Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
One of our little girls went from being afraid of enclosed litter boxes to loving the big open see-through topless litter boxes that we adopted from this forum's advice. It fixed the problem of her pooping on the floor and/or not covering up her business smelling up the house, no more of that for 8 months now knock on wood. But now she goes in just to play and dig around. We vacuum daily, sometimes several times around the litter boxes because she incessantly goes in and out. She now washes her feet off in the toilet when we leave the lid up, and then she leaves litter on the seat and in the water, wet paw prints so lots of swiffering, it's nuts. We've accepted this, better than going on the floor. Any suggestions for containing the litter? Does carpet catch more of the litter coming out of the box? Feedback much appreciated.
Carpet does "hide" the litter better but it doesn't really solve the problem. I get cat litter scattered all over the place even though my cat doesn't particularly "play" in her litter. Not much you can really do about it.
I originally followed the forum's advice when I first got Nimbus, and had a litterbox on each floor of the house. I kid you not, he did his business in only one of them. The other, he would lie in and do dust-baths in and play in. I eventually eliminated the secondary box, he was making terrible messes with it and I put a play tower and a blanket for him to lie on in that spot. He's fine with just one litterbox. Silly cat. Of course I know if we ever have a problem with him pottying outside of it, or maybe as he gets to be an old cat, having boxes on each floor would make more sense.
I refuse to put a litterbox on a hard floor, wood or tile or linoleum. Flatly refuse to do it. You walk on it and it's "crunch, crunch, crunch" and it sticks to your feet and then YOU track it around...just no. On carpet, yeah, I know he still tracks the litter out of the box, but at least it's sort of contained in the region immediately around the box. I put a rug down in that area of the room, a good sized one, because we've just moved into a place with......WHITE carpet. They do sell rugs at Petsmart that supposedly trap the litter, maybe you could try one of those?
I also had to do something about the fact that Nimbus liked to launch himself out of the litterbox at warp speed, scattering litter everywhere in the process. I now put it in a corner, and I have a tall Rubbermaid tub that I keep clean litter and a scoop in, and I have that sitting next to it sort of boxing in one side, and a small trash can near the other exposed side (maybe 8" away.) So he has obstacles in the way of making a crazy wild dash and it's helped.
Don't know what to tell you about the toilet, though. I'm thankful my Nimbus has no interest in it. The tub drain is his particular fascination.
Maybe give her a different box with some small pebbles, add a few toys for a "play area", sprinkle some catnip. I've seen the more smooth pebbles in childrens playgrounds (I think it's called pea gravel) , maybe wont track as badly. Maybe a washable throw rug would help with tracking of the litter.
Crazy cat, playing in at box and washing feet in toilet bowl water. What will he think of next!
Last edited by Izzie1213; 10-12-2017 at 11:18 AM..
Poor kitty, trying to be "clean" by washing her feet in the toilet!
Yes, there are tons of things you can buy and put down around the box that trap litter. I have the Black Hole litter mat on my wish list for whichever day I feel I can spare $35 on a litter mat.
My advice is to buy the cheapest possible thing like a dollar store doormat or bathmat with some nap to hold the litter. For my cat, anything with nap that she can scratch would entertain her for a minute and help get stuff out of her feet. I can roll it up, shake it outdoors, hose it off and let it dry on the fence (so get two). If you're in an apartment, less nap is better because you'd have to vacuum it. I'm considering making a rag rug out of old things because I think it would catch litter nicely and could be shaken into the trash can and washed. I could also make it any strange shape to cover the path from the box out to the spot where I usually step on the first crystal.
How do they work for you and kitty? Have not heard of their effectiveness. No dust
I suppose...
[/b]
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYC refugee
Poor kitty, trying to be "clean" by washing her feet in the toilet!
Yes, there are tons of things you can buy and put down around the box that trap litter. I have the Black Hole litter mat on my wish list for whichever day I feel I can spare $35 on a litter mat.
My advice is to buy the cheapest possible thing like a dollar store doormat or bathmat with some nap to hold the litter. For my cat, anything with nap that she can scratch would entertain her for a minute and help get stuff out of her feet. I can roll it up, shake it outdoors, hose it off and let it dry on the fence (so get two). If you're in an apartment, less nap is better because you'd have to vacuum it. I'm considering making a rag rug out of old things because I think it would catch litter nicely and could be shaken into the trash can and washed. I could also make it any strange shape to cover the path from the box out to the spot where I usually step on the first crystal.
How do they work for you and kitty? Have not heard of their effectiveness. No dust
I suppose...
[/b]
Everything has some dust and the older the crystals get (they last weeks) - well, they rub against each other and create more dust as time goes by. You scoop solids and then stir daily, all liquids absorb into the crystals. If you miss a day, or a piece, the crystals will absorb all the moisture and leave you a little desiccated stick. I started to use them after minding my SIL's cat. She brought crystals and I was amazed, in the small apartment I had at that time, how there was no odor.
SIL used Fresh Step, white with blue crystals that smell like cheap air freshener and they work fine. I used, and still love above all other litters, Amazing Cat Litter, but of course they don't sell it anywhere within like 200 miles of here. It was white with no scented crystals and worked great, and lasted longest. The size of both those crystals made them the lowest track cat litter I've ever encountered. Fresh Magic is similar to Amazing, you can see them both online, but only Fresh Magic sells direct.
My third favorite is Mimi Litter from Walmart. It's crystals, white and blue, but small like sand. My cat is better able to cover her business with the sand and it's so simple to scoop and stir, but wow, right back to all the tracking the bigger crystals prevent.
There's some other crystal litter out now with colored crystals that CHANGE color to indicate possible health problems. I forget the name and it costs a packet, but if you were monitoring a sick cat, it would probably be worth it.
And my apologies to OP if we're hijacking, but thought you might want to know how low track the bigger crystals are.
Apparently they'll ship it to you or something, I dunno.
I use unscented clumping clay litter. I've used a few different brands. If I get one that I know is more dusty, I take it outside and pour from the bag/box into my Rubbermaid container, at some distance to let the wind carry off the finer particles (the dust.)
I have found that if I scoop daily and add more as needed, it can last a really, REALLY long time without having to be 100% changed out, and it doesn't get stinky. But then...I have only one cat.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
...WHITE carpet. They do sell rugs at Petsmart that supposedly trap the litter, maybe you could try one of those? 
