Category: Animal House
Hi everyone!
I am a totally blind person and I'll have a cat very soon, in about a month or so. Actually, it's gonna be my first cat experience so I know pretty much nothing about them. I read previous posts about what I am about to ask but well, I think it'd be time for a lil' update. I was just wondering what are your advices and ideas on how to properly clean the litterbox? Remember, I am totally blind so I'd like advices considering this specific situation!!! hehe I found some good ones on the other posts but thought I'd do a lil' recall to see if there are new ideas.
Thanks a lot!!
I just scooped the litter box in a pattern, going across it from one end to the other, and had a filtered scoop, so it let clean litter fal through, and kept the clumps in the scoop for me to dump into the trash can. Sometimes, if I didn't feel I was getting it thoroughly clean, I'd put something over my hands, and feel in the box with my hands to find anything I'd missed, or could not get with the scoop. Even though my hands were covered, I'd still wash them thoroughly afterward. And it helps if you totally empty the box sometimes, wash it out completely, and then refil it with new litter.
Many people swear by automatic litter boxes, which sense when the cat has stepped out of it, and run the scoop through on its own. However, I've heard way too many stories of cats becoming frightened of the sound or the action of the scoop, so I prefer to clean the box myself, rather than have a cat scared off of using the box, and having an even worse mess to clean up later.
Sisterdawn, yes I also heard of those automated litterbox and, of course, at the beginning, it feels like a dream come true. But even over the scared cat and all, the reviews on Internet aren't that famous. They say that the mottor burn out very easily and that the rate becomes... full of excrements after a while... And well they cost like terribly expensive so I also think I'm gonna go for the normal stuff. hehe Thanks for your advices though, any others??
honestly, I just use one of the scoopers with slats in the bottm that lets clean litter fall through. it's like sifting in a sand box as a child, same thing. You shake the scooper side to side slightly, and can feel/hear the clumps inside it, and then just toss it in whatever. I just work my way across the box, and feel with the scooper's end to make sure all the clumps are out. it's hard to explain, but it's not hard at all
heck with the scooping. lol I use the trash bag liners. pull the bag up tie it toss it in the garbage and put in fresh. it is more costly, but i'm not about to sift through it. hehehe
There are these things that are like plastic liners. You put them in, there are about 20 or so stacked on top of each other. In these liners, as you pick up just one, the clean litter falls through and you have all of the clumps and stuff still in this one liner. In the trash it goes.
Thom
Thanks all for your help. It's always apreciated and don't be shy to post again!!! With all your advices now I am at least sure of one thing: I'll go with the traditionnal litterbox. Thanks again very much and as I said, keep on posting if you have ideas!!
I got a new litter box a few months ago and I love it. It cost $35 on amazon but worth it. I got the large one and it seems to be the right size. Inside the box on the bottom right is a boxed off space that goes from the front to the back and the litter box. On the side of this is slots and on top of the box sits a long scoop. Now all of this is inside the litter box on the whole right side. So when cat goes potty, you take the box and role it to the right and as your rolling it slowly the litter goes in to the slotted boxed off space but the nasty stays out. then when you role it upside down, still going to the right, the nasty tumbles to the top, now the bottom of the box, and as you role it back to the left, the nasty goes in to the scoop and then you take scoop out, dump in to bag, and continue rolling to the left. I say to pause to dump because somethings the nasty will tumple back in with the litter if your not careful. You do have to use the clumping kind of litter and you can buy a large box of it and the litter you put in the box will last for about a month before you have to add or change it out. I love it. My cats goes outside mostly now that it is summer, and I haven't had to change it in two months. No worries, there is no nasty smell.
here is the litter box I got,
Omega Paw Self-Cleaning Litter Box, Green and Beige
http://www.amazon.com/Omega-Self-Cleaning-Litter-Large-Green/dp/B0002DK2DU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1274261438&sr=8-1
Amazon.com Product Description
Ideal for big cats or multiple-cat households, this large roll-away litter box quickly self-cleans, while controlling dust and containing odors. Simply
roll the litter box to the right until the top touches the floor, and then roll it back to the upright position. The unit's internal mechanism deposits
the clumped waste into the pullout waste tray for easy disposal. The system works only with clumping litter, and the waste tray separates clumped waste
from clean litter, so clean litter is never thrown away. The litter box makes it easy to provide the cat not only with a clean litter box, but also with
privacy due to the covered pan design. The litter box also helps save money--no more scoops, liners, or filters to buy. With a silver top and blue base,
the litter box measures 19-1/2 by 22 by 20 inches with a 9-by-9-inch opening.
