Make Your Litter Box Inviting for Cats

Is your cat urinating everywhere but the litter box? There may be a reason why. Here are some tips to try at home to give your cat the best chance to use the litter box every time.

Placement and Quantity

First thing, are your litter boxes in appropriate areas of your house? Your litter boxes need to be spread out throughout the house that includes every level in your house. The litter boxes should be in a quiet, private area where your cat will feel safe. Avoid a noisy furnace, washer or dryer or a central vacuum unit because loud noises will scare your cat and they will not want to use their litterbox. The second thing, do you have the appropriate number of litter boxes in your house? The gold standard is one litter box per cat plus 1. This means if you have two cats in your house you will need a minimum of 3 litter boxes.

Importance of Litter Box Design

It may not seem like the type of litter box you have is important, but it is. Size and style can make a big difference. A large, uncovered rectangle litter box is usually the best and makes sure the sides of the box aren’t too high for older cats that might have arthritis. A covered litter box is sometimes appealing to an owner to keep the smell down. However, cats do not like to be in a covered area. The smell for them is overpowering, and they don’t like to be in something they can’t see all around for a quick escape.

Choosing the Right Litter

The type of litter you use could mean the difference of your cat wanting to use the litter box or not. A high quality, unscented clumping litter, works the best. Most of the fancy silica, paper, wheat, scented, or lightweight litters are not appealing to cats, and sometimes the wood pellets are good enough if they are cleaned out regularly. The last thing to remember is to clean your litter box every day at a minimum and if possible scoop every time you hear your cat come out of the litter box.

Give these few simple changes a try, and hopefully, you will see a difference. If your cat continues to urinate outside the litter box, there could be a medical reason. Therefore it is important to contact Lomsnes Veterinary Hospital if these changes do not help.