I need your help. I can't find my kitty. I think he got run over. Any suspects ??? DrofDunk, you know anything about this? Just kidding. I have litter box questions. 1. Any of you have the electronic one? Is it worth 200 bucks? 2. What about a kitty liner? My cats hate those. They like knock over half of the litter out when I install one. 3. Do you guys scoop out the stuff or just dump the whole litter box? 4. Any tips at all?
Get flushable litter- I like "Good Mews". Clean the tray and replace used litter at least once per day. If you let the crap and urine build up in the tray, the Cat will sh*t and piss all over the house. I have three cats in an apartment, so I know what I am talking aboutl.
The electronic ones are great. I just purchased two for my multiple cats and they seem to like them. Every time it cleans they all go running to see what the heck is going on. very amusing. We had crystals for a while and I liked that too because it didn't smell, but I definitly like the electronic better. Go to target- they have the best prices, about $100. well worth it in my opinion.
I've thought about getting an electronic one, but they are fairly small. I have 3 cats (had 4 a short time ago), and I came up with a solution. In my old apartment, we had two regular sized kitty litter boxes, and I had to change them (dump all the litter out, clean, and refill with new litter) about once a week (which was pushing it). Now, I have one GIANT litter box. I went to WalMart and got one of those big Rubbermaid-type containers. Mine measures 27" X 15" at the bottom. I just cut out a door and filled that somabitch with litter. It takes almost a full bag of 30lb litter, and I use Tidy Cat (Multi-cat). I still have to change it, but I can go slightly over a week, and there's only ONE litter box in my entire apartment. Other benefits of the humongo-litter box. The sides are so high that the cat can't piss or crap over the sides (like one of our cats used to do with the regular boxes). Also, it gives the cats a bit more privacy with the higher walls. Thirdly, they are cheap ($8 at the most). And, finally, they come with a lid, for when company comes over.
The electric one's are ok but they break. My wife and I worked on Christmas as pet sitters for some extra money and a couple of our clients had them. They didn't always work. I imagine that if you have just A cat, one might be fine. With all our cats, we find it easiest to buy scoopable litter and just clean the boxes every day. We don't use liners (waste of money), scoop every box every day and clean/scrub them once per month. It works out great as long as we clean all the boxes every day.
See, I don't use the "scoopable", because you can't flush it. And, where are you gonna put the crap? I scoop the poop about once a day, and just flush it right down the toilet. I've never had a toilet back up yet. Also, I do have to clean the one box I do have more often, but that's because I can't scoop the pee. It doesn't smell bad until after about a week, then the clay/litter has been saturated and it's time for a change. Then, I'm good for another week. And, to top it off, the litter box is less than 6 feet away from me as I type.
DREAMer, my wife and I have made heavy metal songs titled "scoop the poop", ala RATT, Twisted Sister, etc. It helps pass the time when you're making your kitties' day. BTW... and only multiple cat owners will probably understand this... do you guys have a particular cat that waits for the litter change/scooping? In our house, post litter box cleaning ends up in the following line: Stella (new kitty, trying to displace everyone) Marta (the real ruler of the house, but she's too mature to fight over poo real estate) Gretel (runt, and Marta's sister... quite sensitive about the condition of her litter or being interrupted during her quiet time). btw, we use bags and scoopable litter. we have to poor the litter into a bag anyway b/c we can't poor the litter down the chute (live in a condo) and scoopable litter prolongs the life of the bag. It works pretty well for us.