How often should you replace the litter in the box altogether? Every few days? Do you ever need to empty the box and wash it out? I'm guessing you do occasionally? Sorry, all the cats I've ever had are outdoor cats, so I've never had to personally deal with a litterbox.
Yes, you want to make sure and wash the litter box every so often. Odors and stains can stay behind, so it's always a good idea to thoroughly wash the box every so often.
As for how long to keep the litter in the box, this depends on how many cats you have. It's generally OK to keep the litter in the box for several days or even a week (I've known people who have left it even longer), as long as you keep it clean from clumps and such.
I personally love the clumping litter, and it's what I've been using for years.
I clean my cat's box out every two days or so, and dump the litter once a week, or whenever it gets bad. lol. I wash the box whenever I think about it... probably not the best advice.
Nicky,
The box you mentioned sounds interesting, and so I checked it out on Amazon, however, I have one question. Are their any liners or bins that hold the waste? It seems to me that if there's not, then that compartment would get rather disgusting.
Ok. So imagine a litter box with a top to it. On the bottom right side is a slotted off space and on top of the slotted off corner is a scoop.
When cat goes potty: give a bit of time for it to dry and clump or you will have a mess: role box to the right.
As you role the box, all the clean litter will go in to the slotted off part like a built in scoop.
So all that is left is the clump of cat stuff: as you keep rolling, will end up in the scoop.
You role it back to the way it is mint to be then pull scoop out and dump the waste.
Then you role to the opposite direction to poor the clean litter that has gone through the slots back in to the main compartment.
About once a month or more if needed, you can take box apart and clean the whole thing.
The slotted part is a plastic thing that folds in half to make a 90 degree angle to corner off a corner, the scoop sits on top of the plastic that does not have slots.
If you need to clean it, then when you take the top off from the bottom, the dividing part comes out. Sometimes this is necessary if your cat decides that they need to pee on the slots like my cat did when I first got it.
hope I helped, If you have any more questions I don't mind answering.
oh and all of this is inside the box, if your cat is not use to going in to something like this they might be a bit scared of it at first. I had a box with no lid to it for mind and I showed my cats the box once it was ready to go and they demanded to go outside to go potty for the first week but then they had no choice and did use the box. It seams a bit small inside compared to only having a opened box under the bather counter by the towlet.
About how much does the scoop hold?
I find that I have to replace my litter about once every two weeks. Mostly, if you keep it free of clumps and mess, it doesn't get that smelly, and the cats don't mind it. It probably helps that I have a covered tray though. Every time I dump the litter, I wash the tray.
For cleaning, I have small bags which I put over my hand. I simply sift, scoop and dump, then wash up.
I have a question though. Clumping litter is supposed to be harmful for cats because of the dust it produces. I've just recently switched to it and haven't noticed any changes, but I'm planning for a litter of kittens in a few months, and have been told that it gets to them more than it does to the bigger cats. Is there any truth in this? Ideally, I'd love to hear from people who've dealt with tiny kittens.
All the best
FM
let me go see.
OK so the scoop is about 18 inches long and about 5 inches high on mine, it hold about ten cups of litter and waste. The box will hold about 3 or 4 inches deep of litter and will last for a month of constant use.
I'd say clean the litter box every day or 2. If you don't like touching the cat litter, try using newspaper. Just put a couple of sheets of newspaper in the litter box and put the cat litter straight on top. I know some people say it's a waste of both cat litter and newspaper, but we might as well put the paper to some use and it's easier to clean the whole litter tray that way, because you can just wrap the cat stuff up in the newspaper and throw it away.
thanks Nicky, funky monkey and others for your advice. I think I'm gonna go with the little bags over my hand at first and then see if there's any drama or something. loll I'll have the kitty in 2 weeks now, I am excited!!! haha thanks again guies!!
