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Litter Box
A litter box is an indoor disposal box for cats, rabbits, and other pets that are permitted free roam of a home but who cannot go outside to relieve themselves. It is filled with cat litter, a granular material that absorbs moisture, and is readily available from supermarkets and pet stores. "Clumping" litter forms clumps to absorb urine which can easily be sifted out. Sand can also be used, although commercial litter is superior, as it clumps better and is often treated with odor masking chemicals which can reduce the unpleasant smells associated with a litter box. The most basic type of litter box is a plastic tray. More elaborate models are enclosed, which provide for some privacy to the pet and better odor control, as well as keeping the litter out of sight. To facilitate emptying the litter box, plastic liners are available from supermarkets and pet stores. These are placed in the litter box before putting in the litter. When the litter needs to be changed, the owner simply lifts the liner, ties the ends, and discards the liner with the dirty litter. Recent developments in litter box technology have made further improvements to the emptying procedure, which can be the most unpleasant part of owning a litter box. Some models have electrically-controlled combs that automatically scoop the dirty litter clumps out of the litter box into a sealed container after the cat has used it. Other models can be shaken to move all the dirty litter clumps into an easy-to-remove tray. It is advisable to place the simple tray-type litter box on some newspaper, as most cats will kick some litter over the edge of the tray when using it. Urination ProblemsIf a cat suddenly stops using its litterbox, a trip to the vet is in order, because this may be caused by a medical problem--if the cat finds it painful to relieve itself, it may associate the pain with the litterbox. It can also be a behavioural problem; for example, the cat may be resentful over the introduction of a new kitten to the household. The reasons why cats stop using the litterbox for eliminations are large and varied, with too many to go into here. Your veterinarian may have some good suggestions, or you may need to contact a behaviorist. An entire industry has grown up around getting cats to use the litterbox--different shapes and sizes of boxes with or without lids, a wide array of different litters (including special litter with an attractive smell for cats), even feline pheromones in a bottle (called Feliway). Some things to try--change the size of the box, change its location (it may be too remote or in too busy an area), change the litter (both the kind and the frequency of dumping and replacing--most cats don't like strong odors associated with the box), add or remove a lid, add to the number of litterboxes (especially in a multicat house), move the box away from its food and water, or even confine the cat into a small area with a clean box for a period of time (usually several weeks) to retrain it to use the box. Which of these solutions will work best for you depends on the individual situation--it frequently takes a bit of detective work. It is also important to clean up the mess thoroughly, because if the cat can still smell it, it is likely to go there again. Don't use an ammonia-based cleaner, as this smells similar to urine. Citrus smells unpleasant to cats, so using a citrus-scented cleaner may help. Note that punishing the cat for eliminating in the wrong place will have no effect unless you catch it in the act, as it won't understand that your punishment is connected to something it did hours ago. In particular, rubbing its nose in its mess will only serve to remind it that the spot smells like a litterbox.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Litter Box" and from Cat-Purr.com
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