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Adventures in cat litter: Automatic boxes and litters that tell a tale
By Gina Spadafori
June 13, 2008
When I had just the one cat (the Empress Clara) the litter thing was pretty easy. I had a plain, simple box in the half-bath (which rendered that tiny space completely non-functional as a bathroom). I used a good clumping litter (World’s Best) and scooped twice a day.
Add cat No. 2 (Ilario the Crazed) and things got a litte more complicated. From one simple box, we’re up to three. (Behaviorists generally recommend one box per cat, plus once extra.) And since I couldn’t fit so much more as a roll of toilet paper into the tiny half-bath, the additional boxes went into my attached garage. And then I figured, hey, I wanted my little half-bathroom back, so then the boxes all went out in the garage.
This worked well as far as the cats went, but had some problems for me. There’s no way into the garage without leaving the door propped open, when meant the dogs soon discovered they could get to the boxes. Also: It’s hot here now, and I really don’t want to pay for the air conditioning to go into the garage. This weekend I’ll be finding someone to put a cat door in to the door between the kitchen and the garage, so Clara e Ilario can get to the boxes without the dogs or much of the cool air following them. Yeah, it’s not a big problem. Just one more damn thing to do.
The plain boxes and the scooping are fine, but the other day, another automatic litter box arrives for testing.
Now generally, I haven’t been too keen on automatic boxes. Great in theory, but not in practice. They’re huge, and they don’t seem to work very well for very long, for any number of reasons pretty much without regard to the brand. They clog, the motors burn out, they terrify the cats — you name the reason, but I just haven’t liked them. Especially for the prices they want! I get them free for testing, so it’s not like I’m shelling out for these “appliances.” If I had been, I would have gone from “not like” to “hate” very quickly, because I hate throwing wads of money away on items that quickly become non-functional.
Every automatic litter box I’ve tried has been a pain to set up (OK, so I don’t have a lot of patience or technical ability) and has quickly become useless. I’ve either given or thrown away every one. They’re not worth the trouble to set up and deal with, when it’s really not a big deal to just scoop a darn box.
But what the heck, here was a new test model, the Scoop Free, so I figured I’d try it. Wasn’t at all hard to set up, uses crystals instead of clumping litter and the cats took to it right away. It has been up and running for a week now, with no problems whatsoever, so I gotta say I’m impressed so far. The price isn’t bad for the start-up kit, either: $140.
The Scoop Free has a cartridge you replace at regular intervals, which means both money (the cartridges are insanely expensive — $12-15 each – considering they’re just plastic and litter) and more garbage for the landfill. For two cats, I would have needed two or three a month. That didn’t impress me, but I quickly discovered a couple of aftermarket products that helps with the cost: the Permascoop and the Forever Tray are permanent, reusable cartiridges in plastic (the Easy Scoop’s is cardboard) that allow you to use any kind of crystal litter, the the brand that comes with the Scoop Free official cartrdige. I’ll be ordering a couple of these plastic trays, one to use and one to have ready.
The other boxes with the World’s Best litter are still getting their share of attention from the cats, but that’s fine. Every cat gets to choose and as long as they’re using the boxes, I’m good with it.
While we’re on the subject of litter, I have to pass along a couple of reader endorsements about litters that change color to alert owners to a potential health problem with their cat. My friend Mary was using one of these litters — Scientific – and sent me this note:
Matilda was less hesitant to drink water or otherwise venture around. The litter turns shades of pink when a urinary tract infection is on. Sure enough, she was getting sick. Great litter.
A couple similar products are out there, including Health Meter and Clean Scoop First Alert. What a great idea.
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heheh
all that just to deprive your doggies of the joys of eating cat poop…
;-)
Comment by EmilyS — June 13, 2008 @ 11:01 am
This is off-topic, but have you guys seen this news story yet? I thought it was fake, but a Google search shows it at a couple of major news sites:
http://arkansasmatters.com/con.....?cid=72681
Comment by Janine — June 13, 2008 @ 11:07 am
I have no idea of what an automatic litter box is. Somehow it does the scooping for you? I’ve only ever had - what I guess maybe now are called - the old fashioned kind.
Comment by slt — June 13, 2008 @ 11:11 am
The automatic boxes run a rack through the litter after the cat goes, and put the waste — urine clumps and feces — into a receptacle for emptying.
This one just rakes the feces, since the crystals absorb the urine.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 13, 2008 @ 11:13 am
Janine … that’s unbee-effin’believable. I sure hope it’s a hoax.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 13, 2008 @ 11:14 am
Everything looks fine there according to the Mayor’s blogspot. Must be a hoax.
http://jfvalley.blogspot.com/2.....elter.html
Comment by Nadine L. — June 13, 2008 @ 11:19 am
Comment by Janine — June 13, 2008 @ 11:07 am
O.
M.
G.
Community service FAIL
Comment by slt — June 13, 2008 @ 11:24 am
Gina —
Cat door in the garage door will work great.
Short-term solution (which was my permanent solution when I kept the cat boxes in the laundry room at the old house, but won’t solve your air-conditioning issue) —
Just get a 4” eye hook at the hardware store. Instead of installing it to keep the door closed, screw it in so that it keeps the door 4” open. Cats go back and forth freely. Dogs that are not purse-sized cannot. It’s a $1.79 solution to a very serious canine halitosis issue.
