The Cat Litter Box Is the
Key Ingredient
To Sweet Cat Relations

The cat litter box is the key ingredient to a peaceful and glorious feline relationship.  Cats naturally are clean animals and they are delighted to place their deposits in a clean, trustworthy repository.  Each cat has their own cat litter box design preference.  

 Some litter products are dusty.  You might find a bit kicked out around the exterior of the box.  However, with some simple tips and positive reinforcement during litter box training, humans quickly learn the best practices of the litter box.

Few people like to clean the cat litter box. After all, they can be a bit stanky. There are several litter box designs that make the task of cleaning cat litter much easier. You and your cat may go through several iterations before deciding on a preferred model.

The simplest design is the one humans buy first -- its the cheapest so it must be the best.  This is the open cat litter pan or tray model, usually 15-24 in. long and 16-24 in. wide and 6 in. high.  The pan portion may have a rim around it which helps keep litter from getting kicked out of the box.  It really can be quite satisfactory to many cats providing them exactly what they need for a potty.

One popular design is the hooded litter box. These boxes provide privacy for more sensitive cats, but they also help keep down litter dust.  They also keep the litter and potty inside the box. 

The hooded design is perfect for males (and some females) that like to pee against something instead of squatting.  The urine hits the wall and drips down into the litter. 

Its also a great product for cats who like to kick the daylights our of their litter, distributing it far and wide around the potty area.  The hood keeps the litter inside the litter box.

We don't like using litter box liners.  When a cat eliminates, we cover up the scent of the stuff by scraping the litter up over the doowee.  Sometimes this scraping is quite vigorous.  Your cat may hook the plastic liner with its claw and before you know it, there goes all the the doowee and litter all over the place.

When this happens it is usually humiliating to the cat.  Especially if she is now wearing doowee and litter sand.  During the litter box training period this is disastrous.  This is called negative reinforcement.  Your cat may choose to do her next job somewhere far away from that disaster experience.

Finally, if your human has failed to learn the #1 Tip for successful cat litter box training, then the use of plastic liners provides a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and disease. We stay away from litter box liners.

Another popular cat litter box design is the self cleaning litter box. This design is presented as the ideal choice for humans who feel that cleaning the litter box is just too much of a chore and must automate the process.  The argument is that humans don't clean the litter box regularly because our deposits are so stinky. 

Its not a bad idea to have more than one cat litter box in and about the house.  Try experimenting with multiple boxes in different designs and in different locations.  You can even choose from designs that look like another piece of human furniture.

Our house hold has settled on a combination of tray and hooded potties.  We have four cats and six potties.  We have 5 potties in the house in various rooms and the sixth is located in the garage.  Our humans have settled on this method of cat litter box cleaning.  They find it the simplest and most effective. 

1. Take the slotted litter spoon, an empty plastic bag from your millions left over from the grocery store.
2. Walk to the litter box, bend over and...
3. Scrape the doowee into the spoon, tap the excess litter off and dump into the plastic bag.
4. Twist the bag shut.
5. Drop into the trash.
6. The potties get washed with Lysol at least once a month.

Observe your cats during the litter box training period.  You can usually tell which is her preferred litter box.

Want to see an example of bad litter box maintenance?    

Of course you do. 

You may find our discussion on cat litter helpful too.

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