The Litterbox

By: Nancy E. Wigal

You don’t often hear about or see information for special needs kitties. These may be blind, very old (with limited mobility), or disabled in some way. Disabled cats may be amputees, or even paralyzed. There are special mobile devices you can purchase for your paralyzed cat.

But this article will talk a little bit about the cat litter box concerns for special needs kitties. Due to their limited mobility or lack of site, litter box type and location are absolutely critical.

If you have a blind cat, your best bet is maintain location consistency as much as possible. When your blind kitty has become accustomed to finding his cat litter box in one location, the most successful strategy is to leave the box there. However, if you have to move the box, you’ll need to help retrain your blind cat to find his way to it again. A lot of patience will be necessary. You could even confine the blind cat to that particular location for awhile, so he’ll re-learn how to find the litter box easily.

You’ll also want to think about the type of cat litter box. If it’s too high to climb up in, he’s going to get discouraged, and he’ll find another, easily accessible location to void his urine. You may even need to buy a large storage container, cut out a “U”-shaped entrance (the bottom of the “U” should be up about 3 - 4″ to hold the cat litter in the box), and train kitty to find it.

Obviously, this depends upon the type of dwelling you live in, how many other cats and litter boxes are in your home, and if you own a multi-story house. Consult with your vet for other strategies.

Very old cats often develop mobility issues. If this true for your kitty, you may need to strategically place cat litter boxes in places you didn’t previously consider, just to make it easy for your senior cat to make it to the box in time. Again, if you live in a multi-story house, you’ll probably have to place cat litter boxes on different levels.

However, if your senior cat voluntarily confines herself to one area, then you may only need to consider litter box placement in that part of your home. And just like blind kitties, consider the type of cat litter box that’s best for your senior cat. If she has stiff joints, be sure she can easily climb in and out of the box. If she’s unable to squat to urinate, you’ll need a high-sided box. The solution given above may be just the ticket to avoid cat urine odor problems for your senior kitty.

Talk to your vet to see if there are any medications that may ease your cat’s joint pain. This removes most of the challenge of getting to the cat litter box in time.

Paralyzed cats face daunting challenges. They can’t feel anything back in that region, so very often their voiding functions simply happen. I have had cat owners tell me that the best solution is to diaper the cat. The downside is you have to constantly check the diaper, but if it stops a cat urine odor problem in your home, and you can keep your wonderful, special kitty, that’s a small price to pay.

You will probably want to make certain that your home has as much tile floor exposed as possible. Carpet cleaning can be costly, and eventually the material will not clean up as well as it used to, making replacement necessary and costly.

Some cat owners confine their paralyzed kitty to one area of their home that’s easy to clean up. Consult with your vet on the best strategy for your paralyzed kitty.

If your special needs kitty is an amputee, you may either have a few cat litter box problems, or absolutely none. I have met cat owners who tell their three-legged cat has no trouble balancing in the litter box. Others report that the only thing they need to do to accomodate their amputee cat is to make sure they buy cat litter boxes that are low enough for kitty to hop in and out of.

Cats that lose a limb later in life may have some initial balancing issues. I recommend confining kitty to one area with a floor that’s easy to clean up, while the amputee practices new cat litter box skills. Consult with your vet for more ideas.

With a little bit of thought and preparation, special needs kitties can as trouble-free as any cat when using the cat litter box.

About The Author

www.stopcaturineodor.com

By: Nancy E. Wigal

If you have a cat who doesn’t use her cat litter box, it might be the type of cat litter you buy for her.

Cats are fussy about a lot of things, and the cat litter brand you think she’ll likes might end up offending her for a number of reasons. If she doesn’t like it, your cat will communicate the only way she knows will get your attention - she’ll stop using the cat litter box.

There are a confusing number of cat litter brands to choose from. Some are made with humans in mind. These types often contain perfume or some type of smell that pleases you and me, but not necessarily to kitty.

