Litter Box Problems and Solutions

Most cats and kittens can be house trained easily and quickly. Kittens in particular are quick to catch on to the litter box. Depending on their age and how long they stayed with Mother Cat, that new kitten may just need you to show them where the box is and they will use it. Other kittens may take a bit longer. You may need to take them to the box after each meal and put them into it until they do their business. After a few days they will automatically find and use their box.

Most adult cats that have been inside cats are house trained � at any rate they know what a litter box is for. But if you are adopting an adult cat they may bring to your household a few bad habits from their prior home, they may have been abandoned and outside for a while or they may have been in a shelter without their preferred kind of litter.

All of these potential difficulties should not deter you from adopting that beautiful new companion. The difficulty may relate to the size of the litter box, the kind � covered or open, the kind of litter, where the litter box is located, how many cats are using the box, how often it is cleaned, etc. With a bit of understanding, patience and the time to work out the difficulty, that new cat you just adopted will make a great companion.

Animals coming into your home whether a cat or a kitten need time to adjust to their new environment. They are experiencing many new things and your expectations of them may be different from what they experienced before. It may take two or three weeks for them to feel comfortable and learn the rules. Give them time to learn!

The box chosen needs to be appropriate for your cat as to size. A very large cat obviously needs a bigger litter box than does a kitten. If you plan to have more than one cat using the box it is crucial to have one big enough to hold enough dry litter for a day.

There are so many choices of cat litter available to the cat owner today, that if your first choice doesn�t seem to satisfy your fussy cat, choose another type. Eventually you will find the one that is just right for puss. The litter in the box should be about 2 to 3 inches deep. Fresh litter needs to be added after removing waste and with some litter rather than just adding, a complete refill is necessary.

Fill the box with 2 to 3 inches of litter. Add fresh litter every day after removing waste and clumps. It is a good idea to read and follow any possible instructions for use found on the litter�s packaging.

Filling to the rim is wasteful and creates a mess.

Place the litter box is a quiet room away from the traffic flow. Some cats like privacy.

If you have more than one cat you may need more than one litter box. Some cats will not use a litter box used by other cats. More frequently though, cats seem to share.

Discard the used litter into a plastic bag and throw in the garbage can. Be careful when washing the litter box and scoop as some clay litter and all clumping litter will stick to the home�s plumbing system creating a costly problem.

All litter pans need washing out sometime. Be sure to throw away all the old litter. Do not use ammonia based cleaners near or in the box.

If the cat is not using the box it may be due to any number of causes: a health problem, too many cats using one box, litter not changed and/or cleaned often enough. Unaltered cats sometimes mark their territory throughout the house instead of in the litter box.

Kittens sometimes play in the litter boxes. Be sure to watch for that as you don�t want them playing or sleeping in the box.

If your cat who has always used the litter box suddenly finds another place to relieve itself and everything else in the home is the same, perhaps a urinary infection is present. Be sure to check with your veterinarian. Constant checking and cleaning out of the litter box is necessary. Also make sure the box is always accessible to the cat.

If your cat is using other places than the litter box to urinate, check to be sure that food bowls are not near the litter box. Sometimes putting some cat food near the spot where a cat is urinating will stop the problem and then when they are again using the litter box the food can be removed.