Thoughts on litter boxes: in the trenches as a veterinarian and as a person owned by five cats!

As a veterinarian for cats, the most common questions I receive are those about how to increase litter box compliance.  Some cats will urinate in the box, but defecate anywhere else but within in it, or the reverse. Some will use the box intermittently.  Some are old cats, some are young cats, some have companion cats and/or dogs, and others live alone.  Some go outdoors, while others are strictly confined to the indoors.  Some have moved to a new home, while others have been in the same home their entire lives.  As you can guess by all of these scenarios, there is no one, or even two or three, subsets of cats who are not consistently using their boxes for elimination.

As a cat-loving and owned person, it has been a mission to find a litter box and type of litter that we both more than just tolerate!  Following every litter box tip I could scrounge from my veterinarian colleagues, and better yet, boarded feline medicine and surgery specialists, through the years, I have found the following principles to be true.  By the way, if you want to know about a particular type of litter, and what my cats and I have thought about it, please write and ask, as we have probably tried it!  I love being able to give direct feedback, so it is always fun to experiment (sort-of; not so much when my kitties disagree!) to give personal commentary.

1.  Fine litters are best.  By this I mean, the tinier the particle size, the more comfortable it is on kitty toes.  If it is generally soft, they appear to enjoy digging and burying.  Priceless for burying odors and encouraging compliance.  More chunky litters like Feline Pine pellets and Yesterday's News have been rejected by many kitties, and I am convinced that this is due to their firmness, and hence, discomfort.  Imagine having to stand in sharp-ish rocks barefoot to do your business...um, thanks, but NO.  I will use that soft place over there instead (warm pile of clean clothes fresh from the dryer sounds pretty appealing, right?).

2.  Clumpable or not?  The rule of thumb from my colleagues has been to use clumping-type litters, presumably because you are removing solid as well as liquid waste each day.  This decreases odor, which increases compliance. Cats are pretty fastidious about cleaning.  How many hours a day do we witness them cleaning?!  (I must research this and report back.)   Clumpable litters, as a general rule, tend to be finer and softer.  My disagreement with this rule:  these litters may form clumps between toes and and can "cling on" under the tail and around the private areas, especially if your kitty is a deep squatter!  No fun for them, or us, who have to pick up debris when and where if falls.

3.  Covered or uncovered?  As a person, I just love covered.  As educational and fun as it is to observe feline behavior, elimination time is an exception.  I do not need to watch this, and cats surely prefer to be unobserved.  Sadly, FAIL for me on this one.  Uncovered is clearly best.  From an evolutionary perspective, cats are programmed to fear attack from other creatures when eliminating.  Predators will stalk and wait for an opportunity such as this for attack.  If the box is surrounded on all sides and on top, too, this will allow the predator the element of surprise, to pounce on the kitty, who is completely unaware, when it emerges.  OPEN wins here.  In fact, it is even better to have clear sides to the box, so that kitty can see in all directions, at all heights.

4.  Think of scooping as flushing the toilet.  At a minimum, this should be done ONCE a day, if not more.  As a person, I do not ever want to use a toilet with someone else's (or my own, for that matter!) waste floating within it, solid or liquid.  As mentioned above, cats love to be clean, and will not tolerate offensive odors.  Scoop, scoop, scoop, PLEASE.  Second, please exchange the litter in its entirety at least once a week, then clean the box itself with dish detergent and water, and dry prior to fresh litter.

5. As alluded to in just about all of the above tips, control odor.  In addition to all of the above measures, which help to decrease odors, my cats and I love a safe and effective odor-neutralizing product called Zero Odor, which you can read all about here:  zeroodor.com.  I do not usually endorse specific products, but we love this one!  It was also endorsed by the famous behaviorist of Tufts University Veterinary School, Dr. Nicholas Dodman.  I spray a light mist over each of our boxes after each scooping, or a minimum of once a day.  It works.  No more sense for the kitty of using a stinky outhouse if there is no odor, yippee!  In fact, some of my kitties want to jump in and go just after a fresh scoop and spray event!

6.  Size matters (the box this time, not its contents!).  Litter boxes should be at least one and a half times the length of your longest cat.  This is usually not a commercially-marketed litter box.  What is it then?  From my feline-specialist colleagues, go for an under-the-bed plastic storage box bottom (will likely meet the clear sides requirement, too), and leave the top off.  Additionally, cut out a lower entrance chute from one of the sides, about 7 inches wide, from about two inches from the bottom to the top of the sides.  This is especially wonderful for geriatric kitties who are too arthritic to scale tall sides!

The two boxes shown below are currently in use within our home. Note the duct tape to protect the kittens from the sharp edges of the plastic.

This piece is getting long, so I will leave it with these starter tips for now. Process and let me know your questions, and I promise a Part Two soon!