The Litter Box Is Not A Poop Storage Device. It Is Merely A Waystation.

The litter box is not a storage container for poop (or anything else that comes out of a cat).

The litter box is, rather, a place for cats to deposit their, er, business. After which said business should be removed in a timely manner. NOT allowed to accumulate until it becomes disgusting.

The fact of the matter is that a properly maintained litter box will not smell any more than a regularly flushed human toilet will. Which means it's best to scoop at least twice a day, and that if you have multiple cats, you should have multiple litter boxes.

I admit I've become a bit of a zealot about this, but only because I know how many cats are given up to shelters and subsequently killed due to "litter box issues". When in reality, I'm sure that many of those "issues" were probably either medical problems (undiagnosed UTIs, etc.) or matters of protest due to improper box maintenance.

That said, I realize sometimes people have problems cleaning the box due to illness, disability, etc. And if the box isn't getting cleaned in that sort of a situation, it's due to the cat's human not receiving adequate support. Which of course is a problem in and of itself. This post is NOT meant to denigrate anyone who cannot scoop litter themselves -- again, if you can't scoop, you should absolutely be getting assistance from someone who can -- but rather, to note a few things that might help whoever is supposed to be cleaning the box do it more often.

And it just occurred to me tonight that perhaps part of the reason litterboxen often get neglected far longer than is right or healthy is because too many people think of the box as a kind of....poop reservoir, or something, where basically you only clean it out when it fills up completely.

I've also met a number of people who believe that catboxes "just smell" and that this is normal/acceptable/okay. Even when their cats are suffering from ear ulcers due to having to enter a covered box reeking of ammonia fumes I've seen people baffled that I think something is wrong. And so I figured something like this post was in order.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should acknowledge that I am myself a reformed catbox-neglecter. When I was younger, I would basically wait until my parents nagged me to clean the box -- the consequence of which was that my poor cat Tim ended up with a box so nasty he eventually got fed up and decided to use my acid-washed-denim-look-neon-paint-splattered beanbag chair instead (seriously, I was all about to sit down and play Zelda one day when I was around thirteen, and very nearly sat in the middle of a tidy pile of feline feces!).

After that I got a little better about scooping, but it wasn't until I was an adult, with 4 cats of my own, that I figured out the actual meaning of litterbox cleanliness. And I am so glad I did figure it out because, well, my house doesn't stink, and my cats are so happy with their bathroom facilities that they use them regularly and perfectly. And I would never dream of going back to my preteen method of "wait until something bad happens, then clean the box". It's much, much more pleasant for everyone when the box is treated as a temporary waystation for waste as opposed to an accumulatorium (if that's even a real word) for same.

Termite Termination...without evacuation!

Yep, the termites have been thwarted...without any need for humans or cats to vacate the premises! There was a bit of a miscommunication at the pest control company -- the only reason we'd initially been asked to leave for the duration of the treatment was because someone at the firm had been under the impression they needed to spray aerosol stuff in the crawlspace (under the house). But since they were just injecting insecticide into the dirt under the garage, there was really no conceivable way for any of it to get on or near any of the resident mammals. Which meant we got to stay in the house -- I shut everyone (myself included) into the computer room while the exterminator did his work, but even that was mainly to avoid getting underfoot.

I am sure the cats were NOT disappointed by this turn of events -- I mean really, they got to do exactly the same thing they usually do on a Friday afternoon (which is to say, sleep), no need for anyone to be shut up in a carrier and carted across town. Hooray! But by the same token, the experience of trying to plan a short evacuation has led me to figure it might be a good idea to have a "drill" once in a while, just in case we all ever DO need to get out of the house for any length of time.

Termites. And a Field Trip For Cats.

Matt (the SO) and I recently began some electrical improvements in our garage -- basically the wiring in there was really old and crappy and scary (definitely NOT to code in places) and the lighting was poor, and there was nowhere to plug in a washer or dryer, and Matt needs more and beefier outlets for all the machine-shop stuff he would like to eventually install. It's been a project long in the making (or at least in the wanting), so it's nice to be finally getting to it.

As for how it impacts the cats here -- well, that's an interesting and somewhat convoluted matter. See, while the electrical part of things is going quite well (Matt even did the responsible thing and went and got permits from the city! And we are doing fun awesome things like bending conduit and attaching it to the walls! OMG!), we found a few subterranean termites attempting to set up shop in the wall framing.


(ACTUAL GARAGE PICTURE. WOOD DAMAGE IS REAL. NOMMING TERMITE IS A DRAMATIZATION.)

The damage we discovered was mainly just tunnels left by long-since-fumigated buglets, but still. We saw at least five or six live ones and that was enough to prompt calling the exterminators. I mean I know the termites are just trying to survive and all, but I am unwilling to let them eat my house toward that end. Left unchecked, termites can literally do this, and if it's all happening sight unseen (as it typically is), conditions can become quite dangerous for anyone entering the structure. Which means that the critters have to go, and that apparently (per last week's inspection) entails the exterminators drilling holes around the perimeter of the garage and injecting insecticide into the dirt underneath the slab there.

Anyway, the cat-relevant part of this ordeal is the fact that, despite the fact that the house is NOT being tented (this is just very localized application of liquid insecticide), the exterminators require the structure (meaning the whole house, as ours is an attached garage) to be vacated by all resident mammals. Thus, while Nigel the goldfish gets to stay happily swimming in his aquarium in the computer room, Matt and I and the kitties need to be elsewhere for approximately four hours on Termite Death Day.

