Do's And Don'ts On All Things Kitty Litter: Helpful Tips

Imgur User and feline behaviorist "adrianaontherocks" is using Imgur as a platform to educate and answer questions about all things feline behavior. "Hi Imgur, I'm your friendly neighborhood feline behaviorist. If you're having a cat behavior issue, or are just curious about something cat-related, feel free to ask me about it and I'll see if I can help you out." Thanks, Adriana! We have tons of questions and appreciate your expertise!

Today we tackle all things litter. "Different cats have different preferences for style/brand; your average cat will like a soft material similar to the consistency of sand. I can tell you one thing to definitely NOT use, and that's scented litter. What smells pleasant to us can make your cat, with their superior sense of smell, say 'no' to the box."

"Also experiment with how much litter you use. Most cats will want to be able to thoroughly bury their business, so make sure it is deep enough for them to accomplish this. However, some cats- particularly those with long hair who are more susceptible to getting litter stuck in their fur- may not like a thick layer of litter in the box. For a starting point, I recommend 2-3 inches deep, and then you can adjust from there based on your cat's behavior." Via adrianaontherocks. Now let's get to all of Adriana's do's and don'ts for all things litter related.

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    Organism - Now on to the boxes themselves. I present you with a list of "dos" and "don'ts": DO- scoop the litter box daily, or even more than once a day. Clumping litter makes this easy. A cat will not want to use a litter box that has a lot of urine and feces in it already (would you want to use a toilet with old pee and poop in it?). I personally find the 'litter genie' or 'litter locker' style of litter disposal bins make it less of a chore to clean. DO- deep clean the box once a month or so.
    via adrianaontherocks

    Do number one: scoop the litter box daily. This may sound obvious, but we humans are lazy and can sometimes forget. For our cat's sake, we will definitely try to be better about this.

    Do number two: deeeep clean once a month or so. Having cats isn't only fun, mostly when it's time to do our deep clean, but it's work it.

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    Organism - DO- provide enough litter boxes for however many cats you have. General rule of thumb is one more box than the number of kitties in your household. DO- spread out the location of your litter boxes. If you have five litter boxes but they are all lined up in one spot, to a cat, it is basically the same as just having one litter box. This becomes more and more important the more cats you have. DO- use large enough boxes. Many commercially available litter boxes are simply not large enoug
    via adrianaontherocks

    Do number three: use enough litter boxes for however many cats you have! Basically that means you should have a litter box for each cat you own. You have three cats? You should have three litter boxes!

    Do number four: spread out the litter boxes. We don't want them all concentrated in one place because what's the point of that!

    Do number five: make sure you got big enough boxes. We don't know about you but we got some chonky cats and if they don't fits they don't sits.

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    Font - DON'T- keep the boxes in noisy areas. Laundry rooms are a very popular place to put litter boxes, but especially if your cat is the skittish type, having to go next to a loud appliance is going to make them dislike their box. DON'T- keep the box in a corner/area with no escape route if you have two or more pets who have problems getting along. If someone feels like they can't use the litter box without being cornered, they will probably find somewhere else to go.
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    Font - DON'T- use liners. Cats can get their claws stuck in the liner when they are digging in the litter, which is unpleasant to them- and not to mention it shreds the liner and makes it virtually useless anyway. DON'T- use covered litter boxes. They trap the smell inside, and can make it a scary experience for your kitty- they need to be able to see what's going on around them as they do their business, and be able to easily escape if something (such as another pet) comes up on them suddenly.
    via adrianaontherocks
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    Font - Some of you may go through this list and see things that you are doing 'wrong', and yet your cat has used the litter box without issue for years. That's great! There will always be exceptions. However, one thing to understand is that a cat may be accepting something unpleasant, because the unpleasantness hasn't crossed their 'line of tolerance', but then something else in their life changes that pushes them over the edge and they stop using the litter box they've used for years. So if you
    via adrianaontherocks
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