Let’s get right down to business.
If you’ve got cats, you’ve got litter, and a regular maintenance task that’s there as long as the kitty is.
Some people don’t do the litter thing well, which results in a grumpy cat, or cats, and a house that may have a bit of an unpleasant odour wafting about.
That odour is not the cats’ fault.
Too often, I have gone into homes where that odour is present and soon after spotted the cat’s litter facilities, which are often outrageously inadequate.
That is not the cats’ fault, either.
Y’see, there’s no flush handle on the litter box. The human is the flush handle. And too often, said human has put down a tray of some sort, maybe two inches high max, dumped a bit of litter in it, and then left it to do a job it can’t possibly do.
Cats are very clean family members. Very. I speak from experience. I have four of them.
They like to go into a litter box in which they can do their biz then totally hide their offering with clean litter.
Cats are very clean and really resent a dirty litter box. But again, too often people leave a skiff of litter, ignore a poor cat’s tidy for a few days, then wonder why guests are gagging.
On the other hand, there are those people who think they’ve lucked into a self-cleaning litter box, and can’t stop congratulating themselves on having found a cat that apparently seldom has to "go".
These people are generally dog owners, who consider themselves totally ripped off for having adopted a dog with chronic bad breath.
The dog, on the other hand, is thrilled at having being adopted into a home with a 24-hour smorg. Well, at least somebody’s happy.
The good news is, everyone can be happy, except maybe the dog, and here’s how.
Some years ago, frustrated at trying to keep up with an overflowing litter box, I went out and bought a big storage-container tub, cut an entry to about half its depth, and filled it about three- to four-inches deep with kitty litter. There are numerous kinds of litter to choose from, but I have had the most success with clumping litter, and it’s really cheap.
You have to have the litter in something the cats can’t scatter grit out of when they are digging. That cuts out a lot of mess.
The litter has to be deep enough for them to easily bury their stuff, which not only is more sanitary, but captures any odours that might seek escape.
The cats paws only get a little dusty, so they aren’t tracking anything you’ve forced them to stand in.
They detest filth, and, in fact, groom more than most humans. They smell better too.
If you want to leave me money in your will for having introduced you to this miraculous system today, I won’t be offended. And thank you.
However, all of this will be for naught, if you aren’t regular.
Depending on the number of cats you have, you have to religiously scoop anywhere from daily to perhaps every three or four days. You also want to have a good supply of biodegradable bags of some sort, so you are not polluting the landfill site with ... say ... those plastic grocery bags, which I’m using right now. I ran out of the biodegradable ones and haven’t been organized enough to go get new ones yet. Bad Laurie.
Cats are wonderful "furmily" members to share your home with, and equally as loving as dogs, they just make you work a little harder to earn their trust before giving it up. All they ask is that you please be as clean as they are.
You’re welcome.
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