We've scheduled the thing for one of my non-work days (currently my schedule only has me out of the house three days a week) so someone will be there to let the exterminators in. Matt will be at work, and I have plenty of places I could go locally that would get me out of the house...but the cats are going to be another matter entirely.

I can't just take them all out into the yard with me as the termite guys need to do some stuff outside as well and the yard isn't huge (meaning there's no way to get the requisite distance from the extermination work area). I REALLY don't want to board them, as they would all hate it, and plus it just seems like overkill given it's only for 3-4 hours. I had a friend offer to let my kitties hang out in his guest room but he lives a few towns over and my non-driving self wouldn't have any way to get there (let alone with four cats) during the day.

Thus far, the best option that has presented itself is for Matt's parents to pick me and the kitties up on Termite Morning and bring us to their (local, in-town) house for the day. This still makes me nervous for about a zillion reasons (most of them named "Nikki", who is going to -- and I don't use this term lightly -- flip her shit when she sees/smells that OTHER, UNFAMILIAR CATS LIVE THERE) but at least it wouldn't involve any of the kitties having to deal with totally unfamiliar humans. I will probably just see if I can put my guys' carriers in the parents' spare bedroom or something and hope they will sleep for a while. It won't be fun for them but it should at least be safe and minimally horrible.

All that said, I guess I am pleased that this situation has at least prompted me into action on something I should have taken care of a long time ago -- that is, last night I went ahead and ordered two more cat carriers. For a long time we only had one, because the kittens were so little they would all fit. Then the kittens stopped being so little (read: grew up into massive muscled strapping Beasts of Awesome) and so I got a second carrier in order to make for more efficient vet trips. Really, though, if you have four cats you should have four carriers -- I mean, in case of an emergency evacuation or something you REALLY want to be able to pack them up properly for maximum safety and whatnot. So now I will have four carriers, and that should not only make transporting them off on their field trip easier, but give me additional peace of mind in the emergency-preparedness realm.

Finally, I also have to admit that I am a teensy bit curious about seeing how the kitties react to "going visiting", especially given that most of the cats currently traipsing through Matt's parents' house are Cora's, Brodie's, and Shadow's cousins and probable half-siblings. I mean I don't expect them to remember specific individuals given that they were only 7-10 weeks old when they were last over there, but I am wondering if anything will at least smell familiar, and if so, what they will do. So as much as I am not looking forward to the logistical ordeal of this whole thing, and as much as I feel bad for having to put the cats through it in the first place, it isn't liable to be boring, that's for sure!

The Cat Collar Conundrum

(This post brought to you by "things that seem kind of frivolous but that I know other cat-appreciators are likely to be able to identify with, and which may with any luck generate some degree of practical discussion")

None of the four felines-in-residence here currently has unrestricted access to the outdoors. Nikki used to have daytime garden privileges, as that initially seemed like a fair arrangement given she'd been an outdoor cat at my parents' -- but I put my proverbial foot down about that after she sustained one too many injuries fighting who-knows-what last fall.

Still, they've all proven their skill at escape artistry on more than one occasion. Nikki in particular is a champion door-dasher -- often I have to exit the patio sliders walking backwards because she's so good at appearing out of nowhere and darting between my feet.

Shadow, meanwhile, let the whole crew out a few times before I finally learned how to latch the screen door properly (he knows how to paw sideways at it and push it open). And just generally I like to be prepared for the possibility that regardless of how thoroughly I fortify the house's potential exit points, someone is bound to get out every now and then.

Now, all kitties here are microchipped and registered with HomeAgain, so they've at least got that measure of identification with them at all times. But it still makes me nervous to think of them out roaming around with no visible identification. Thus, I've been trying to get everyone to wear a collar ever since the youngsters' major kitten growth spurts started tapering off.

The results of this have been...inconsistent.

Nikki has the best record so far, probably because she's so used to collar-wearing (since my parents had her wear one all the time) and because she has no interest in the vigorous wrestling matches her housemates regularly engage in.

Brodie is also pretty good about not losing his -- he's had his current one on for so long now that I can't remember the last time he slipped it.

Shadow and Cora (who seem to have morphed into tag-team mischief-makers lately), however, continue to confound all my efforts to keep them identifiable at a distance as Cats With A Home.

In Shadow's case, mostly he just loses his. It doesn't matter what type -- clasp, buckle, velcro, you name it -- give him a few days and it'll be gone, and when I find it (under the couch or behind a chair, usually) it will generally look like it's been pulled out of a war zone (because he chews on it and plays with it like a toy once it's off).

Cora also loses collars (probably for the same reasons Shadow does). I was all excited a few weeks ago as at that point she'd been doing great with a lovely elasticized orange collar -- but then I found said lovely collar buried in the litter box. Eeep. But she also has a different (and more worrisome) problem -- that is, a tendency to get collars stuck around her lower jaw. I only ever use breakaway cat collars, mind you, but I still get concerned she's going to injure herself in the process of thrashing around to free herself.

That said, right now she's wearing the neon pink number pictured below:



...and so far she has NOT gotten this one wrapped around her face. I've attached it a little more tightly than I have in the past, and now I am thinking perhaps the jaw-stuck phenomenon was due mainly to my being too tentative about tightness. As is evident in the photo above, Cora has a ridiculous amount of neck-fluff (to the point where I'm beginning to wonder if she's got a longhair gene being partially expressed, if such a thing is possible). I can still put two fingers easily between her collar and her neck the way it is now, so she's definitely not choking, but it does seem I need to put hers on somewhat tighter than, say, Brodie's or Nikki's.

But I digress. What I've been doing is putting it on her during the day (when humans are liable to be traipsing in and out of doors) but taking it off and putting it away before I go to bed at night. Kind of annoying, but definitely more cost-effective than replacing lost or litterbox-buried collars on a regular basis!

