mad cat diaries

Litter box solutions shouldn’t be that difficult.

I don’t really require much to be satisfied – a warm spot to sleep, a nice scratching post, food and water all day long, some pleasant brushing, and a clean place to do my business.  That’s all…  not much.

My Humans do a relatively good job of giving me those things.  But I hear stories, horror stories, of litter boxes gone very, very wrong.

Since we step into our “toilets” with our little footies,  shouldn’t it be every Human’s desire to make sure the litter and boxes are clean?  Think about it… how would you like to step into your toilet, dig around, do your business and jump out without anyone ever flushing it or scrubbing  it.  Hmmmm????  Not a pretty thought, is it.

Okay, go ahead and delete that from your brain.  Sorry.

When a Cat steps into the litter box, he or she has two things in mind… relief, then dig dig dig bury bury bury dig dig dig.  In other words, that litter (and the goodies in it) are going to get flung somewhere if the box is loaded with poops and clumps of pee.  There I said it.

Please keep the litter box clean.

Onto two of my recommended goodies.  First the litter, then let’s have a little fun with the litter box.

Let’s start with the simplest thing – a good litter.  My recommendation?  I like this Nature’s Miracle Odor Control stuff.  It smells nice, clumps nice, and generally works like it’s supposed to.
I’ve had to endure some pretty awful litter in my day, and this one makes up for that.
My personal feeling about corn litter and newspaper litter is “I’d rather not.”  Sorry.  My Humans tried, but corn smells funny when it gets wet… and so does newspaper.  Those big pellet things fly all over the place.  But, whatever you Humans choose, keep it clean.

Now, if you really want to have fun, get an automatic cleaning litter box.
It’s good for a few laughs (or not, as evidenced by the Cat in this picture).
Personally, a good old regular litter box works just fine, but if you want to go high tech, this is cool.
But, hey, this Scoop Free Automatic Litter Box can be rather entertaining, and you don’t have to get your little hands dirty.

Then for the completely insane luxury kitty toilets, here are the winners -
The CatGenie Self Washing Self Flushing Cat Box and the Litter Robot LRII

Okay, that was fun. Now, would you mind getting those things I left in my litter box OUT?! Thanks.

Cat Behavior Problems – Peeing Outside The Box

What causes a Cat behavior problem like peeing outside the box?  It could be having your butt dragged to a psychiatrist.  That would make me want to find my Human’s favorite shoes and pee in ‘em.  Okay, that’s really not the reason; I just had to throw that in.

Anyway, I imagined I had the title Maddest Cat In The World.  I imagined I had the worst temperament of any Cat in the world.  However, I was scrolling around the internet the other day (which is somewhat difficult sans opposable thumbs) and stumbled upon this fascinating story of a dearly departed mad Cat named Calvin.

Kathy, the humorous Human of The Junk Drawer, aka junkdrawerblog.com and her master, the aforementioned Calvin -  may he rest in peace – had come to a crossroads.  Calvin was mad and displayed the devil within by simply being ornery.

I understand ornery Cats.  It takes one to understand one.  So, I understand Calvin.  His devilish behavior manifested itself in a couple ways… 1) keep your hands off me, and 2) I’ll pee where I darn well please.

Since his behavior was getting so uncontrollable (biting the vet and other fun things like that) the Human decided to get Calvin’s head examined… by a shrink.

The result.  You can read all about it here, The Thing I Swore I’d Never Tell Anyone at JunkDrawerBlog.com

The upshot is the shrink couldn’t shrink a thing.  The ornery behavior couldn’t be changed.  Ornery Cats are sometimes ornery because they can be.

However, the psychiatrist did come up with the ‘duh’ solution that every Cat’s Human needs to know – more litter boxes are good.  The more you put around the place, the better we like it.

The moral of this story?  If you have a mad Cat skulking around the house, learn to live with it.  If you have a mad Cat who’s skulking around the house AND peeing outside the box, put out more litter boxes.

Thanks Kathy for your splendid tale and for giving us a glimpse into your dearly departed Calvin’s wonderful personality.  I admire every Mad Cat.