Litter Box Blues

Image courtesy of Merio

Cats are particular creatures. If you’ve owned one (or they’ve owned you), you are fully aware of this.

What I’ve noticed is that despite this, many cat guardians don’t put as much thought into the litter box as they could.

Cats like to be clean, they often tell me so when I am connecting with one for the first time. It’s not uncommon for them to tell me that they like their appearance and take pride in it. A cat that doesn’t groom is actually a warning sign that something is off with their health.

So why do we not put as much thought into the cleanliness of our cat’s bathroom as they do in their own self care?

A litter box is basically a dry port-a-potty. If you’ve ever been to a festival or fair and needed to use one, you’ve likely spent as little time in it as possible and touched as few surfaces as you could.

A dirty litter box is no different.

Cats have an incredible sense of smell, so poorly maintained litter box is like stepping into that rank port-a-john on a hot summers day. 🤢 Not something I ever want to sign up for, but I’ll use it when I have to.

I have a quick routine every night that helps to clean up my littler boxes to the best level that I know how and while it might sound like a lot, when it’s done every night consistently probably takes me less time in the long run.

For starters, I use a really good quality, not dusty, clay clumping litter. No scents, no additives, just plain clay. I went through a lot of trial and testing with all sorts of different types, and the basic stuff that is low dust has been the best investment.

When I get ready to clean my litter boxes, I grab a single paper towel and dampen it with a spritz of all natural cleaner (what type varies, depending on what I’ve got on hand - low scent is best though - remember your cat will be “trapped” in the space with any odors you add), and a little bit of water.

I take off the lid first, and wipe any spots on the sides that have urine on them, because my cats can’t seem to go without spraying the sides. 🙄

I set that aside to dry, and then begin scooping the clumps of urine and poop in the boxes themselves. Most cats are creatures of habit, and will generally pee in and poop in the same patterns. Mercury likes the smaller box, and only in the back left corner, but will go in the other one, too. Specter likes only the bigger box. I generally know where they like to pee, and so it’s not hard to sift through and find the clumps.

Keeping the litter pretty deep in the box (mostly) prevents urine from getting on the bottom of the box, where it’s harder to clean. I scrape away any that stuck to the side of the box, and keep as much of the clean litter piled away from the dirty spots as possible.

I then take the paper towel and wipe everywhere that the urine has sprayed on the boxes, and wipe away any of the clay residue.

Once that’s all cleaned up, I leave it to dry for a few minutes to make sure there’s no moisture that’s going to make the litter sticky when I put it back.

All of this takes barely 10 minutes of my time.

While the boxes are drying I am generally picking up something else, getting their food ready for the morning (they eat a raw diet so the next meal has to be thawed in the fridge), or sweeping up the inevitable litter that gets scattered across the floor despite the “catch mat.”

As soon as it’s dry, I push the litter back into the spots they prefer to pee, and put the lids back on and they are nice and fresh for the next time.

This routine allows me to not only maintain the litter boxes for my cats comfort, but it also means I intimately know my cats routine. I don’t enjoy having to play in the litter every day, but I also immediately know when one of my cats isn’t feeling well as soon as their bathroom habits change. And that means I can address it faster and get their health back on track.

Sure, the litter robot things are nice, and yes, they keep you from having to be as involved, but I’m also not entirely convinced they are as clean as they are advertised to be. Much of that boils down to maintenance. Low tech doesn’t break, if the power goes out my litter box isn’t going to not work.

I’m curious how you handle your litter box routine. Drop me a comment and tell me the scoop! 🤣 (I couldn’t resist!)