So, if anyone is inclined to discuss: does your cat (or cats) wear a collar? What type? How do you keep them wearing it? Am I overestimating the need for visual identification? Etc.?

Raw Feeding Update #1

Well, we are now about four weeks into the raw feeding trial here. Again I am pleased to report that Cora, Brodie, and Shadow are still doing extremely well on their new diet (which is still, and likely to remain, in a state of flux, for variety's sake if nothing else). Nobody has grown wings or become telepathic or anything -- I am certainly not one of those who believes raw food is some sort of Miracle Serum, but everyone seems plenty active, playful, etc.

On the gastrointestinal front, I continue to be astounded at how little the trio's poops stink these days, and how even Brodie's, er, deposits have been so consistent in their consistency. Even on the grain-free regular cat food (which was far more friendly to his system than some of the early grain-based foods I tried) he often seemed to have intestinal gas. As in, I could hear his guts gurgling from halfway across the room -- which can't have been comfortable for him. That's possibly the thing I am most pleased/excited about in this whole endeavor...Brodie just seems to FEEL better to a degree he never could on anything else we tried. Yay!

We've had a mere one incident of puking in the past month. I don't know who it was, as it was one of those "woken up by the Hork Alarm, but cats are all arranged at opposite corners of the living room by the time I manage to get out there" affairs.

I am not super concerned about this, though -- anyone who lives with cats for any length of time tends to learn firsthand that the feline approach to reverse peristalsis borders on the recreational. Moreover, all the cats had eaten some grass (from the yard, during one of their supervised outdoor jaunts) the previous day and of course there's always the Hairball Factor to consider.

Truth be told, only one incident of Gastronomical Splatter Art in the course of a month is kind of amazing when you live with four cats! So whether it was grass, hairballs, or perhaps a tad too much liver (it's very rich and I've since been strictly portioning it out so nobody gets more than a dime-sized piece per meal), it doesn't seem to have been a sign of anything sinister.

So, I expect I'll be keeping this up. It's actually far more logistically easy than I ever imagined -- I mean seriously, plopping one-third of a whole thawed quail down in someone's dish isn't appreciably more complicated than setting out half a can of wet food.

That said, the kitties are still also getting some commercial cat food, though probably less than 20% of their diet is currently comprised of this. I know some raw feeders encourage a complete switch as soon as possible but as I am taking an evidentiary approach rather than an ideological one, I figure I should probably not rush things or even necessarily assume before I have more data that All Raw, All The Time is the Absolute Best Ideal Cat Diet.

I am convinced at this point that there are aspects of raw feeding that are truly awesome and ought to be studied/explored/acknowledged, and my cats seem to be doing great so far, but I see no reason to make a religion out of it.

But I digress. The trio take their supplemental taurine no problem when it's mixed into a spoonful of meat-byproduct-pate', and while their "crunchies" (dry food) have pretty much been reduced to "treat" status, they each end up getting some of those most days as well.

I find that the crunchies are very handy for "enrichment"-type games...like putting a few of them into a tall cup on the floor and seeing if they can figure out how to knock it over (yep, they can). Or putting them (the crunchies, not the cats!) into weird apparatusses (apparati?) like the one in my Informal Cat Cognition Experiment.

The youngsters also LOVE the "chase the crunchie across the floor" game, and Shadow has become incredibly proficient at catching his treats in mid-air (yet another thing he taught himself to do...I really must post a video of it sometime!)

I still haven't tried raw with Nikki and I am kind of afraid to. She is such a "Princess and the Pea" about food and pretty much everything (this isn't an insult...she just has extremely keen senses, even for a cat, and her sense of taste is particularly acute) that I suspect even a micron of raw chicken mixed into her Fancy Feast would set off her alarms. I would still like to try at some point but give how picky she is I am reluctant to risk potentially putting her off the only well-hydrated thing she will (at least when she's not going through one of her "I Hate Everything" weeks) accept.

Oh yeah. And the bone thing. Wow. I have never SEEN such enthusiasm at mealtime. Shadow especially LOVES his chicken and quail wings and legs and ribs, etc. LOVES them. Like to the point where he will stand up on his hind legs, paws on the kitchen counter (he is REALLY tall now!), shrieking at me as I portion out the carcass of whatever it is I'm preparing.

And then when he gets his Meaty Bone Of The Day he sits there gnawing on it and growling and making noises that literally sound like "OMNOMONONONMMNOM!"

Cora does this occasionally as well which just amuses me to no end because she's so little and sweet-looking...she is truly the epitome of badass adorable.

Brodie, meanwhile, tends to stand off in a corner (or, lately, under the dining room table -- he seems to prefer eating with a "roof" over his head) politely and methodically chomping away, then licking up the bits and quite daintily cleaning his paws when finished.

I've actually been having to put Shadow in a different room once he's finished his own meal, as he can be a bit on the pushy side and Brodie (the resident gentle Gamma boy) is more of a pushover. He doesn't challenge Shadow if said brother tries to steal his chicken wing...he's more liable to be all "Okay, bro, no problem...take it...backing up now, I'll just be over here..."). This is turning out to be a wholly manageable situation, though, and with the raw stuff I prefer to watch them eating anyway so monitoring isn't a big deal.

Further Feline Food Follies

DISCLAIMER: I am not connected with any pet food industry companies, receive no compensation for writing about a given food, and will not ever exclusively promote any particular brand as the One True Nutritional Answer for All Cats. In my household I purposely try and rotate brands and flavors and I have no "brand loyalty" other than in the practical sense of continuing to buy what my cats eat, enjoy, and do well on. Hence all opinions and impressions stated herein should be considered the observations of one individual, not the party line of either a company or a group with the aim of discrediting a company.