Well I've had my furry little boy for two years this coming July. I use clumping litter, stuff that I can buy at the local Family Dollar for about five bucks because let's face it, as an unemployed blind person I can't afford to get too fancy. About the only area I won't skimp on is food. Max is an incredibly fluffy cat who, though he does mat, doesn't seem to do so nearly as often as I would expect given the length and thickness of his fur. But nor does he seem to cough up much in the way of hairballs, and I think that's partly due to the food I give him. Might even be partly why he's so soft and therefore I can't seem to keep my hands or face out of his fur for long. But I use a regular square litter box with a filtered pooper scooper. I try to clean his box every two or three days but sometimes it's five days between cleanings. As for replacing it I try to do it every two weeks or once a month (I can't financially afford to go much more frequent than that), and that keeps the smell more or less under control. As for automatic boxes, I've heard various things about various models. My mom uses a Littermaid for her cat (she actually just had to have her elder cat put to sleep earlier this month due to age and Asthma and weight loss), and from what I've heard it does seem to work fairly well. True there's no telling how each individual cat will react to it. But my girlfriend has told me she's considering getting me a Littermaid for Max and, while I would prefer emptying out the storage bin every so often to having to scoop up the clumps and then vacuum the little litter crumbs that Max brings out on his fur every time he visits the privy, I also understand that there's every possibility he won't like the noise of the new litter box as it goes to work. But the one I've heard the most negative things about is the Cat Genie. That's the one that uses the special litter that can be washed and dried with the special solution. The theory is certainly a good one but in practice I'm unsure. I've heard plenty of people say it works like a charm, then others say it was the biggest waste of money they'd ever indulged in.
So the way the thing works is that it scoops up the crap just like, say, a Littermaid, but you need to hook the Cat Genie up to either a toilet or even the hookups for your washing machine. How exactly the latter system would work I don't know exactly, since when you hook it up to your toilet's plumming it dumps the crap into the toilet and you have to flush it. So I'm not sure where it would all go if you hooked it up to a washing machine's plumming. Well then it washes the special litter granules and dries them. Well and good, except that the scoop apparently has a tendency to miss tiny little turd pellets that get washed and, more importantly, dried along with the litter. And the drying is the worst part since obviously heated cat crap isn't going to smell too appealing. There's also the Litter Robot, but I don't know much about that one.
I prefer the old simple kind that you have to scoop. I always scooped once every 1/2 days; (depending on the smell), and I changed it when the box didn't get rid of the smell through scooping. I don't care what they say, not everything clumps easily...Oh, and that was about once a month. As another has said you can't afford to switch more often if your living on a fixed income. :)
Ironically though, taht might actually be a reason to save up for a good self-cleaning unit. As it stands I clean Max's box every five to seven days (more frequently if I remember to do it, although I've rarely if ever gone longer than that). But I buy four to five-dollar clumping litters in smallish cartons, half of which generally goes into the litter box after each washing. This happens once and sometimes twice a month. True I possibly overfil the box a bit but I'd rather overfill it than underfill it. But I go through grocery bags faster than you can shake a stick at sometimes.
But then you look at most self-cleaning litter boxes which feature rakes and wires that can potentially get jammed and snapped over time. I've heard of the wire getting caught on the rake in the Littermaid models. My mom uses one but I'm not sure i'd go that route. Actually the one that intrigues me the most is the Litter Robot. That's the one that rotates the globe and filters out the crap and pee, then refills the tray with the leftover clean litter. Even with multiple cats I've read many reviews from people who still only have to empty the waste bin once a week, and since it uses either standard kitchen garbage bags or litter box liners it makes for a much easier job of cleaning. And out of all the ones I've researched, and I've looked at a good many, the Litter Robot seems to have gotten the most positive reviews overall. It's spendy, certainly, but like GW Micro with Window-Eyes they apparently offer payment plans. And it apparently works with just about any clumping cat litter. Of course you then just need to hope your cat doesn't leave big enough clumps that they can't fit through the waste ports. But I've heard enough good things about it that I am seriously considering trying to save up for one. But I guess that's not for everyone, and as long as you don't mind scooping then by all means stick with what you have.
We have 2 cats, and since I'm the designated litter box cleaner, I use a sifting litter box with clumping litter. It has a tray in the top with slots in it. When the box is ready to be cleaned, I lift out the top tray and let the good litter fall into the second tray. Then, I take the bottom (3rd tray) and put it aside and dump out the clumps that are left in the sifter tray. I then put the sifter tray back in, dump the good litter back in, and put the bottom tray back underneath. It's not the easiest since you have to empty all of the litter and lift it back into place, but it doesn't get much waste on my hands. It gets all of the clumps every time unlike having to feel around for stuff you miss with the slotted scooper.
Kevin the cat crap specialist LOL!
Elhemina, enjoy your cat when you finally get it! If you need any advice, feel free to drop me a PM. I understand that the first time you get a cat it's very daunting and possibly even a little bit scary! So if you want advice quickly, gimme a shout and I'll pop you on MSN until you both get settled.
All the best
FM