Did you know that you can train a cat to use a toilet? It’s a real thing, and real cats who have brains can do this; they don’t even need opposable thumbs or current issues of National Geographic. They are just fine with back issues.
I’m thinking about doing this with my cat, but given our recent interactions, it will just give him one more reason to sit on my head. Here are his other reasons: he’s hungry, or I’m asleep, or it’s less than 86.5 degrees outside, or I’m breathing.
But let’s be honest, there’s really only one natural litter box, and it happens to be “the earth.” While I do sometimes feel in my heart that cats would be happier (and our personal waste would be less) if they were just allowed to roam free about the neighborhood, many neighbors would highly disagree. Mountain lions around here, on the other hand, have engaged in a sign-waving “Free the House Cats” protest on street corners.
It isn’t going very well. Mountain lions have terrible handwriting.
I’m not convinced that all house cats want to be outside. My friend has two cats who are allowed to do anything they want, including feasting on all the butterflies they can find in the backyard, but all they do is sit around in the sunroom, drinking tea and reading the newspaper while commenting on current events.
“By golly, Muffins. That’s a fine mess those French have found themselves in this time.”
“Why, you couldn’t be more wrong, McFluffhead. Their fiscal policy is as strong as the string on your Feather Squeaky Boing Boing. Now, let us retire to the couch arms. I’m feeling a powerful fur shed coming on.”
So, anyway. Cats can learn how to use the commode, and I’m about to force the schooling on my cat, even if it means tying each of his little paws to the toilet seat while screaming profanities at him in German. Eventually, he’ll just pee out of complete and utter fear, and I’ll give him a Fancy Feast and he will graduate forever.
Before we embark on this new chapter in his life, though, I wanted to share these natural cat litter box care tips with you guys, because they really do come in quite handy. And, yes, I know the box, itself, isn’t very natural, but I challenge you to find a litter box that isn’t made of plastic or some other space-age material.
How to Keep a Natural Litter Box
These are the five important things you’ll need. Six, if you want to count your cat.
Choose a Natural Cat Litter
The first thing you’ll want to do is choose a type of litter that is natural and doesn’t have any stinky synthetic chemicals or other things you don’t want in your home. How do you know if a cat litter has stinky synthetic chemicals? (Hint: It won’t say “stinky synthetic chemicals included” on the box.)
Look for “clumping cat litter” of the clay variety, or cat litter that is scented, and then don’t buy them. Those are the ones that contain special formulations and other fancy marketing words. Also, clay cat litter (even the regular, non-clumping variety) really does add to the waste in landfills and it does NOT biodegrade.
If you don’t think that’s an issue, the fact that clay cat litter doesn’t biodegrade, consider this: In 1993, at least 2-million TONS of cat litter ended up in landfills according to the book In Defense of Garbage. That was in 1993. Imagine how many more crazy cat ladies there are in this country now. A lot, when you take into account the baby boomers growing older and getting divorced and finding all the love they need in owning 5 cats each. That’s a lot of cat litter waste.
So, anyway, find a natural cat litter. It will be made of newspaper, pine, corn (though the corn type is likely GMO, if that matters to you), cedar, or sawdust. It will also be located directly above a price sticker that makes you say, “Seriously? I’m going to pay that amount for something my cat’s going to poop on?”
Ignore that voice in your head. It really is worth it, both in its impact to the environment and to your very own household.
My favorite brand (and, no, I’m not affiliated with them, they have no idea I’m posting this, and I’m not some sneaky undercover spokesperson) happens to be SwheatScoop. I lovingly call it “sweat scoop,” because sometimes I have the maturity level of a 10-year-old boy. We’ll talk more about SwheatScoop in a minute.
Let’s move on to the tips, because this is getting long, and you’re getting bored.
Wash Your Cat Litter Box Out Well
Before you wash, you’ll need to dispose of your dirty, stinky cat litter properly. Around here, we do a complete overhaul of the cat litter every two to two and a half weeks, depending on how lazy Skip is or how accustomed we’ve become to the smell. (We scoop twice a day, though.) According to the Humane Society, if you use a litter that clumps (not clay, ew, but SwheatScoop and the corn litters clump naturally), you may only need to completely change the litter every two to three weeks.