Comment by H. Houlahan — June 13, 2008 @ 11:49 am
That’s kinda what I got going now, but the AC issue has got to be solved, and quickly. And it will be!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 13, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Gina,
I’m not really a cat person, but when I was given the choice of a friend killing her cat over behaviour problems, or me taking him, I chose the latter. (I’ll note here that the cat hasn’t had a single behaviour issue since arriving in my home 11 years ago.)
Having a cat means a litter box. (sigh)
Now, my husband and I are pretty handy. We do just about everything ourselves, from home renovations to furniture building, web development, landscaping, art, and printing. It’s that creative spirit, and the furniture building skills, that came in handy in solving the litterbox “problem.”
Long story short, I built a small chest of drawers, to hide the litterbox.
Because the top drawer is functional, it even provides additional storage. The bottom two false drawer fronts are attached, and swing open to reveal an enclosed litterbox area. There a discreet opening to the litterbox, on the non-traffic side of the piece. (I.E. Would be viewed by as few people as possible, in comparison to having the opening on the other side.)
In solid oak stained a dark walnut, it looks like any other piece of furniture. In fact, it’s in the hallway. But it’s a litterbox. Problem solved.
I suppose the hallway thing would be a tad gross for those who don’t clean out their litterboxes very often. But using a trick I learned when I was a vet. tech., I put down a couple of sheets of newspaper on the bottom of the plastic litter tray, and sprinkle about a cup of traditional litter over that. Then I clean the whole thing out at least once a day, or any time I see it’s soiled. It takes only a minute or two, and keeps it scrupulously clean, thus keeping my hallway from smelling like “litterbox.” Keeps my cat happy too.
I haven’t see anything like this idea on the market since I “invented” it. And there was even a time where I considered selling these “secret” litterboxes. Alas, it’s too much effort in a field I’m just not that interested in.
For anyone stuck with where to keep a litterbox, I would think it would be pretty easy to convert an existing chest of drawers, as well. No more difficult than converting it to a bathroom vanity, as was all the rage a few years ago.
Comment by Marjorie — June 13, 2008 @ 3:22 pm
I really hate you. I am barely capable of assembling a cardboard box.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 13, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
Marjorie,
I did something similar. But with multiple cats, I needed a bigger piece of furniture. I bought an unfinished deep, open bookshelf and closed off the sides and back on the bottom shelf. Painted it and put fabric panels across the front that matched the curtains I made. I have 4 boxes sided by side. I also only use a small amount of litter and dump daily. I got over scooping several years ago. Learned the trick at the animal shelter where everyone is over scooping ;) I use Good Mews litter. It’s recycled Newspaper and not made by any of the major pet companies. Pretty much dust and track free. No one knows what’s behind the panels unless the kitties all decide to line up for potty time, lol!~
Comment by straybaby — June 13, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
I would be VERY careful of using an automatic litter box cleaner with a light weight cat and NEVER with a kitten. I know of a kitten who was killed by an automatic litter box cleaner. And no, it’s not an urban myth.
Comment by Social Mange — June 13, 2008 @ 6:17 pm
hehehe, Gina. :-)
straybaby, that sounds like a terrific option, too! I don’t think I could do the ‘litterbox in an unused bathroom/laundry room/basement’ thing.
I remember dating a guy who kept his cat’s litterbox in his one and only bathroom. He didn’t clean the box out enough, either. Nothing like going to the washroom with the crunch of stray litter under your feet, and the smell of stale cat urine. Mmmmm. Makes me feel clean. ;-)
Comment by Marjorie — June 13, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
Okay, I googled and read/viewed every news story about the Arkansas dog-dumping, looking for the signs of a spoof. Looking for the field marks of The Onion. Not there. I don’t know what to make of the mayor’s blog — whose shelter is that pictured?
Holy crap — what YEAR is this?!
Can’t remember which science fiction writer it was who predicted that when we landed a man on the moon, people in Appalachia would still be using outhouses. And at the time (1950’s or early 60’s) this was considered a loony proposition — there’d be jetpacks and silver jumpsuits for all by the time we got to the moon. Well, the first moon landing was 39 years ago, and there are still people in Appalachia without indoor shitters, a few by choice, many by poverty. And I want my jetpack!
So is this the animal-welfare and public-health equivalent? While we worry about the SFSPCA cutting its cat behavior program, some goober in Arkansas is dumping all the biting dogs from the pound in the National Forest to fend for themselves and maybe eat some babies at the swimmin’ hole?
Comment by H. Houlahan — June 14, 2008 @ 12:12 am
Regarding the dumbass excuse for a Mayor in Arkansas, he “explains” himself here:
http://arkansasmatters.com/con.....?cid=73181
Comment by slt — June 14, 2008 @ 11:29 am
That’s so bizarre I still have a hard time believing it’s not a hoax. This guy doesn’t have the brains to get out of bed, much less be mayor of anything.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 14, 2008 @ 11:41 am
Oh. Look. PETA is offering to help:
http://arkansasmatters.com/con.....?cid=73261
Do you suppose they’ll wait till they get the dogs back to Virginia before they kill them?
Comment by The OTHER Pat — June 14, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
I wonder if the whole thing might be some kind of AR orchestrated stunt as a precursor to MSN or BSL or something like that in the area. It is really hard to believe a Mayor thought this up on his own and got enough people to go along with it.
Help from PETA=Beware of Trojans bearing gifts
Comment by slt — June 14, 2008 @ 4:49 pm