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I've offered the resident felines many, many different brands and flavors of food (wet and dry) and the younger cats have mostly been happy with whatever they've got in front of them. Coraline is somewhat pickier than her brothers and has stronger preferences (i.e., she is a fish fiend!) but she's not nearly as finicky as Nikki.

That said, I am pleased to have finally found a dry food that everyone likes and that doesn't trigger any of Brodie's food intolerances (he reacts to corn the way a human with severe lactose intolerance reacts to milk -- gas, bloating, and a nasty case of the runs). Oddly enough it's a "weight management" formula (specifically, EVO Weight Management), but you can feed it either in a weight loss amount or in a weight maintenance amount because it's very nutrient-dense.

The younger cats all liked the "regular" EVO (both the chicken and fish flavors) just fine, but Nikki wouldn't touch it for some reason. She did, however, like the Innova Cat & Kitten Formula, so for a while I tried feeding that to everyone -- until it became evident Brodie couldn't tolerate it. Innova doesn't contain corn but it does contain barley, and I am beginning to suspect Brodie is one of those cats that has worse-than-average problems with grains, period. Anyway, to make a long story short, on a whim I picked up a bag of Evo Weight Management one day a few weeks ago and it ended up being a huge hit with everyone -- including Nikki! So I am definitely planning on sticking with it as their "primary" dry food (while continuing to mix in other grain-free varieties -- right now they're trying Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon).

And then there is the matter of wet food. Everyone here gets about 3 oz. of wet food daily, divided into two portions. I figure that way they can get some of the benefits of the generally higher protein content of wet food in addition to increased hydration. The younger cats have usually been willing to at least try any wet food I give them (especially the boys...Cora sometimes waits to see if her brothers will eat something before trying it herself!) but again, Nikki...not so much.

This has caused me some amount of angst because she has outright rejected EVERY "high quality" wet food I've offered her. Wellness, Evo canned, Tiki Cat, Natural Balance, Felidae...essentially Nikki's reaction to these sorts of foods is either to sniff them and literally gag, or run away from them making grumbly "harumphing" noises.

She liked a particular supermarket brand for a while (Paws Premium, purchased at Lucky's grocery) but then both she and Shadow suffered a full day of vigorous vomiting after eating what I suspect was part of a "bad batch", so I don't feed that brand anymore at all.*

What Nikki does like, however, is Fancy Feast, otherwise known as Kitty Crack. I couldn't believe her reaction to it the first time I offered it to her. She inhaled it, then proceeded to lick the plate absolutely clean! Needless to say, I was ever so slightly shocked. So since then I've been getting her the "Classic" (pate') varieties of that, as despite not being anywhere near "human grade", it's at least a way to get some extra protein and water into her diet. Her favorites so far have been the Savory Salmon Feast and the Ocean Whitefish & Tuna Feast.

Seeing as she's going to be nine this year I know I have to start watching out for (and taking measures to prevent) issues like diabetes, kidney problems, and the like, and everything I've read recently suggests wet food is a step in the right direction as far as that sort of thing goes.

And aside from the issues of dubious manufacturing quality/evasiveness on Purina's part about the source of their ingredients (these are major, non-trivial issues, just not the main subject of this post), some varieties of Fancy Feast are actually pretty darn good for cats from a nutritional standpoint. Some varieties are awful -- basically bits of textured wheat gluten in "gravy" made from who-knows-what, and I've noticed that the "fancier" and "cuter" the graphics on the cans are, the worse the ingredients tend to be. E.g., the "Elegant Medleys" line would be right out in my household, seeing as everything in it contains corn starch.

So, somewhat contrary to what the marketing might suggest, the FF types best for cats are the most unassuming-looking ones, in particular the "Classic pate" varieties. These tend to be pretty much all animal parts and water, with some vitamin supplements added in (always necessary when serving cooked meat to cats).

Yes, some of the animal parts are described in slightly worrisome terms like "meat" and "meat by-products" (no indication of what KIND of meat -- pork? beef? hamster? wildebeest? emu? soylent green?) but seeing as cats in the wild aren't THAT picky about their protein sources, I figure they might be better off with a few mysterious byproducts here and there than with some kind of "oatmeal, blueberry, sweet potato, thyme, and acai berry" concoction as one might find in a Premium Natural brand ("Premium natural" brands can be awesome, or they can be...not so much better for cats than supermarket stuff as designed to appeal to Hippie Human Sensibilities. References to "healthy complex carbohydrates for energy" are a warning sign in this regard, as cats have practically no need for carbs, period).

What I would consider an "ideal" cat food (aside from the obvious primary criterion of "something the cat likes, eats, and doesn't get sick from") would be very basic, consisting of mainly muscle meat from poultry and/or rabbit mixed with an appropriate amount of organ meats, with any necessary supplements (such as calcium) added in appropriate amounts. Some foods do approximate or even exactly match this but they tend to be pricey and definitely inaccessible to a lot of people as they are only available at specialty pet food stores, or (in the case of raw feeding) logistically difficult to prepare on a regular basis. Short version: if at any point you're stuck with "grocery store" cat food, Fancy Feast Classic varieties are definitely not the worst you could do, nutrition-wise.

BUT: all that said, lately I've been wondering if Purina did something to change the Fancy Feast formula. I'm not the only one wondering this. Because for the past week, ever since I got the most recent package of the stuff (a 24-pack of the Classic Seafood varieties), Nikki has been...less than enthused. I know sometimes picky cats like her sometimes just get tired of their former "favorites" (makes sense...I was a picky kid growing up and I remember occasionally getting worn out on any one of my "staples") so I suppose that could be all that's going on, but the fact that other people have been reporting similar reactions from their cats makes me suspicious.

