question for people with indoor cats

[WriterDom]

What kind of litter do you use?

I love the crystal type. There are several brands. Walmart sells tidy cats crystals for about 8 dollars a box. It dries the poop up like popcorn to be tossed once a day, and absorbs the pee for a month with no odor. Anyone heard any negative things about it from a vet?

 

[*bratcat*]

jcgirl trained ME to use

 

[White_Tigress_]

lmao @ bratcat...that was cute

You know, I tried the crystals when I had one of my cats declawed and it worked great for not getting into the wounds, but having 2 cats, it has to be changed more often and waaaaay to expensive for me to bother to get those cats 'jewels' (as the commercial). They were good though. I would probablly buy it more if I only had one cat. Although the odor didnt last as long as they say...but then again..mine are stinky! hahahaha

I do have a question though.....my older cat, she is only about 3 or 4..I got her as a stray...she is now just starting to find places on the rug and peeing. DRIVES ME CRAZY!!! I love 'em to pieces, but I have tried almost everything to stop her and she still will continue while we are at work. I am not and will not lock her in a room while Im gone. Its not fair to her when she dont even know what she has done to deserve that. I do stick her nose in it when i find it though.
Any advice what I can put down on the areas to stop her from going there? I have tried carpet fresh powder without vaccuming it up, bug spray, pet deoterizor, and now newspaper laying over the area she likes so much. (so far she hasn't gone on the paper or in that area for a day..but no telling if she found a new spot yet)

 

[WriterDom]

can't help you there.. my cat always pees in the box. He has crapped on the floor once or twice when I let his box get too dirty but that was my fault.

 

[Cirrus]

Tigress, sticking a cat's nose in its mistake will NOT do you any good. I'm sorry, but it really irks me when I hear about people doing that. What it says to the cat is "eat this." Seriously. A mother cat does that when weaning her kittens...she'll nudge the young one's face into the food or prey.

And even if it DID mean "bad kitty" to your cat, by the time you find the pee or poop it doesn't even remember doing it. Have you taken the cat to the vet? There could be a medical problem that's making the cat incontinent. Do you keep the litter clean? If I skip a day scooping my cat won't use his pan either. Cats are clean animals, and they hate dirty litter. Make sure the cat pan isn't too close to the food either. No animal will soil where it eats. Maybe get 2 pans for the cats...some won't use a pan with another animals scent in it. Take her to the pan if she hasn't gone for a while, and if she goes praise her A LOT.

And you put BUG SPRAY in the area where she walks? What are you trying to do, kill her? That stuff isn't good for humans, and it says RIGHT ON THE BOTTLE to keep it away from pets.

Try to fix the problem instead of resorting to punishment right away.

Writer Dom, in answer to your question, I use the scoop litter and if I sccop every day, a panful lasts me 2-3 weeks. I have to top it off once during that time, but that's about it. The crystals are too expensive for me, but if you have more than one cat they might be a good idea. I just have one myself.

 

[White_Tigress_]

ok, let me clearify this

NO I am NOT trying to kill my cat, nor am I the least bit mean to her.
I did re-read it, and yes i did have it sound like it..so this is why I am posting the reply.

For the bug spray...I do it while I am home and keep her away from the area. It is safe when it is dry. I figured the smell would keep her away. I didn't add all those things at one time, this has been an ongoing thing with trying new ideas. So far just leaving the paper there has helped, but it hasn't been long.
She does go to the vet regularly and is very healthy.

For sticking her nose in it. I don't cram her face in the spot. I put her nose up to where she is going (NOT into the rug itself) enough for her to smell it, and I say in a stern voice NO. I don't hit her because I know it would do no good since she didn't just do it right then and there.

All I was hoping for was some things that cats dont care for, that I can use in that area. I have learned from past experiences (I've grown up with a cat and always had one) that they do not like aluminum foil. I had a cat that used to dig in my floor plants and even tried to climb in a few times to pee. (It may be my fault for rescuing them as out door cats) But the foil works great...even on couches. Hummm...guess it could be a thought to lay on the rug...

I keep the box cleaned up for the most part. Yes there has been times that it would be my fault for letting it go and one of them would go outside of it like mentioned above. That don't happen to often.

Im sure I'll figure something out WITHOUT killing the cat! Promise!

 

[teresafannin]

My cat is 15 years old & strictly an inside cat. We tried the crystal litter & she hated it. She would use the newspapers under her box, but would not use the litter. Now she uses a litter made of recycled paper & seems to be a happy kitty. It clumps & absorbs odor really well. I scoop her box every other day. She is half persian, so has really long fur & some kinds of litter would get tangled up in her fur. For a cat who is litter box trained & suddenly using the rug, I would check with the vet. There could be a physical or an emotional reason. My cat barely ate or slept the first few months after my son died. She prowled all night long looking for him & would climb up on his DJ turntables & watch the door, waiting for him to come in & scold her. She had slept with him nearly every night for 12 years & it took her a long time to realize he wasn't coming home. She sleeps with me now & we comfort each other on the bad days. I would never have guessed a cat would grieve like that.