(Unless of course your cat has had a case of the runs in which case you may only be able to live with the smell for a matter of hours… If that happens, here’s what I use to keep the runs away.)
This means we’re not terrible cat owners.
Disposing of the cat litter: Garbage or compost. You can do either, if you use a compostable litter (look on the packaging). After you’ve disposed of the litter, wash the litter box out well with a gentle soap.
I use Castile.
Whatever you use to scrub your cat litter box with (please, for the love of Pete, do not use your kitchen sponge), make sure to launder it immediately afterwards, and use it for nothing else until you do.
Also, it’s best to wash your cat litter box in the bathtub. Not only does this give you ample room to wash in, but it gives you an opportunity to mock your cat as he stares in horror at his Sacred Poop Place filled with water. If you want to add insult to injury, leave the cat litter box full of sudsy water on the bathtub floor and say, “I dare you, cat. Go ahead. Let’s see you poop NOW!”
It won’t affect him much, but it will make you feel very tough and in charge, unlike reality where your cat is the tyrant king of your entire life.
After you’re done washing, and you have a clean bottom (of your cat litter box, not your actual bottom, although I hope that’s clean, too), either let it air dry completely or dry it well with a towel.
This next tip is my favorite:
Apply a Thin Layer of Olive Oil on the Bottom of the Litter Box
This is not unlike buttering a pan before you bake something.
Except you don’t get to eat it when it’s done.
Please don’t eat cat litter.
You don’t have to use olive oil – pretty much any type of cooking oil will do just fine. Why are you doing this, anyway?
Because, a thin layer of olive oil keeps the “clumps” from sticking to the bottom, making it impossible to get a clean scoop. With an oiled bottom, the cat litter doesn’t even get a chance to adhere.
All you do is pour a teaspoon (or less) of olive oil in the bottom of the litter box and wipe it around the bottom and into the corners and edges. It really does work. Really, really well. (Provided you scoop the cat litter more than once a week.)
Pour At Least 3 Inches of Litter Into the Litter Box
This is self-explanatory, but it will give me a minute to talk about why I choose SwheatScoop.
First, let’s learn how to pour litter in. It is very complicated. I will explain it with a picture.
Got it? Good.
Okay, so here’s why we use SwheatScoop. It’s because it’s certified flushable (for both sewer and septic systems). That is why. It comes in very, very handy whenever unexpected company shows up. Five minutes before unexpected company shows up also happens to be my cat’s scheduled visit to the litter box.
It’s also digestible, which means when he gets an errant granule stuck in his paw, it’s fine and dandy if he licks it right on out.
It turns out, though, that wheat (which is all SwheatScoop is made of) also contains really effective natural enzymes that neutralize odors pretty darned well (a LOT better than any clay litter I’ve ever used).
But, even so, I like to double up on odor control by doing this one last thing:
Add 2-3 Tbsp Baking Soda and Shake It Into the Litter
Not long ago, I saw a commercial for (Insert Popular Brand of) cat litter and it said something like, “Mom’s secret for cat litter odor was baking soda!” And then they went on to say how you should buy their doubly expensive cat litter, because it contains mom’s secret.
Here’s MY secret for cat litter odor! Add freaking baking soda to it.
I usually add about 2-3 Tbsp into the fresh litter and shake it around, and then add another 2 Tbsp into it after about a week.
And it works.
What I don’t do, however, is add any essential oils. There are a couple of brands out there that come scented with essential oils (and a WHOLE lot of brands out there with synthetic fragrance). I’m not 100% convinced about the safety of using essential oils directly in or on my cat, which is what would occur if he licks his paws afterwards.
If I want my bathroom, which is where the cat litter box lives, to have a fragrance of some sort or exhibit more odor control, I’ll do something like hang a closet popper, or fill a lemon rind with sea salt and tuck it in a nearby corner, or make a lavender/baking soda air freshener.