Don't ever buy the litter box liners. Instead go to Sam's Club and buy a big ol' box of the white kitchen garbage bags. Put the litter box inside the garbage bag. When it is time to change it, simply start at one end and pull the bag out inside out. Tie it up and dump it in the garbage can. Voila! The garbage bags are significantly cheaper and better than the liners.
ok, these "untearable" kitty-liners are nothing to Niles' claws. AliCat, it's been awhile since you've posted. How are you? dreamer, I think kitties don't like alot of litter. My friends will tell me that I put too much at times, and also, my kitties will throw some on the floor if I put too much litter. Achebe, NIles definitely checks things out when I'm cleaning the box. I'm not sure he's establishing heirarchy, but he's always around. Frasier's older, but Niles seems to always eat first. The weird thing is is that Frasier is a girl. I always thought the female ruled the roost. Niles, a month younger than Frasier, is also bigger than her now. Frasier is a skittish cat that makes you earn her love. Niles is the kind of cat that will stick his paw up to you to get your attention. He's real loud. I usually wake up at 9 (ish), but at 8:30, Niles is meowing for my attention. My friends, well the ditzy girl types, LOVE Niles. But my intelligent friends love Frasier. Kind of weird.
gr8-1, Well.... Number one - The walls of my humongo-box are 15" high, so there's no way the cats are getting litter out that way. Number two - I keep the litter approximately 3" deep (about the same as when I used regular litter boxes). Number three - Cats love to dig around. Not quite the way dogs do, but never-the-less.
Perfect timing, I am about to get a cat so this really helps. I wanted to ask a few questions, on the electrical ones I have seen on TV they scoop the kitty pooh up and it goes into a side compartment, does this need to be changed daily or weekly? Does it tend to smell??? Also, I am going to pick my cat from the SPCA, if I get it nuetered and declawed, how long does this take until I can pick up the cat? Will the cat be hurting for awhile?? Last but not least, any suggestions on food, should I get the stuff from PETCO or is store bought stuff ok? {I am planning on getting a kitten}
Rockss, you should really think about the declawing. It's no less humane than the nuetering, I know. But it isn't as necessary, imo.
Definitely do NOT get a cat de-clawed Neutering a cat is good to prevent unecessary strays, but a cat's claws are its only mechanism for defense against other animals, besides running away. Also, if your cat does manage to run away from a huge dog, it won't be able to climb a tree if it has no claws!
amen. declawing is bad news bears. i had a roommate who declawed her cat, and that cat was never the same after that. you could tell that it was kinda paranoid about not having claws anymore. it ceased being sociable for a couple of months. it finally recovered from the trauma, but sheesh. you'll never catch me getting my cat declawed. not to mention the fact that everything atrain says is true.
Another thought about de-clawing. From what I understand, its not a matter of cutting the claws down but rather, what they do is cut the tendons in the cats paws that hold, extend, and retract the claws from the paws. They still have thier claws, but they're just rendered useless. That's just awful. Has anyone else heard about this?
mcmark, a friend of mine said it was the equivalent of cutting off the first joint of all your fingers.
The kitty should be feeling fine after a couple days after the spaying or neutering. But, its tummy will still be sensitive, so be careful with it. I'm glad you decided not to get the cat declawed. As stated before they are defenseless and cannot even climb a tree to escape a dog or person. However, you must be prepared to have some things of yours clawed to oblivion. Get couch covers. And, find a table or something else to block the corners of your couches. BELIEVE ME! On the cat food. Getting a brand that helps with urinary problems is a good idea. I use 9-Lives, but I get it at the grocery store or WalMart or wherever. The IAMS and the Science Diet is better, but it's way more expensive than the benefits you or your cat gain. One important note: Once your cat is used to a certain cat food, don't change it. Cats are not only finicky, but also very sensitive to a change in their diet.
I'm doing just great, thanks for asking gr8-1. My momma's trick for keeping the cats from clawing all the furniture is to stick double-sided tape up on everything. I must say it works. She just pulls the tape off when they have company. In our multiple cat household, we have one cat that is declawed. She was declawed before we got her and I must say that she is defenseless against the other cats. For the most part they leave her alone, but other times she has to leap to the highest spot she can find to get away from the offending cat. I looked at her paws and she doesn't have any claws left at all. Her poor paws are almost misshapen because of it. The SPCA is a great place to get a cat, but also check out Petsmart because they sometimes have adoptions too. yeah for cats!