Moreover, the younger cats seem to be eating their FF (or FF-mixed-with-other-stuff blends) with considerably less gusto than before. I am not so concerned about this in their case seeing as they all actually eat plenty of other brands, but I will certainly be plenty annoyed on Nikki's behalf if Purina DID change the formula/flavoring in one of the only wet foods that doesn't disgust her.

And I will also be beyond irritated on behalf of the many cats struggling with health problems like diabetes and chronic renal failure, who have up until now done very well on the all-meat varieties of FF. It is not absolutely clear that a significant change has occurred, but still, I think pet food manufacturers need to be VERY cognizant of just how sensitive cats' sense of taste is. A change that seems "insignificant" to a human might make the difference between a given cat loving a food and deciding it's fit for litter-box burial.

So, as I continue to await further news of what the F is going on with the Fancy Feast Formula, I will certainly continue to experiment with other food brands and flavors. I got a somewhat promising result with the Whole Foods 360 store brand of cat food (ocean fish and tuna flavor) -- Nikki has eaten nearly two cans of this with reasonable enthusiasm, so I may get some more of that to make sure it wasn't just a fluke!

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* Yes, I did contact the manufacturer of this supermarket brand, describe the symptoms, and give them the batch number, etc. I was told several weeks later via a letter they had "tested the batch and found no evidence the food was responsible for [my] pets' illness". But who knows what exactly they tested FOR. In any case, I figured that it made the most sense to just not feed that brand anymore, so I don't. One midnight trip to the emergency vet was enough!

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Carnivorous By Nature

Felis Cattus, is your taxonomic nomenclature,
an endothermic quadruped carnivorous by nature?
Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses
contribute to your hunting skills, and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
a singular development of cat communications
that obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
for a rhythmic stroking of your fur, to demonstrate affection.

- From "Ode to Spot", a poem read by the android Data in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, 'Schisms'

A few years ago, while visiting Matt's parents (Matt being my Significant Other; his parents live locally to us) I witnessed a scene that probably plays out all the time in nature, but which I don't see all that often when I click links entitled "cute kitten video!!" In the back yard, a tiny (probably 7 weeks old at most) feral kitten was gleefully flinging an object around. Initially my reaction was typical: along the lines of "aww, how adorable!" But then I got a closer look at the object...and saw that it was a partly-eaten dead bird (most likely a house sparrow). Which I have to admit gave me a bit of a jolt. But that jolt was only momentary because I remembered, hey, this is a cat. Cuteness does not equal vegetarianism, after all!

So yeah. Personally I tend toward a vegetarian diet and prefer plant-based foods for myself whenever feasible. However this does not mean I would ever be tempted to impose my preferences and choices in this regard on my cats. Moreover, while I certainly disagree with factory farming practices and don't think I could stand hanging around in a slaughterhouse, I do accept that nature includes carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores, and somehow I doubt things would go well for life on Earth if all the carnivores suddenly disappeared!

But on to the main point of this post, which is to discuss a weird thing I've noticed looking around in the "pet" sections of grocery stores and the like. And that is the way products (especially food) for dogs and cats are marketed, formulated, and made available. I don't want to take the time right now to go around photographing display shelves and ingredients labels, so take this for what it's worth, but I suspect most people who've looked at these items will be familiar with what I am describing here.

Basically it looks to me like there's this perception of cats as being these dainty little creatures whose sensibilities might even be described as "delicate". Whereas dogs (with the exception of the "toy" breeds) are associated with a sort of rough-and-tumble "outdoorsiness" (or something along those lines). Dog food cans and bags tend to employ "strong"-looking or blocky lettering and dark or bold colors; cat food packaging is heavy on the pastels and the flowery script. Dogs and cats can of course be either male or female, but in many cases it seems like cat products look stereotypically "feminine" whereas dog products look stereotypically "masculine".

Now of course I am not claiming that the observations above are universally or 100% true for all foods and other products. For instance, foods marketed as being "natural" or "holistic" tend to use similar (frequently neutral or "artsy"-looking) packaging colors and designs for both cats and dogs. And there are certainly exceptions to the "all dogs are boys, all cats are girls" imagery; i.e., the archetypically masculine tomcat and the fluffy pink-beribboned poodle both show up repeatedly in popular culture. But I still think the overall trends otherwise I am describing here are at least prevalent enough to be worth mentioning.

All that said, I want to specifically focus on food here. Biologically speaking, cats are obligate carnivores (meaning they must consume the particular nutrients found in the flesh of other animals in order to survive). Dogs, while also technically carnivores, can eat a more omnivorous diet and tend to have less digestive trouble with grains than cats do. Yet the marketing and available selection of cat and dog foods and treats in many of the stores I've visited would suggest the exact opposite!

To illustrate what I mean, I was in one store recently (a local hardware store that is really more of a "general household goods" emporium, i.e., they carry lots of gardening equipment and rugs in addition to nuts, bolts, and tools) and in their "pet" aisle I noticed several things. One was that the selection of dog food was about twice as large as the selection of cat food. Another was that the dog food selection included at least one of the "natural" brands, noted as being high meat/low grain. The cat section included no such option; if I'd been restricted to buying food there, I'd have been completely out of luck as there was nothing Brodie (who gets severe stomach upset from corn and probably barley as well) could safely eat.