Skip the essential oils in the litter box. It’s just not necessary, and may not be all that great for your little furball.
Are You Still With Me ‘n My Cat?
Can you believe how long this post was? It may be one of the longest ones on Crunchy Betty, ever.
Because, clearly, I am very passionate about cat litter.
If you’re still here…
Way down here at the bottom…
I love you.
And you probably love your cat as much as I love mine. And I really do, despite how it sounds. He’s the best cat I’ve ever had in my life, and if it didn’t sound really sad, creepy, and weird, I’d say he was my best friend.
So I’m going to ask you something no one on the internet has ever asked you before and will never ask you again. And I ask it earnestly and with great interest (I’M NOT KIDDING).
Please tell me a story about YOUR cat?
Surprise! Ultimate Healthy Living eBook Bundle – 5 Days Only!
I loves her alot and take care always. I wash the litter box once a day and keep it clean. I wash it with biological washing liquid.
Last month we had to put our beloved cat Guinness to sleep. He had cancer. We loved him a lot and miss him terribly. There are memories of him all over our house. He was a wonderful cat. The best cat I ever knew. He had manners better than some people. LOL. We adopted him from a cat rescue when he was 6 y.o.
The first night we brought him home I was sitting on the bed getting ready to sleep and he sat at the bottom of the bed. He looked up at me and said meow? It seemed like he was asking permission to get up on the bed. So I said “You want to come up? Okay, come up on the bed.” I patted the bed and he jumped up. We had a faux mink blanket on the bed (it was winter in Canada) and as soon as he felt the soft, fuzzy texture he loved it so much and he rolled and rolled on the bed, purring like a motor. I’ll never forget that moment. RIP Guinness. Anyone interested can see pictures of Guinness on my instagram: @elegantlyeco.
Reading this blog post has made my Monday oh so much better. We adopted two kittens in July, and they are pooping and peeing machines. It has been lighter since we started letting them go outside during the daytime, but we still go through a lot of cat litter, every time I scoop the litterbox, I feel guilty about the bags of crap going into the landfill. We recycle everything we can and compost our kitchen scraps, and even chicken poop from our hens goes into the compost, so the cat litter really bothers me. I have been wanting to try something more natural than Tidy Cat. Now I have the impetus. But for the really funny cat story, here you go… One morning last week, one of our kittens used the litterbox, which happens to be in my home office. I was on the computer, and I could hear him chasing his tail behind my chair after he finished his business. I looked back at him and realized that it wasn’t his tail he was chasing this time. My teenage daughter has very long hair. He had swallowed one of her hairs and it had come out the other end with a turd stuck to it. The other end was still stuck in his butt, and he was chasing it around like a tether ball. I REALLY wanted to take a video to document the hilarity, but the chase was happening on a rug, and I had to act swiftly to thwart further clean-up. I am laughing hysterically as I type this comment. It was THAT funny. Happy Monday!
I’m happy to read this post! I have a lovely fat cat. She is active. I feed it to take pot luck. Sometime it catch a mouse and play for a while before eating. But thief killed her a month ago. Sad 🙁
You are very brave to ask for cat stories! Looking forward to trying out the oil trick. I have never liked Swheat Scoop as it always seems to come with those little pantry moths that seem impossible to get rid of. We use World’s Best cat litter which is truly THE BEST!! Alas, Furry Murray likes it so much that he wants to snack on it. It’s very disconcerting to see the cat in the box grazing on the litter. Do other cats do this? I find that adding either some Nature’s Miracle litter or One Earth litter (they are exactly the same) prevents the grazing as these have a bit of a pine scent – just enough to deter Furry Murray from snacking but not enough to be otherwise offensive to humans or cats. All of the above are made from corn and are flushable.
Two tips about swheat scoop litter: to keep pantry weevils out of the litter (they love wheat) put bay leaves in the bag. Inspect every new bag you open to be sure you haven’t brought in these weevils as once you get them you will never get rid of them from every single box and bag in your entire house and especially kitchen.
