hints-tips

Why is it that if a first child is expected, the parents-to-be consult authorities and all the reading material and videos about children that they can get their hands on, while someone will just go and buy a cat or dog without a clue?

I expect that anyone who truly loves cats and dogs will know most of what you are about to read, but some of it may give you a few ideas of how to solve problems, what to look for or what to try.
I am not a Veterinarian nor a great authority, so all you will read here has come only from the years I have spent with my pets and information I have gathered from trial-and-error, reading books and from Cat Fancy and Dog Fancy magazines which I highly recommend.

Anything I have made has been made with inexpensive materials. Many have come from discarded wood and boxes.....so if you want fancy, check out a pet supply catalogue.

Kitty Litter:

I have found that the best kitty litter I can find anywhere, the cheapest, the lowest in dust, price, and the highest in odour masking properties (odor for you Americans) is found at your local feed mill.
It comes in 45 lb. bags. Oh, yes, it can be bought in smaller quantities in a pet-food store but the price is outrageous.
What is it?
Rabbit Pellets!

Rabbit Pellets come in different percentages. Percentage doesn't matter, but the lowest price is the 12% mixture. It is pure alfalfa which totally masks odour (unless one of your cats does a turd on top and doesn't bury it, and yes, I know "turd" is not in the dictionary but it beats some of the alternatives).
I have 5 cats and there is no cat pee smell at all until I scoop the soiled pellets into a bag. The pellets absorb the moisture and odour and cakes at the bottom of the box where it can be easily scooped. These pellets are also fully bio-degradable.

Those of you who use clay, newspaper pellets or clumping cat litter should take a good whiff! It stinks. Scented litters can be irritating to sensitive kitty noses and eyes. Also you might want to read some of the stories about some of the poor kitties who had problems with clumping litter. Let's face it. Clumping litter is only convenient to you...right? It saves you a few precious seconds. Big woop!

Here in Canada, I pay from $8.00-$8.55 for a 45 lb. bag of 12% or 14% Rabbit pellets. I scoop twice a day, morning and before bed (or if I smell an unburied turd during the day, I move pretty quickly). I scoop up a fair bit of the pellets around the feces or urine to remove all litter that might be holding the odours, and top up with fresh pellets. At these prices I can afford to be generous.
I find I do not have to completely empty the litter box for several months. However, I check the condition of the bottom of the box and scrub it out with weak bleach and hot water as needed (usually once a month or more frequently if I have a cat with kidney problems) I wash the metal or plastic scoops frequently as I find that these hold odours.

As with any change, you must switch your cats over to rabbit pellets gradually...over a period of several weeks. I begin by adding only a handful of pellets to the regular litter in each litter box. Your cat may think, "Oooh! Grass!" and try eating it....but the odour coming from your regular litter should soon put a stop to this!
After a few days I add a second handful to each box. Gradually if the cat is accepting of the new litter, I increase the pellet/litter ratio to half and half.
Don't rush the process. The pellets are strange under the cat's feet and it is so unlike clay or sandy litters. I keep from 2" to 2-1/2" of pellets in each litter box.

Once the pellets have been fully accepted you need never look back.
Say goodbye to odours and dust. Any pellets that are kicked out of the boxes are clearly visible and do not damage your carpet. Sweep or vacuum as needed.
The only problem I have ever had with this stuff is carrying the 45lb. bags from the car and emptying them into the plastic garbage bin in my porch.

Litter Boxes:

I don't know about your cats but mine range in size from 9 lbs. to over 20 lbs.
Have you seen the size of the litter boxes they make?
I keep a smaller box around for little Oliver who's leg bothers him from time to time, but for the others I use Rubbermaid storage boxes (21"x15"x9" high) Besides, the lids make handy trays/placemats on which to place water and feed dishes. If anything spills, you just clean the tray/lid, NOT the floor.

You should always have one more litter box than you have cats. Often cats do not like to urinate where they defecate, and have you noticed how they all seem to have to go around the same time? (like 2 minutes after you have scooped all the boxes and about 10 minutes after you have dropped off to sleep)
Some will not use a box when another cat has used it. My old Missy used to pick a box and promptly begin scooping all the turds and wet bits out of the box, hurling them half-way across the room. She is the reason I can hear a cat enter a litter box 3 rooms away and can be there, standing, scoop in hand about 4 seconds later.

Spraying in the Litter Box?

Even with 9" high litter boxes, a cat who prefers to spray when he urinates, can stand tippy-toe and manage to pee over the side of the box and make a nice pattern on your wall.
My Murphy was the world champion sprayer and let me tell you, he had a bladder the size of a football. Old Rupert also liked to spray occasionally when he was in the box, and even Comet tried it for a while.
I solved the problem.
OK, it looked like crap....but it worked. It's not like I have a great deal of company...a social butterfly I am not......and I keep my litterboxes in out-of-the-way places anyway.

If you are desperate, here is what you do.
No, do NOT get a covered box. They are tiny and when you remove the top to clean them frequently because they will reek of old pee...urine will drip onto the carpet or floor from where it pools in the join between the cover and the base.