I have noticed the same trend in most grocery stores as far as treats are concerned. Treats of course are not a necessity, but as long as one isn't over-feeding one's cats or dogs, they can be a nice little mid-day surprise or supplement. But ye gads. Dogs get all this nice jerky stuff -- essentially pure meat -- while cats get these little "Fun Shaped" crunchy or chewy things that are, of course, predominantly corn. What. The. Heck.

So yeah. I am not sitting here fuming in outrage over all this -- there are, after all, multiple local pet supply stores where I can easily find reasonably species-appropriate cat food -- but this sort of thing does confuse and annoy me. It just seems like there's this bizarre cultural stereotype of cats being dainty, girlish...salad-eaters, or something, that is totally incongruous with their carnivorous reality*. And I don't think it does anyone, much less cats themselves, any service to misrepresent or disregard this reality.

* Not that there is anything wrong with being girlish, my point is more that there seems to be a conflation of cats with feminine with needing-less-meat, etc., which makes no sense at all, and wouldn't if applied to dogs or humans either!

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What I've Learned About Litter Boxes

Ah, the litter box -- essential to every home where cats spend time indoors, seemingly simple, yet often fraught with complexity in terms of what it takes to create an ideal setup.

I never expected to spend as much time as I have since the current resident felines moved in figuring this out, but seeing as we've had zero problems in that department so far around here, I consider every moment spend pondering the intricacies of litter substrates, containers, and locations, to be well worth it.

I have to admit that when I was growing up, I lacked the appreciation I currently have for the importance of creating restroom facilities for cats that truly appeal to and meet feline criteria. Poor Tim (our family's Siamese guy, who we had from when I was in 5th grade through my senior year of high school) often had to put up with some truly terrible box conditions simply because we humans were not vigilant enough about keeping it clean.

Granted, at the time we did not have the wonderful invention that is clumping litter, but still. Since the box was in the downstairs basement bathroom it was very easy to just forget about it for days, and not give it much of a thought until Tim chose to communicate his displeasure with his toilet conditions by, say, crapping right in the center of my beanbag chair (for which I don't blame him one bit!).

In any case, I have learned (from my youthful irresponsibility and from a variety of cat-related books and online resources) a number of things that I believe have permitted a much better environment for the felines who now share my home. Among these valuable pieces of information are:

(1) Have more than one box.

This is absolutely essential in a multi-cat home (and possibly essential even if you only have one cat, if said cat is very young, very old, ill, or if your home has multiple stories).

One of the most eye-opening things I've learned of late has been just how very important territory is to cats, and the litter box is often one of the most contested and worried-about bits of real estate in the feline's home environment. Hence, one litter box for 2 or more cats is pretty much a recipe for territorial disputes, quite possibly of the smelly variety. Moreover, if such disputes are taking place, it's a sure bet the kitties involved are going to be stressed and hence unhappy much of the time, which obviously isn't good.

Luckily, there's a simple solution -- multiple litter boxes (and this is important) placed in different rooms, or different areas of the house. This effectively "splits up" the pottying territory, making it impossible for more dominant cats to "guard" the only available bathroom.

Furthermore, having multiple boxes actually makes for easier cleaning, as odd as that may sound -- but it makes sense when you consider that each box is likely to have a much lower concentration of waste.

As for exactly how many boxes, that is going to depend on a number of things. Most guidelines I've read as of late suggest "one box per cat, plus one extra". And my guess is that this is a wonderful guideline to follow, likely to pretty much guarantee zero territorial battles over bathrooming space.

However, I must admit that I have not personally managed to fulfill this guideline in my household -- we only have three boxes currently. I would love to have another box, but I can't for the life of me figure out where to put it. If the (one and only) bathroom were larger I'd put one in there, but the size it is now, there's literally nowhere to put a litter box where it wouldn't interfere with opening and closing the bathroom door.

The living room, meanwhile, is a "play zone" and the kitchen is a "food zone", so I don't want to put litter boxes in either of those rooms, because cats generally don't like to crap where they eat or play anyway. So for now we are sort of stuck with the three-box arrangement. I also realize that my litter box locations are not the best (two of them are in closets, albeit ones that are never closed) in terms of providing the cats with maximum visibility whilst going about their business, but I couldn't exactly put them where everyone would be tripping over them. So I did not have a whole lot of options in that regard.

[And my house isn't tiny, it's just laid out such that the majority of the area is a big, open space (living room plus kitchen) and the rest is divided up into very small rooms connected by a short hallway.]

So far all the cats seem fine with this three-box arrangement -- nobody has complained (and by "complained" I of course mean "crapped in my shoe to communicate their displeasure with the facilities"), at least. Plus, since Nikki has yard access, she can do her business outdoors (at least on some days); thankfully she prefers un-used (by humans) corners of the yard as opposed to the vegetable garden for that purpose. But I just keep thinking there must be some creative solution I haven't thought of, whereby I could stick another box somewhere just for that extra peace of mind it would provide.

Also, I have to say that figuring out where the boxes will go has definitely solidified my sense of my house's "cat-carrying capacity". I would definitely not want to be figuring out where I'd put six or seven litter boxes, which tells me that four cats is probably my ideal maximum for this living space, so that is what I am sticking to.

(2) Get your litter boxes at the hardware store, not the pet store.

These days when I go into the pet store, I almost have to laugh at the kitty bathroom facilities they offer. They're so small! And the sides are so low! Or they've got elaborate covers over them, inside which I cannot see how an average-sized cat could even turn around, let alone poop comfortably. And they're ridiculously expensive, for what they are.

I've had much, much better luck with (a) large plastic storage containers (20 gallon or larger, with FLAT bottoms, not the kind with weird grooves in them) -- the high sides do a worthwhile job of reducing "litter scatter", and (b) cement mixing pans.

