The Art of the Litter Box

Have you ever done any research on litter boxes?  Do you buy one that you like, or do you try to please the cat.  Do you match the furniture?  Do you try to camouflage it or do you train your cat to use the human’s toilet instead?  So many choices!!!!

For years and years, I would purchase the nice looking litter boxes that had the “hood” lid.  I figured it would keep the smells inside and the cats could also have some privacy.  They worked to a certain degree….until someone (Ralphie) decided to terrorize someone else (Simba) while they were in the box doing their business.  Now, we may think it’s amusing to have cats wrestling by our legs when we’re sitting on the toilet, but cats don’t appreciate other cats bugging them when they’re trying to do their thing.

Because I had so many cats at one point, I opted for storage totes.  (The BIG ones).  I cut a hole in front and used those for many, many years.  It seemed a cheaper alternative than the fancy hooded boxes.

Because they got so bulky and cumbersome to try and clean, I ended up just getting the plain clear storage pans from Wal-Mart.  

Not exactly like this one, but you get the idea.  Easy to climb in and out of (ditch the lid though!) and easy to throw away when they get too dirty.  Fairly inexpensive as well.  These have served me well for many, many years, although my husband still prefers the ones with lids.

Another box that I have been using is from Chewy.com.  If you’ve never looked at their site, I highly recommend it.  I have my cat food autoshipped monthly.  No shipping costs, their Customer Service is fantastic and I get some good discounts on the food.

This is the box I bought from Chewy.  It’s quite nice, although….looking at the size of a couple of my cats, it’s too small for them.  It still gives the user a bit of privacy but also has a quick exit over the side of someone decides an ambush is in order.

I always try to have +1 litter box per the amount of cats in the house.  So…if you have 3 cats, you should have 4 litter boxes.  Not everyone can do this.  Not everyone WILL do this, but it cuts down on a lot of accidents.  If you clean them at least twice a day, you and your cats will be much happier.  You don’t want to use a toilet that’s full of crap and toilet paper already, do you?  Neither do your cats.  Don’t fill them as full as you can fill them either – use no more than 2 inches of litter – easier to clean all the urine up (if you get the clumping litter) and it won’t permeate the whole box.

My cats seem happy about their litter boxes for the most part.  Of course, you’ll always have the cat that gets into the box, keeps his back to you, then proceeds to pee just outside the front of the box.  Patience grasshopper.  At least they’re trying!

A healthy box of JoJo