had really
poor litter box hygiene - tracking litter all over the house,
going outside the box, flinging poo on the walls... The last
one, as he got older started going all over the house and had to
become an outdoor cat in what should've been his golden years.
We have a crawler and a toddler and two big dogs which makes
cleanliness especially important. In our current house we don't
have a good place for a litter box unless the cat was really
good at keeping litter contained in the box. Should I just give
up having a cat for a few years or does anyone know of any
breeds of cat that are particuluarly fastidious with regard to
the litter box? And yes, we do clean and scoop daily and yes the
animals were checked by veterinarians. thanks for breed
suggestions in advance.
I solved this problem by getting a very deep litter box (really
a plastic storage box from Target). The cat can dig till her
hearts content and much less litter ends up outside the box.
Until they are really old, they will have no problems jumping
into the box.
jennifer
I have a main coon, and he is one of the smartest cats I've
ever owned, he was even learning how to use the toilet (you
start by putting a little pan of kitty litter on the bowl), but my
other cat went bonkers so the experiment had to end, but I
think he would have eventually used the toilet with no litter
on top.
Other than finding the right breed, I would suggest only
having one cat, they are territorial animals and multi cat
households have more problems with the litter box.
Also there is a flushing cat box, but I don't really know how
well it works. But it might be worth finding out.
april
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