Currently I have two storage-container boxes and one cement-mixing-bin box. They were all cheap, cheap, cheap (under $10 apiece, if I recall correctly) and all the cats here use them enthusiastically.

Below are pictures of my various "litter box stations", with a bit of commentary on each:

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Box #1


Box #1 is located in the spare bedroom/"library" (it's a very small room with bookcases taking up one entire wall, a futon under the window, and a small table in front of the futon). This one is made from an Ikea Snalis storage box, which we've had since Cora and Brodie were tiny (back in October 2009). It has held up very well so far and this box gets a lot of "traffic", even though it's a bit smaller surface-area-wise than the other two boxes. So I am guessing the kitties like the location.

The one hurdle about this box's placement I haven't yet had to deal with (but have thought about) is: what if we actually have overnight guests at some point? Matt and I are kind of hermit-y and don't have many people over, but it presumably could happen. And my guess is that most people would not want to sleep in a room right next to an evening feature of "Kitty Takes A Dump At Midnight".

But I know cats don't like having their boxes moved all of a sudden and I certainly don't want to stress them, especially given that the mere fact of having guests at all would probably wig them a little.

So I am guessing that what I might do is plan way ahead for any overnight guests, and move the litter box out into the hallway (as gradually as possible). But in the meantime, I will certainly leave the box in that room because it's probably the least used-by-humans room in the house, making it perfect most of the time to house a kitty bathroom.

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Box #2:



Box #2 is a clear Rubbermaid storage bin. Slightly larger than Box #1, and with the "step-in cutout" on the long side of the box rather than the short end, this one is located in the hall closet next to the bathroom. This closet has 2 sliding doors but we never close the one on the litter box side, whereas the other side is pretty much always closed because that's where the water heater is. So it's really more like the litter box is in a little "alcove" thing in the hallway, which is a good place for it logistics-wise because that way I'm not liable to accidentally step in it.

It actually took the kitties a rather long time to notice this box was even there, though that could be simply because it's the newest of the three boxes and by the time I added it to the set, everyone had become accustomed to using the boxes in the 2 other locations. But they do use it now (at least, the three younger cats do -- I've never seen Nikki even acknowledge Box #2), and for some reason it seems to get a lot of night-time traffic.

Eventually I would like to perhaps take that one closet door off completely and perhaps paint the shelves above the box (making a tidy little cat-nook; I already use it to store extra litter and other cat supplies in plastic containers). But for now it does the job as-is.

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Box #3:



Box #3 is a large black cement mixing pan I got for about $6 at the little hardware store down the street. If the sides were just a bit higher (they're about 6") I would probably consider it to be the Most Perfect Litter Box Ever. It has a ton of surface area (which was the main reason I got it -- my boy cats especially are big guys, and still growing, and I wanted to have something they'd be able to turn around in, etc., once they reached full size). It has a smooth bottom with NO grooves, which is rounded at both ends, so scooping is very easy, and litter clumps are far less likely to break up.

(There is a commercially available litter box with a similar design, but you will pay more for it than you would pay for a cement mixing bin. Its sides are a bit higher than those of the cement bin, though, so for some people that alone might be worth the additional cost.)

I have this box placed on one side of the closet in the computer/office room. Matt and I completely removed the doors from this closet (they were huge mirrored affairs that Matt disliked from the get-go anyway) so it is not a very "closety" space anymore. All four kitties seem very pleased with Box #3, especially Nikki, who likes to be able to see all around her while using the facilities.

Mind you, none of my cats seem to be the types to stick their butts over the edge of the box and "miss" or produce horizontal "over-spray". If your kitties have these sorts of tendencies, the sides on the cement mixing bin might be too low for you to consider. As it is, I am glad that I had a "corner" location to place this box in (I attached plastic shelf liner to the adjacent walls, just in case...) because there is definitely more scatter from this box than from the storage containers. But I don't really want a higher sided box in that location because it's right near the doorway to the room and higher sides would probably eliminate the visibility advantage. And really the scatter is not THAT bad, as long as I keep on top of it with the mini-Dyson-vac!

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(3) Avoid covered boxes.

Now, there are exceptions to this one...some shy or self-conscious cats prefer to do their business in a cave, so to speak. But the majority of cats are far less inclined to appreciate a cover on their litter box, and more inclined to appreciate the extra head-room, visibility, and fresh-airiness that a lidless box provides.

I have known many cats who use covered boxes without complaint, but seeing as I wanted to pre-emptively prevent litter box problems when it came to my kitties, I decided to go with lidless boxes from the get-go. Which is one reason plastic storage containers are so nice...they provide all the litter-scatter protection of a covered box without the cover!

Plus, not having a cover makes the box way easier to clean...you don't have to disconnect or remove anything, whether you're scooping or dumping and scrubbing the whole box. There are no little plastic clasps to break or get stuck, no litter-cement stuck in odd little nooks and crannies...just smooth surface all over. Lovely, as such things go! And of course there's the advantage of you being able to SEE the poop when it's there, rather than having it build up out of sight, creating much grossness for the cat and also for you later when you finally go deal with the mess.

(Oh and regarding electronic "self cleaning" litter boxes? I've never tried one, and don't plan to. All I can think of when I see those things is how they're full of small and moving parts that would ALL have to be periodically cleaned, which I know would be a huge hassle for me. I much prefer the low-tech simplicity of "all one piece" boxes. Your, and your cats', mileage may vary, though.)

