Cats hate dirty, stinky litter boxes, and may be driven to search for substitutes, whether it be a corner of the carpet or in a basket of clean laundry in the closet. Think about it: do you enjoy using one of those "portable potties" commonly found in public places? Your cat's sense of smell is 14 times stronger than yours, so a litter box that smells reasonably clean to you may outright stink to your cat's discerning olfactory senses.
This step-by-step tutorial will demonstrate conscientious litter box maintenance.
While automated litter boxes are gaining popularity, their prices are prohibitive to many cat owners, so we'll concentrate on the less-expensive plain box, which may be favored by more cats, anyway.
A couple of tips, first:
- The One + One Rule
The rule of thumb is that a household should provide one litter box for each cat resident plus one extra. Any variance should be to the plus side, i.e., we have seven boxes for four cats. - For Multiple Cats, Try "Litter Stations"
If you have more than three litter boxes, you'll probably find yourself running out of logical places for them. A "Litter Station" with two or three boxes side-by-side will accomodate more than one cat at a time, and will also make scooping and cleanup a bit more convenient.
