The Litterbox Chronicles, Part 3: The Box Buffet
While the world has been in chaos and disarray, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to spend pondering the smaller issues in our household: namely, Apollo and his marking. But I have been passively conducting an experiment with the litterbox, otherwise known as the Litterbox Buffet.
When you are trying to make your cat’s bathroom the Happy Place, one of the key questions you need to ask is “What kind of toilet do you like?” It would certainly make it easier if you could simply present the cat with a catalog and let him point to the Toto, the Kohler, or the Dagobert Throne.
Let’s hope the Throne is not the potty of choice.
Alas, we lack catalogs and so we have to resort to a more primitive mode of communication: namely, put some boxes out and let the cat pick. The usual recommendation when creating a litterbox buffet is to have 4 boxes total, consisting of 2 litters and 2 box types. This allows you to figure out not only what type of litter the cat prefers, but also whether he cares whether the box is high or low, covered or uncovered.
So if we have Litters A and B, and Boxes 1 and 2, your four boxes would consist of: A1 A2 B1 and B2.
While individual tastes vary with the cat, in general cats seem to prefer the following:
- Unscented, clumping litters
- Uncovered, big boxes (1.5 times the length of the cat, and 4 inches of litter.)
Like many of you, I simply didn’t have the space for 4 big boxes, so I had to resort to two. Box A was a low box that I filled with Cat Attract litter based on Dr. Yin’s recommendation. Box B was my big wide box that I filled with my current favorite litter, World’s Best.
Day 1: Equal usage of both boxes. Apollo is getting the lay of the land.
Day 2: Apollo pees in Box A and poops in Box B.
Day 3: Seeing a gradual migration towards Box A.
Day 4: Everything in Box A. Box B remains pristine.
Day 5: I forget to scoop the litterbox. Apollo ventures into Box B when Box A is a little overused.
Day 6: Back to Box A, where he has remained ever since.
I’m not ready to throw in the towel on my World’s Best, since I really do love the stuff- so I’m holding out hope that maybe Apollo’s preference is to the box type and not the litter. He’s 13, maybe he is a little arthritic and prefers the low profile box. When the boxes get fully emptied I will switch litters and report back.
In other news, the Zero Odor really is as good as promised! I’ve been spraying the marked areas with it after cleaning with vinegar and water. It’s odorless and has done a great job getting rid of that awful kitty stink.
Plus I saw it at my local Petco, which makes it easily accessible. Exxxxcellent.
I recently asked my Facebook friends to tell me their favorite cleaning regimens. Caroline over at the Happy Litterbox was kind enough to compile them, so if you’d like to see what other people have had success with, check out the list there. If you have something else that you find is tried and true, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
The marking has reduced in frequency since I started this regimen, though I’m still finding some spots here and there, and I haven’t even resorted to the tinfoil yet. I have a pretty strong suspicion as to the reason for his marking- but I’ll save it for another post.
