As a cat owner, keeping them happy and comfortable is so important. One essential aspect of cat ownership is ensuring that the cat’s litter box is clean and comfortable. A cat’s litter box is their private bathroom, and ensuring that it is a space that they enjoy using is crucial.
Fortunately, there are many ways to keep your cat happy with their litter box, from choosing the right location to keeping it clean and odor-free. In this article, we will discuss seven effective ways to ensure that your cat’s litter box is a comfortable and welcoming space for them.
7 Ways To Keep Your Cat Happy With Their Litter Box
1. Choose A Quiet Location
It’s crucial to choose a location for the litter box where your cat will feel a sense of calm and ease when going to the bathroom. Your cat should feel a sense of security when accessing its litter box, and though stashing it out of sight may seem like a good idea, it’s actually not advisable. Most importantly, refrain from placing the box anywhere near the location where your cat eats or drinks as they dislike eliminating near their food source.
Living in a small apartment does pose a challenge for proper litter box placement. However, avoid leaving the box anywhere noisy where your cat may get disturbed such as your laundry area or near loud appliances. If you have more than one cat, each should have its own litter box.
2. Avoid Scented Litter
There are many litter varieties available on the market today from biodegradable to clay and silica gel. However, one thing to avoid is selecting a litter that’s scented. Cats have a highly evolved sense of smell, significantly more sensitive than that of humans! In fact, humans only have 5 million smell receptors, whereas, cats have over 67 million.
If you find your cat isn’t regularly using their litter box, the heavily perfumed or scented litter is possibly the problem. The litter that smells fresh and clean to you can make your cat nauseous or sick. In short, try being considerate of your cat’s need for the unscented litter! There is an excellent range of cat litter here: https://www.discountpetsupplies.co.uk/cheap-cat-litter-online.
3. Use Baking Soda For Odor Control
As discussed, your cat dislikes scented litter products, but where does that leave you for odour control? You can easily sprinkle some baking soda underneath the litter to keep the box from smelling bad while in use. As with anything else, it’s important to use baking soda in moderation. Too much and it is off putting for your cat, but too little, and you may find yourself sniffing the air. Ultimately, experiment with striking the right balance.
4. Keep The Box Clean
The best and most natural way to keep your cat’s litter box from stinking is to simply wash the box itself at least once a week. Doing so will prepare it for a fresh batch of cat litter and will eliminate the potential for lingering smells. Additionally, it’s best to scoop out waste from the litter box twice per day to ensure that smells don’t build as your cat uses the box.
5. Buy A New Litter Box Yearly
It’s important to remain consistent in the care of your feline friend, which is why you should opt to buy a new litter box every year. Over time, your cat’s claws and repeated scooping motions can eat chunks of the plastic away. The scratch marks left behind become a breeding ground for bacteria. When selecting a new litter box, try to keep it as close in appearance, shape, and size as the original one your cat has been using.
6. DIY A Litter Box
If you’re savvy with crafts, you can take matters into your own hands and DIY a cat litter box every year. You will need a plastic tray that’s the right height and depth for your cat to manoeuvre around in. Bear in mind, that your pet will attempt to dig and cover their waste by scraping litter back, therefore, they will need ample space to do so. In fact, many pet owners don’t realize that commercial litter boxes are often too small for their cats!
7. Don’t Cover The Box
It may seem like a solid idea to create a casing for the litter box and keep it covered, but your cat won’t like it! Having a covered box will restrict your cat in their ability to move around and while your cat is depositing waste, they need to feel ready to jump away at the first signs of danger.