Get a cardboard box just a fraction wider and longer than your litter-box. You want almost a snug fit. For my Rubbermaid bins I find that the carton from the grocers that once held boxes of potato chips or rolls of toilet paper is just the right size.
Place your litter box inside it and get a newspaper. Hang the newspaper over the top edge and measure the side of the cardboard box...the paper should hang about 1-1/2" into the litter box. It should not hang to the bottom or it will act as a wick.
Once you have cut your sides to the right height, cut away one end of the box so your cats can get in and out. Your cardboard box now has 3 sides and a bottom.
Remove your litter box.

The best way to do this so it doesn't look completely crappy is to use 2 large green or orange garbage bags and filament tape or duct tape. First cut open both bags and use one to line the inside of he box. Tape it securely over the edges of he cardboard box. This is going to protect your box from any spillage or dampness should the urine seep through the papers.
Now to make it look better.....(or in my case, keep the bottom dry as one of my litter boxes is in the bathroom) use the other garbage bag to line the outside of the box. Tape securely over the edges of the box. This will hide a lot of the tape you used to secure the inside lining as your taping will now be confined to inside the lip of the box. (this makes sense if you picture it.)
Now put your litter box inside your lined cardboard box and hang newspapers over the 3 edges. I hang a 3-4 sheet thickness over each side. Flyers work well on the end as they are narrower. Now if kitty decides to spray it will hit the paper and roll down it into the litter. When you clean out the litter box you can replace soiled papers.

Note:
A friend of mine has a more practical and attractive solution. I do not agree with the use of clumping litter and this would not be good for an injured cat like Oliver or a senior cat who cannot easily jump in and out. Here are sections of the email she sent to me:

"I actually use Rubbermaid containers, also, but I opted for the larger sizes. I forget the exact size, but I think it's 18 gallons. (They're approx. 3 feet by 2 feet, and about 20 inches high... hubby cut out a section where they can easily enter from the top. They do their business, jump out onto a throw rug I keep in front of it, and messiness is at a minimum.) I got tired of the boys, being so large, spraying the back of the smaller litter boxes because they were too big for them to begin with. Now they have plenty of room to do their thing with NO MORE pee running down the back or sides. (I told myself at the time I decided to do this that even if they did pee down the back or sides, at least it wouldn't run out of the back of the box! Because the lids are on tightly, and the lids are high enough that it isn't an issue anymore! The section cut out that they go down in to it is large enough that they've never been afraid to enter... they seem to appreciate our efforts, ha ha...)

I have several of these large litter boxes around the house, and one upstairs, one in the basement. They're all in areas where even if they occasionally get seen, they look pretty cool. I keep about 6 inches of clumping litter in them... and scoop out the goodies, replacing litter as needed to keep it deep enough that the bottom always stays clean. I only change the whole content (and clean out the containers) every several months. I found by using larger containers, and doing it the way I do it, scooping each container once a day, actually results in using less litter than when I had all the smaller boxes. They were harder to keep clean and required a lot more litter and maintenance."

Here is a shot of one of the litter boxes I rig up myself

A Special Treat

In my refrigerator I have a tin which contains bags of good, quality catnip and a bottle of Valerian capsules.
I used to grow my own catnip but my picky guys really preferred the catnip I could get from a prison in Alberta. I also grew my own Valerian but I didn't fancy having a 7' ugly plant with teeny flowers that fell all over the lawn. It spread like wildfire and yielded little in the way of roots until the plant was too big and ugly to be manageable. Then came the process of digging the roots, disposing of the monstrous plant, hanging the roots to dry where they wouldn't attract every cat within a 5 mile radius and grinding the dried roots. It just wasn't worth the trouble.

Now for a special treat I keep a small jar full of he catnip and the contents of one or two capsules of Valerian. Mixed together they absolutely drive the cats wild. Of course the minty smell of catnip is obliterated by the sweat-sock stink of the Valerian root powder..but hey...it makes the Furkids really happy.

Each kid gets his or her own tablespoon of the concoction to roll in, eat and bliss-out on whenever anyone has a Birthday, at Christmas and other holidays, when traveling and when coming out of surgery at the Veterinarian's. I found that a bit of this mixture whenever Rupert had an attack of Bladder Stones, relaxed him enough to stop fighting the pain and pass the obstruction without having to be catheterized, though I only did this on the advice of my Veterinarian before the obstruction had got to the really critical stage and while Rupert was still able to pass a few drops of urine. His stones were always very tiny but he would tense up so much from the pain. The Valerian allowed him to relax and that allowed the tiny crystals to travel on. Do not ever try this without supervision of your Veterinarian, however.

Did you know that there is an actual gene that determines whether or not your cat will be attracted to catnip? Many Siamese and other exotic cats are resistant to the effect of the oils produced by the catnip leaves. I use my mixture in the back of the trap along with food and water to attract feral cats, however it does not work on extremely young kittens.

I have a time saving tip for you.
To avoid unnecessary work if you have a multi-cat household and numerous litter boxes to clean:
When you have cleaned the box, use the back of the scoop back and forth across the surface of the litter to smooth it. That way, the next time you check the boxes, you can see at a glance if it has been visited.