Kitty advice

[Norse]

Oh yeah, 1+ on what Mimi said about high quality food. We switched our two cats to a raw food food (chicken) diet about 3 months ago and really, their feces hardly smell at all.

[Irulan]

Consider keeping it 100% indoors. The statistic on cat death through cars and other encounters is very high. The hunting they do, while instinctual, is fairly devastating to the bird population. And lets not forget that roaming cats generally make the neighbors unhappy by pooping in their flower beds and going after the birds they are watching.

The solution I like is the fully enclosed outdoor kitty runs: they can be out and observe, but not roam and kill. It's humane and keeps them safe yet interacting with the outdoors.

confession: I am a bird watcher who is really sick of my neighbors cats lurking under the nests in my yard, and encountering cat poop in my gardens. If my pets hung out in your yard and I never cleaned up after them, how would you feel?

[Norse]

After too many close calls with prior cats and since we have 3 bird feeders out back and do not want to invite them to their deaths, our cats are indoor cats even though they like to go outside. The way we solved this is to buy them harnesses and attach them to long ropes or cables to let them go out. We only do this when we are in the backyard with them (wouldn't want them going after birds or chipmunks or being attacked and unable to get away). They seem quite content with this arrangement.

[spokewench]

Here's a suggestion about the litter box. We have a cat door out into the garage where we keep the litter box; then the smell at least is not inside your house.

If your cat is an indoor cat, you need to check on them before you open the garage door to make sure you don't startle them and make them run outside.

I have cats that were outside and inside cats. But, we have never lived on a busy street. One lived till he was 17 (had a heart attack) and the other is still hanging in there at 23. This garage cat litter box has always worked fine for us.

[GLC1968]

We have an indoor/outdoor cat, but we now live in the country and it's necessary to control the rodent issues.

When we got him though, we lived in the suburbs. In fact, we got him because DH wanted a pet that was 'his' and my dog was NOT dog friendly. We opted for a cat.

We picked one from a shelter that was very young. He was also extremely timid. This worked for us. 1) he was so young that he quicklly adjusted to the dog. The dog was fine with the cat once she learned that the cat was now a part of the family. We never had another issue. 2) he was so timid that he was terrified of even going outside!

Once he got the hang of going outside with us as attendents, he started to learn to go on his own but he never left the back deck. Then he advanced beyond the deck into the yard. He never left our yard and only once went to the neighbors when we'd accidently left him out in a rain storm and he needed a dry place to hide (under their shed). He did bring us the occasional mouse, but never any birds. We've since learned that his vision is off. He can't catch birds because his depth perception is wrong! He can only catch animals that he can corner!!

Now he's been with us 5 years. He's terrified of cars, stays near to the house even in the country and he won't even come out from under the bed when the coyotes are in the area.

We've never had a scratching problem (he does it outside) and he no longer even has a litter box because now he uses the dog door. We did keep a box for him in our other homes but it would reside in the spare bathroom and I don't think we had a smell issue. We did have trouble with keeping the dogs out of the litter box though - THAT sucked.

He is still absolutely a PITA though. I think that's part of being a cat (and clearly skewed by my opinion since I'm definitely a dog person).

[Aint Doody]

Another way to deter unwanted behavior is to keep a spray bottle with water handy. A quick spritz in the face works wonders. Then all you have to do is show the spray bottle, and they get it.

[badger]

one more thing to add about litter: After basically trying everything, I've found that using pine pellets (also used in horse stalls) are the best. They're also the cheapest when compared to everything else (about $5-$7 per 40lb bag). They puff up when they come into contact with liquid, so they can even be composted if you have the capability.

I find that if you clean it on a daily basis, the litter box doesn't smell at all. I found the clumping kind to be the worst in odor control and keeping it clean, and I also had my male cat get a slight urinary tract irritation from what I believe was the clay dust. And they're so bad for the environment.

[Eden]

I use Swheat Scoop its made of wheat, does clump, but is not dusty like clay and does really well at odor control. Most importantly the cats like it. I also provide them with a big box - not a litter box at all, but one of those under the bed boxes. (I have a basement fortunately, so I have space to do this)

My cats are entirely indoors. Outdoor cats around here disappear way too regularly. I would be absolutely heart broken if either of them was eaten by a coyote, killed by a raccoon or run over by a car - these things all happen here even though I live in the middle of the city!