Litter box problems can be one of the biggest frustrations in owning a cat. If they start using your house as the litter box instead of their actual box, then you have a great big problem. Many times, the solution can be easy if you just know where to start and what to look for.
As you may have noticed, cats are just a little bit picky, if the food isn’t quite right, they won’t eat it, if the scratching isn’t just right, they don’t want it. The same holds maine coon kittens for sale near me true for their litter box, if it isn’t placed just right, they don’t want to use it.
Cats are no different then people when it comes to going to the toilet, they like a little privacy. The litter box should be placed in a quiet, private area of the house, away from the hustle and bustle of family life.
Here are 7 tips on placement and dealing with the litter box. Sometimes, just one of these tips will solve your cat litter box problem.
1. One of the first things to do, is make certain that there are no obstructions and the cat can actually get into the box. Many things can fall into a cat box, depending on where it is; laundry detergent bottles, baby bottles, clothing, books and even bags of cat food. Check regularly to make sure that the box is easily accessible by your cat.
2. Another very important thing to remember, is that you should not put food and water too near the litter box. The food and water can be in the same area but a separation of about 6 feet would preferable. I guess cats are pretty much the same as people in this respect, they like these two areas kept separate.
3. Always try to put the cat box in an area that is far away from high traffic areas, privacy is very important to a cat and even the slightest distraction will cause them to stop what they are doing and look elsewhere for a place to do their business
4. If you got the cat box when your cat was a kitten, you should check now to make certain that the cat box is still big enough for your cat. If your cat can’t turn around to place themselves into the proper position, then the box is too small and may become a reason for not using it.
5. Suppose that there is not a really good place in the house to place the litter box. One alternative would be to put the cat area in your garage, this would include their food and water as well as the box. The drawback to this would be that the door would have to remain open or you might have to cut a cat door into the larger door, so the cat would have access.
6. A closet with no carpet in your house, might be a good option as to where the cat box and cat area could be put. Here again, you need to make sure that the cat has easy access to the area, the door should remain open or possibly a child’s security gate placed across the opening so the cat could jump over it to get into the closet. A room without carpet would be best, but a heavy layer of newspaper could be used under the litter box to make certain that the carpet doesn’t get messed on.
7. Sometimes your cat will use the litter box, but will have poor aim, resulting in cat pee in and around the box. One solution I found was to put the cat box against a wall and put layers of newspaper about 10 inches up the wall behind the cat box. If a cat is in the box and sprays high, the paper will catch it. Place 6 layers of newspaper around the cat box extending about a foot out from the box, all around the entire box. This will catch any spray that goes past the edge of the cat box.
We all love our cats, otherwise, we wouldn’t have them around. However, a cat litter box problem can be one of those things which makes you think that a separation from the cat would be the best thing. Having a little patience, checking out the placement of the cat box and making sure the cat knows where it is, will go along way toward solving this really huge problem.