A cats’ sense of smell is much more sensitive than a human’s. Cat litter that is drenched in a pleasant (for humans) scent may be very offensive to your cat. If her sense of smell is overwhelmed, she’ll avoid the cat litter box.

If you suspect your cat doesn’t like her cat litter, this can be an easy problem to fix. For example, if you faithfully supplied her with a brand she liked, but you decided to switch brands, she’ll stop using the cat litter box if it doesn’t meet her approval. In this case, switch back to the previous cat litter brand.

It may feel like defeat, but if you think about it in terms of saving money, time and frustration because you’re not cleaning up cat messes, then everybody wins.

You may have had to switch cat litter brands because her favorite brand is no longer available. If this is the case, experiment with similar brands and see which one she prefers.

Here’s an easy way to test cat litter brands to get kitty’s approval:

Set up two litter boxes. Each box should have a different cat litter brand. Leave the boxes down for a few days. At the end of your test period, see which box accumulated the most deposits. If one box was preferred over the other, you have your winner. You may need to repeat this test a few times before your cat decides you got it right.

If you have several bags of cat litter left over from your tests, donate them to your local feline rescue organization. They can always use any type for their rescued kitties.

If you switched cat litter brands because your nearest pet store no longer carries it, consider making a trip to one a little further from your home. The trick is to stock up with a large number of bags so your trips are as infrequent as possible.

Cats are demanding creatures. Since we don’t speak meow, and they can’t talk, cats communicate clearly (according to kitty logic) with radical, startling actions. It’s up to us humans (isn’t it always?) to translate our cat’s wishes and concerns.

By paying attention to past events (like switching litter brands on kitty), we can decipher and solve many cat litter box problems.

About The Author

www.stopcaturineodor.com

By: Nancy E. Wigal

Cats experience anxiety and get stressed out just like us human staffers. Unlike people, cats don’t have a lot of creative ways to express their feelings. Unfortunately, when cats suffer from stress and anxiety, they generally communicate it in a very clear way that can really turn humans upside down. They usually tell us by not using the cat litter box.

And since we can’t speak meow, and cats don’t talk, the challenge is to figure why our cats aren’t feeling right. Usually when a cat stops using her litter box, it’s a medical problem. But if it isn’t, one of causes high on my list is stress and anxiety.

What do cats get anxious about? Here’s a partial list:

• Moving to a new home

• Gaining a new household member, animal or human
• You change jobs and start a new schedule
• You bring new furniture into your home
• Kitty’s favorite person moves out, and she misses that individual
• Construction and/or remodeling of your home
• Relocation of her cat litter box(es)
• Change in type of cat litter
• This list is not complete. Felines are complicated creatures, and almost anything can set them off.

If your cat suddenly stops using the litter box out of the blue, eliminate any medical causes first. If kitty gets a clean bill of health, examine the list above, and think about any recent changes you’ve made to your home. If it appears to be a coincidence, it probably isn’t.

This can be a tough problem to solve, but once you figure out the cause, you can start developing solutions. If the stress-inducing situation is temporary (such as the last three items on my list), they can be dealt with.

On the other hand, if the problem appears to be one of the first five, you’ll need plenty of patience and a strategy to get kitty right again.

Often, once kitty gets used to the change, she’ll calm down and start to use her litter box again. During her adjustment period, it may work to confine her to one room with her food, water, litter box, bedding, and toys. This limits the amount of damage done to your home, and as kitty realizes the changes mean her no harm, she’ll get back to her good cat litter box habits.

You can also help kitty calm down by purchasing synthetic feline hormones. These will reassure her that life is still OK. You can also administer homeopathic remedies that are completely natural and cause no side effects.

Many feline owners get an anti-anxiety prescription for kitty, but if your cat freaks out over being pilled, this will increase her stress. If this is the case, rely on the synthetic hormones and homeopathic remedies to solve this problem.

Consult with your vet on the best course of action to help your kitty quickly get over her stress and anxiety. Reassure your cat with lots of extra attention and love, and this too shall pass!

About The Author

advice@stopcaturineodor.com