Also be aware that roaches love anything edible and especially if it has poop or pee on it. I was using swheat scoop and found an enormous roach colony under the litter mat. It was GROSS!!!! I will spare you the details of the effort it took to get rid of the subsequent roach infestation in my apartment.
You could definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The sector hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.
Hi everyone…I googled natural cat
Litter and baking soda…safe for kitten
? Then as a true storyteller myself
here all of you are…with great advice
for an ole school person like myself
Starting all over again after an empty
nest syndrome attack. My new baby
I just adopted is 15 weeks old and I
am in love all over again. Short story
…I just got the news that my daughter,
husband and 4 little granddaughters
will be moving 8 hours away in three
months…I cried all night and Lil Boy
George was walking on my back last
night as if he was giving me a back
massage and saying…breathe
mommy…I’ve gotcha…we’ve been
together 1 week…a God Send…??
Great post! I have 8 cats…now before you call me “the cat lady”…let me explain. The first cat was born to a feral mom and well I took him on. He’s an awesome cat who sits like a dog and begs for treats. He’s temperamental, yet loves to snuggle. Then I took on a pregnant cat who’s owner was going to “get rid of”. So I took her on. She had five babies. I could not find one human to take on a kitty as a pet. I advertised, put out flyers at pet stores, no one…so I had them all fixed and kept them. Number 7 is lovingly called Seven. She was found in a shopping cart in a sack with another kitty. I took one and the someone else took her sibling. I named her Seven because she was going to be my last kitty. The eighth came because a friend of ours passed away. Not one of her friends would take on this cat. (Mind you, she had many, many friends…like well over 50 and yet, no one would come forward to give this cat a home.) So like I needed another cat like I need another hole in my head…I took her on. So I have eight! Gosh just typing that almost makes me cringe. However, I am a clean freak and my house is spotless even with all these fur babies. They are pretty good creatures (even though I never considered myself a “cat” person.) and even though the last cat from my friend, hates all other cats….I won’t let her go. So many have said to just toss her outside, but I can’t do that. It does make it difficult as she can’t mix with my others. She lives in my master bedroom, which before you cringe, it’s a very, very large room with a bathroom and a gigantic closet, which she loves to explore. And every day I open the window for her. I am considering many types of litter at this point…mainly to help out the environment, as I’m using clay at the moment. I am trying to switch out to pine shavings and two of my cats have taken to this. Not good odds! At least the cat in my room likes it and that has helped tremendously with my allergies associated with the dust! Whew! Hahaha….the search continues!
Hi Koko,
We used Blue Natural Cat Litter which is made from walnut shells. They are ground so there are no sharp edges. We used to have our cat on clay & we put a little of the new litter to see if he would use it. He did so we kept adding a little more of the new litter as we scooped out the old. Until eventually he was totally on the natural cat litter. It has less dust and tracking than the clay litter. Also litter matts help reduce the tracking as well.
You are asking me to tell you about my cat/s? Gladly!! I loved this post, I love our 3 cats, and you have me laughing right out loud at work. Often. My cats are among my best friends and I am certainly their best friend. My husband and I started using SwheatScoop when we lived in an apartment with one cat (then quickly two despite what we had decided about waiting to get a house before ANY cats. So much for that). We searched for something that was good for our cat and also good for us since it was hard to get anywhere too far away from the litter box in our one bedroom apartment. At first our cat, Freddie, decided he liked to stand in the litter box and eat, yes EAT, the SwheatScoop! This convinced us that it was a great natural choice but we mixed it with pine litter for awhile until his strange appetite subsided. 🙂 Now we have 3 cats and find that the multi-cat SwheatScoop works best. Occasionally we have Poopfest 2015 or whatever year it is, but this litter really does the trick. I am eager to try the olive oil trick since of course there are always little surprises and treasures to scrape off the bottom of the box. And I had never gotten around to specifically googling whether adding straight up baking soda to the litter was safe for cats, so I will try that as well. Our cats are very happy and so are we!!
I thought my cat was the only one who grazed on the litter! For some reason it makes me feel better to know he’s not the only one.
