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We had the privilege of cat sitting for over a week. No real sitting just checking food and water and litter box daily. The pet owner had told us the cat's habits and so I ask here about some.
There are 2 litter boxes. The cat likes to sleep in one. The owner had to add a 2nd one for this habit.
We put food in a bowl and on a plate as the owner desired. Next day some of the food in the bowl was gone. As far as the plate maybe 33% was eaten, 33% left on the plate and 33% on the floor.
Finally the litter used is like sand. It's a gray color and urination causes it to turn black. That seems to absorb more wetness and thus gets hard and dry quickly.
Anyone use sand like litter or some other type?
thats weird about sleeping in one but i guess whatever works, lol.
I wouldnt worry so much about not eating as maybe the cat doesnt like that its owner is away. Just make sure there is food and water available though!!
My one cat had two litter boxes. She hoarded things and made artistic creations in one. I was tired of them being mixed, so I gave her another. also she had to have materials for covering her waste in the waste one. Like a plastic trash bag or something. totally crazy, but those creations in the litter box cracked me UP!
I could hear her all night doing them. I got up and watched one time. she'd have everything seemingly the way she wanted it but then start over.
My favorite was a container of travel products. She had them all arranged I was like are you going on a date?
Litter was used to shore things up so they'd stay standing or whatever she wanted. I should have taken a pic.
I did take one of my night shirt and shorts (now long gone in the trash) carefully arranged to cover her waste. I thought that was all there was to it until other stuff showed up in there ..... miss her!
I've always been told that cats sleeping in litter boxes was a kind of warning signal that all is not okay with the cat, either medically or emotionally. Hopefully the owner has consulted a vet and the cat has a clean bill of health. Over the years I've noticed cats and kittens in many pet shops and shelters kept in wire-floored cages. Cats don't like walking on wire and as a result the cats resorted to sitting and sleeping in their litter boxes. I wonder if the cat you were watching developed this habit as a kitten as a result of the environment it was kept in.
There are some very finely-ground cat litters that look like sand. As a rule they contain bentonite, which absorbs moisture and hardens it into a clump. There are ongoing debates about whether this is a good thing for cats healthwise, since the dust can cause intestinal and respiratory issues (including silicosis) when ingested or inhaled. For that reason it's troubling that an owner would encourage a cat to sleep in a litter box, with the increased liklihood of inhalation of the dust and ingestion through grooming its dusty fur.
As for the food thing, some cats care about the substrate holding their food. They may eat from a dish, they may scoop out the food and eat it from the floor, they may eat almost nothing one day and everything the next. So much that goes on in their tiny little furry brain is a mystery. Cats live with us but they are not that far removed evolutionarily from their desert-dwelling wild ancestors. That's part of our fascination with them I think.
[quote=leorah;46694835]I've always been told that cats sleeping in litter boxes was a kind of warning signal that all is not okay with the cat, either medically or emotionally. Hopefully the owner has consulted a vet and the cat has a clean bill of health. Over the years I've noticed cats and kittens in many pet shops and shelters kept in wire-floored cages. Cats don't like walking on wire and as a result the cats resorted to sitting and sleeping in their litter boxes. I wonder if the cat you were watching developed this habit as a kitten as a result of the environment it was kept in.
On that show, My cat from Hell, Jason Galaxy said something to this effect. He said the cat is somehow suffering, either emotionally or medically, as Leorah mentioned. Something about it not feeling good about itself.
But cats have weird habits sometimes, and are hard to understand. So who knows.
My one cat had two litter boxes. She hoarded things and made artistic creations in one. I was tired of them being mixed, so I gave her another. also she had to have materials for covering her waste in the waste one. Like a plastic trash bag or something. totally crazy, but those creations in the litter box cracked me UP!
I could hear her all night doing them. I got up and watched one time. she'd have everything seemingly the way she wanted it but then start over.
My favorite was a container of travel products. She had them all arranged I was like are you going on a date?
Litter was used to shore things up so they'd stay standing or whatever she wanted. I should have taken a pic.
I did take one of my night shirt and shorts (now long gone in the trash) carefully arranged to cover her waste. I thought that was all there was to it until other stuff showed up in there ..... miss her!
That is too funny - sounds like she was part hamster. Cats sure are complicated creatures.
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