The thing about cats is, they have an uncanny ability to make anything look good. They even have the ability to make things that already look good look even better. The thing they aren’t so great at, however, is making things smell better. Can’t really blame the cats though I suppose. Unless we start teaching them to use and flush the toilet it sort of just is what it is.
I’ve told you before that while I am not new to cat ownership I am new to indoor cats which means I am new to litter boxes. But you think to yourself, I only have two cats. How bad can it be? Well, that all depends on you and your litter. (And whether or not you have girl or boy cats because I swear girl cats stink more. Don’t tell her I told you that!)
So here are a few things I’ve learned since becoming a first-time indoor cat owner/litter box cleaner.
- Get a good clump – If your litter doesn’t clump well you can’t dump often. Which brings me to my next point…
- Clean it often – the more often you dump out those clumps the less smelly it will be over all. I scoop out our litter boxes at least every other day. Having a litter that clumps well like FreshStep® Lightweight Extreme makes it quick and easy to do. And since it’s a lightweight litter, it’s easier to carry and pour, too. It’s also carbon activated so it helps eliminate tough odors.
- Disguise it – so once you’ve gotten into a cleaning routine, and you’re not breaking your back with heavy litter any more, you might decide you’d like a more attractive place for your litter box. A litter box enclosure is my next project so I though I’d share some ideas with you.
Most of these come ready-made but #4 is an amazing DIY chest of drawers hack from Recaptured Charm. It’s obviously my favorite but if you are less of a DIYer and more of an instant gratification kind of person, 1 – 3 are great options! I have an old end table or nightstand that I’m converting into a litter box enclosure. How do you help disguise the ugly side of beautiful cats?
Where’s the post at. I’m not seeing it.
Janis,
Are you visiting from a reader? If so, please let me know which one. The post is here but some have been having a problem seeing posts from certain readers, i.e. Bloglovin. Please let me know! Thank you!
I’m using Google Chrome as always. Never had this problem before.
Hmmm Janis I really don’t know! It’s definitely here. Do you happen to have any ad blockers installed? I haven’t had anyone else (who wasn’t trying to view in a reader) mention that they had a problem. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention. If I can find out anything I will certainly let you know. If you are able to figure out anything on your end please let me know. I would so appreciate it. In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.
I am very accustomed to litter and I can tell you the more often you scoop it the less disgusting it is. What I really hate is the cats track it out of the litter box around the house. If you haven’t already got a box, look up Paul petty out of sight box. It’s God’s gift to indoor cat owners. i don’t know him or anything but I’ve had one and it’s awesome. A handy person could make one, there are some with similar ideas out there.
I will definitely check this out! I hate the scattered litter too. I have found that using the bumpy cabinet liner (meant to keep your dishes in place) or cheap rug pads that keep rugs from sliding work great at keeping the litter from scattering when placed under and around the outside of the litter box.
I would LOVE to be able to read your posts on my reader. I use Feedly and I only get a couple of sentences as opposed to the whole post. I love your blog!
Hi Candy!
And thank you! Are you able to click over from Feedly to continue reading the post or is there no link included for you to do so? Or do you just mean you’d rather not have to click over? Thanks again!
Oh. I think I misunderstood.
Yes, I can click over from feed and read it. I just like having all my favorite blogs there to read without going to the actual site. I’ve “unfollowed” several other blogs because of this but I just can’t give yours up. Love it too much!
Thanks for the reply!
That made my day Candy! Thank you! Yes, I understand the frustration of having to click over. I really do. And I was on the fence about truncating my post so that only a portion of them go out to readers and in emails. But after repeatedly finding your entire content, post by post, on a scrapper site (sites that subscribe to your RSS feed and them upload your content in its entirety to their site) you make that choice. In addition to it being hurtful and frustrating, bloggers can also be punished by Google (not showing up in searches) because of it. This is why many bloggers have gone that route. I may rethink it in the future but for now I am so glad you’re sticking around. Means the world to me. Thank you!