Last Spring 2015, I decided I was going to find a more natural alternative to clumping clay kitty litter. I didn’t want the cats or us to continue breathing in harmful clay dust and keep asking a non-biodegradeable substance to the landfill. After testing numerous materials, including shredded paper, saw dust, pelleted horse bedding, crushed corn cob horse bedding, and cracked corn, I finally landed on’The One’! I now have been using Chicken Layer Crumbles for 9 months and love it! It is MUCH less expensive and has low dust, clumps well and is excellent at controlling odors and I use less than I did with clay litter so it is longer lasting. It comes in 50lb bags which Selim for $10.99 to $15.99 each. Buy it at farm stores or wherever chicken feed is sold.
I am not sure if anyone else has posted this..but I found that since going on a chemical rampage through my house and since my Princess won’t allow me to change his litter, I can at least change his litter pan. I am using a stainless steel 6 inch deep steam table tray from a restaurant supply store. About $30 so easy to clean, ya a tiny bit noisy but it doesn’t hold any smell and no more plastic box in my house!!!! At this rate, I might get his majesty changed to a different litter yet! muahahahaha (yes that is an evil laugh!) Sorry if someone else already suggested this!
My problem is that I have tried to switch my stubborn Maine Coon Cat, his name is Mitts, to a natural cat litter for three years now and every single time, he will look at me a diliberately mess on the floor in front of me and will continue to do so until we change the litter. We have tried mixing it, we have tried several different types, newspaper, pine, wheat, you name it, nope….he likes his clumping with baking soda. Any suggestions. BTW, he is also so finicky that when he has done his buisness, he yowls for you to come, and clean it immediately. His Majesty will not use a litter pan with anything in it. He also must have two litter pans depending upon which job he has to do at the moment. His paws do not touch dirty litter. OH NO! You must remove it and the litter must be completely changed at least 2 times a week or his Masjesty will again leave you a calling card on the mat. He is such a princess. But I love him anyway, and wouldn’t be without him. PS..he has been checked by the vet, he is completely healthy, just stubborn!
Hi Betty, I have charcoal briquets in an open egg carton close by for extra smell absorption. That works well in the small bathroom n din the tool room I use the leftover bag of briquets open, close by. More in there. Definitely helps. I also learned about incense ( all natural kind, no perfumes) that is used to clean the air. the oily molecules in the air carry particles and smells to the ground and the air smells very fresh and not perfumed 12 hours later. This is a thing used in old churches and has a surprising ability to clean air of particles.
I also have a 8weeks old kitty, her name is “Mitten”. I loves her alot and take care always. I wash the litter box once a day and keep it clean. I wash it with biological washing liquid. Try to keep it clean so that she never face any problem. Thanks for this useful blog sharing with us.
You know giving people licence to talk about their cats is probably a bad idea right?!?
Its not litter related but, Well since you asked for it – I have had 3 cats in my adult life.
My first was Thomas, a huge gentle giant of a tuxedo cat. (you know the kind im talking about. actually looks like hes wearing a tux, black with a white tummy etc) Thomas would soft paw treats from your had, stand half the height of my door on his hind legs to peer in the glass when the livingroom door was closed, and was taken from me tragically early at 3 years of age, when he had a toxic reaction to a veterinary flea treatment and had to be put down 48 hours later. I got to take him home so he and my dogs could say goodbye. they were firm friends.
After grieving, i missed having a cat, even with my 2 dogs pottering around. So when a friends cat got preggers before she could get her neutered, i took the last kitten. Simon. a feisty ginger monster. the kind that attacks your head when your asleep at 4am in the morning. Simon had a rocky start. he was attacked by a dog and after he healed, his tongue hung behind his left canine tooth when he meowed. he was NOT the kind of cat you could keep indoors 24×7. i tried. he literally climbed the walls after 2 weeks of house arrest in order to heal. so he was mostly allowed to come and go as he pleased. with a kennel supplied outside for when i wasnt home to let him in. he had no fear of people, dogs or children. and was nosey as all heck. so when he went walkabout last June (when he was 2 years old) and didnt come home, i spent 3 months putting up posters, and posting on social networking and there has never been any word. he was a capable hunter. so i like to think he accidentally went on a road trip in someones van, managed to feed himself quite well until he waltzed into someones house and made himself at home. i still keep an eye on Missing sites for news and he was microchipped so maybe someday i will see him again.