About the only covered box I would ever consider would be one with holes, or mesh, on all sides, to allow for air flow and visibility. But there is no way I am going to want to "trap odors inside"...that right there is a major recipe for litter box avoidance. Not to mention the fact that, in a multi-cat situation, covered boxes provide the perfect opportunity for ambushes, which can lead to shy cats avoiding the box altogether and deciding that your laundry basket (or worse) makes a safer toilet.

I just didn't want to set up the conditions to foster ANY litter box avoidance, and for me, the fact that occasionally I have to walk by a box and see (and smell) a turd sitting there is MUCH preferable to stressed, box-avoiding kitties and probably extra messes to clean up in places much less scoop-friendly than the litter box.

(4) Scoop more than once a day.

This is especially important in multi-cat situations (singlet kitties may not require it, but it depends on the individual cat). I scoop all boxes twice a day minimum, sometimes more. It's part of my morning routine and evening routine now, and I would feel very weird if I didn't do it. Letting waste build up not only makes box avoidance more likely, but gets awfully smelly very fast, and can even end up costing you (as you will surely go through more litter that way).

Seriously. You do not want your kitty to have to step through piles of his/her own waste in order to use the toilet. If you need help managing litter boxes, get help. (I realize this is easier said than done, though, if you need help that badly, so I do not mean to denigrate anyone's situation). I guess what I'm saying is, keeping the box inviting (which means clean) should be a priority, not an after-thought or optional consideration when it comes to creating a good home for cats.

(5) Avoid scented / perfumed litter, "pet area" air fresheners, etc..

This one was very easy for me as I myself can't stand the smells of most scented products, litter included. Plus it is just patently apparent to me that covering up an odor is not going to fool a cat! Dirty litter is still dirty, no matter how much it might smell like the choke-inducing soap in your Great Aunt Effie's bathroom cabinet. Same goes for potpourri-spray around the litter box, or scented candles or whatnot. No cat with a crap-filled box is going to smell the aroma of Cinnamon-Citrus Breeze and think "oh how wonderful!" More likely, the cat will use the box grudgingly, if at all, and become that much more liable to go seek out a less asphyxiating bathroom location.

(And again, YMMV on this one -- I am not trying to be a judgmental zealot here, but it just seems to me like common sense that you wouldn't use a heavily-perfumed product in a toilet facility for someone with an extremely keen sense of smell. Just as with covered boxes, though, I have known cats who don't seem to mind scented litter. But as I personally can't stand the stuff myself, and as I'm big into that whole prevent-problems-before-they-start thing, I just figured I was better off finding an unscented litter and sticking with it.)

As for what litter substrate I use? Currently I am using Swheat Scoop Multi-Cat. Mostly I started out with this litter because it was the only one I could find that was unscented, indicated it was "safe for kittens", and also clumped. (Clumping clay litter is not recommended for kittens, as supposedly it can cause intestinal blockage when licked off their paws).

I'm more or less happy with it, though it would be nice if it clumped a little more firmly. It is not dust-free but it's a heck of a lot less dusty than any clay litter I've come across. And I like that the bags are much lighter to carry than an equivalent volume of clay. I don't see any reason to switch brands, and I wouldn't want to do so suddenly anyway, because that's another thing that can lead to box avoidance ("hey, this isn't the stuff I usually crap in!").

(Note: I have also tried the non-multi-cat variety and confirmed that there is a performance difference -- regular Swheat Scoop definitely does not smell as fresh for as long as the multi-cat stuff. After a few days, even with regular scooping, it starts to smell like a gas-station restroom. So I would recommend trying the multi-cat Swheat Scoop if you're heading down the wheat road anyway, even if you only have a singular cat.)

Some people have recommended World's Best Cat Litter to me. I am sure it is a fine product but I can't use it because of Brodie's corn intolerance. He is so sensitive to the stuff that even two or three corn-based treats will give him the runs, so I certainly wouldn't want him walking around in corn-based anything or cleaning himself with that stuff all over him. If your cat doesn't have this corn issue then you would probably be fine with WBCL (and it might be something to try if your cat instead has a problem with wheat, as some cats do).

(6) Flushable Litter Generally Isn't.

This is more of a human-relevant concern than a cat-relevant concern, but seeing as our sewer cleanout recently backed up into the front yard, I figured I would point it out so others could hopefully avoid a similar fate. It is probably fine to flush individual poops down the toilet (I do this sometimes still, and have no problems), but you definitely do NOT want to be putting giant pee-clumps down that drain.

My guess is that even if you let it sit for the recommended 20 minutes, that is still a heck of a lot of sheer matter for the crapper to "digest". Even a nominally "flushable" litter, when flushed in the quantities you'd expect from four cats, can lead to a plumbing nightmare, and most people I know would prefer to avoid nightmares of that variety.

So unless you know you have super-mega-industrial piping in your home, you probably just want to toss the used litter clumps into the trash. If you are worried about biodegradability, you can actually get biodegradable bags for this purpose (they sell them to pick up doggie waste with). And you don't need to spend lots on a special receptacle for bags of litter, either -- a regular diaper pail or trash can with a tight-fitting lid (not one of those swing-type things) will do the job just fine.

And as for environmental concerns, there appears to me to be no "perfect" litter or way to deal with cat waste. Some people don't recommend flushing any cat waste because toxoplasma parasite can harm sea otters. Others claim flushing is better because that way you don't have anything sitting in a landfill. I would suggest just doing your own research and balancing whatever you find with your cats' and your individual needs.

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Now, note that none of the above were my original ideas...aside from the "this is what I'm doing in my home" bits, I am just repeating advice I've heard/read in far too many places to reference here, trying to spread the information around so that more people are likely to encounter it.