More About Litter Boxes

Unrelated picture: Kensey snuggling. And a very happy little Kensey he looks as well. Aww! There's actually four kittens in this picture!

When I woke up today there was litter ALL OVER the floor. Whoops! Someone must have stood on the edge of the litter tray and flipped it right over- probably Indigo, as I don't think the kittens would be heavy enough.

The other day, I found a dark corner had been adopted as another kitten toilet. No problem, I just put another tray over the spot (hurrah for laminate flooring...) That, incidentally, is quite a good idea if you have a cat who has urinated in the wrong place and you think it was just an accident- kitten pee smells more strongly than the human nose can detect, and kittens are drawn to going in the same place- putting a tray there reinforces the fact that this is the toilet, this is where you go.

'Urine-Off' spray is good for removing pet wee smells, as is biological washing powder... some cleaning products still smell like cat wee to a cat, so can make problems worse... it's worth investing in a proper pet spray because... well kittens are the equivalent of toddlers, and the odd accident will happen. Getting cross with a kitten never works, it just teaches him to worry about elimination, making it more likely he'll go somewhere secretive.

Another trick, if you really don't want a litter tray in that spot, is to put the food bowl in the same spot after cleanup. Cats are very clean animals, and rarely will they toilet in the same area as they eat.

Of course, this will only work if it was an accident. Occasionally cats will avoid the litter box (ahem... Indigo!) because they are trying to tell you something- they are poorly, or they don't like their litter, or even that it's high time you scooped the box! In this case it's best to try and resolve whatever is bothering them. Like I say, cats are instinctively very clean animals and want to go in the same, designated place regularly, so if they don't it's usually the only way they can communicate to you that something is making them unhappy.

Anyway, the whole point of this waffling was to say the box I put down was an old one of ours, a covered box, and the kittens LOVE it. I'd put all our covered boxes into the shed, as Indigo hates them, but the kittens think otherwise and it's now the most used box in the room!