 

[Laurel]

I use Arm & Hammar Super Stop, which I believe is a charcoal-based litter. Aiko has an enclosed litterbox, so I scoop out the doodie once or twice a day, do a full change of the litter on a weekly basis, and have no odor or ickiness problems whatsoever.

I haven't heard anything about the crystal litters, though I have been curious about them. I've heard weird stuff about the scoopable litter, though - like it can harden in you cat's digestive tract and cause problems. Whether this is just gossip or medical fact, I'm not sure. Would love to hear from someone who uses scoopable.

 

[bluntforcemama]

I use the stuff in the yellow bag... tidy cat? But I scoop every day. It's also good to have a cat box for each cat. I know that sounds odd, but we had a real problem if we didn't.

 

[Dillinger]

I'm not sure the cats are as particular about the litter as we are. We use Johnny Cat - just the regular stuff - and stock up on it when its on sale. It seems to stay fresh all week (we have 2 cats and change the litter once a week). We also use the plastic bag liners - which are GREAT! You just pull the bag out and no more cleaning the litter box.

 

[teresafannin]

Scoopable is what is at my house. Being an older cat, Secret has a delicate tummy & can only eat certain kinds of food, but I haven't noticed any problems with the litter getting in her digestive tract. I do give her hairball treats to help keep her stomach cleaned out & brush her often, she sheds like crazy in the summer time..

 

[Laurel]

I use those liners too. Gawd those things are great. Covered litterboxes and liners are amazing inventions.

*bratcat* - that's a helluva cat! Did anyone see the Robert Schimmel comedy bit on toilet-trained cats? It's funny!

 

[Cheyenne]

Cat's Pride scoopable litter, and I have two cats. I can scoop it and flush down the toilet- very easy to keep clean.

As for peeing outside the pan- the only time I have ever had a cat do that was when a male cat had developed crystals in his urine. The very first time I saw him pee outside the box I took him to the vet. Any behaviour change like that is a cause to look at the cat's health.

If there is no health problem, one way to retrain a cat to use the litter box is to put the cat in a bathroom with the box and his/her food. Keep her there until she retrains herself to go only in the box. Some cats like the feel of carpet- it feels almost like litter to them. The bathroom has tile or linoleum (usually) and that is not nearly as inviting to the cat. I've done this twice and the retraining worked each time. This was for crap though, not pee. I got the technique from Cat Fancy magazine.

 

[christo]

Fucking cat!

I've been using the crystals for awhile and the results have been so-so. It soaks up the pee smell better, but I have 2 cats and the damn felines must drink the toilet dry because they urinate like horses. The litter gets all green and it gets slushy at the bottom and it starts to stink like ammonia. Allegedly one bag is good for 2 cats for 10-14 days, but at the 10 day point the litter is trashed.

And my cats, at least, tend not to bury their poop with the crystals, so it sits on top, and it can get somewhat fragrant. Add to that my one cat for some reason, is refusing to poop in the litter box. I did have to move it recently, but he's never been a picky cat, and I'm finding brown presents all over the rug. Damn cat.

 

[Kymberley]

I do have a question though.....my older cat, she is only about 3 or 4..I got her as a stray...she is now just starting to find places on the rug and peeing. DRIVES ME CRAZY!!! I love 'em to pieces, but I have tried almost everything to stop her and she still will continue while we are at work. I am not and will not lock her in a room while Im gone. Its not fair to her when she dont even know what she has done to deserve that. I do stick her nose in it when i find it though.
Any advice what I can put down on the areas to stop her from going there? I have tried carpet fresh powder without vaccuming it up, bug spray, pet deoterizor, and now newspaper laying over the area she likes so much. (so far she hasn't gone on the paper or in that area for a day..but no telling if she found a new spot yet)

Try using an orange oil based spray. Alot of citrus products are out there on the market these days and the cats don't like that. They will avoid those areas that are sprayed with it. Also if she is not fixed, that will help to.

 

[Andra_Jenny]

All our cats are outdoors, busy not hunting.

But for bugs, the pet-safe solution is usually boric acid [an inert powder that dries the buggers out and the social buggers take it back to the nest to get the others]. Works every time. About two days. I use it in problem areas propelactely (sp? - as a preventative).

I am allergic to the dander, but I read an article where someone is engineering allergin-free kitties. What do you think of that?