last september, the local kids brought me a big scared ginger cat, thinking he was mine. well this guy was older a way fluffier. a trip to the vet discovered he was approximately 8 years old, neutered and under the crazy fluff, Very skinny. but no microchip. the vet believed that he had been well cared for up until about 4 months prior. He had likely been an indoor cat all his life and had no natural cat life skills. as a result he was slowly starving to death. I put up notices in the local vets and on the missing sites, but no-one has claimed him. I have named him Benji-man. and over the last 7 months i have got to watch his character develop. hes very shy and spent a month under my bed. the first time he discovered how to play with a toy i actually cried. he is wary of my dogs, but has discovered they are only mildly interested in him. he will now jump the baby gate to join me in the livingroom up on the sofa. skirting around the dogs in their bed on the floor. hes a cuddle bug. and lets me hug him like a teddybear. and hes had to go on a diet :S cause hes a almost overweight. I cant imagine loving him more if i had raised him from a kitten. And if i can never find out where he came from, he shall have a safe home with me until the end of his days.
Has anyone found at all an alternative to PLASTIC for the actual litter box? I’d love to dump it altogether, but most of the alternatives I have ben looking into (cardboard etc.) still require a liner which is just producing even more garbage.
Also, tip for fussy or senior cats: don’t mix a cleaner for the box with vinegar. I use vinegar all over the house for deep cleaning, but my cat did not appreciate it at all!!
We did find a stainless steel litterbox at one point. I have heard of people buying the metal trays for buffets (from restaurant supply stores) to use as a litterbox.
My Tuxedo Hemmingway — Augusta — (or black & white polydactal…Gus likes to pretend he’s a pedigree) has a horrible hot spot under his arm (do cats have armpits??) My vet seems to think it’s behavioral and I’m inclined to agree with him. Gus really ought to be on “kitty Zanax” because he is so persnickity! Do you have any Crunchy Betty Magic Recipe for hot spots?
For the anxiety you may want to visit your local health food store and as for Rescue Remedy for Kids. You can add a few drops to his water every time you refresh it. (The Rescue Remedy for Pets is exactly the same formula but a dollar or two more!)
Hahaha, you really have a good sense of humour, thanks anyways, well my kitten is about 3.5 months old, a rescued DSH, white in colour, very loving, very mischievous, very understanding, she is very mature too, and feels Iam a dumb guy (actually Iam, don’t tell any one) she understands my actions and intentions very well, well, that’s all about my kitty. Take care.
Is there such thing as a glass litter box?
Thanks for the info here. I just switched to pine pellets, so we’ll see how my babies do.
One of my cats pees and poos with all four paws balanced on the edge of the box. The pine pellets are really light weight, and I went in there once to see that the whole thing had tipped over, probably while he was trying to balance. Imagine poor kitty just trying to do his business, and suddenly he’s covered in dirty litter box.
I am a big fan of your blog. Never stop blogging, please. xo.
Crunchy betty help!! I just transitioned my cat to swheat scoop, and my cat is eating his litter!! Like, sitting in there and eating it… We feed him a raw diet and he isn’t deficient in anything… Any ideas how I can deter him from doing this?
Had this issue at my house and fixed it by adding in another litter with a very light pine scent. One Earth and Nature’s Miracle are two litters that will accomplish this. Both are flushable and derived from corn.
Love this post!! Deffo going to follow incase you come up with any more fabulous ideas!! I have quite a remarkable cat! She vanished at 8 weeks old! And returned 6 months later when I was 7! I developed very sevre allergies, to a point where I would given the choice to live in a bubble contained in hospital. I also devolved anxiety problems and night terrors to the extent, where I would find the house keys, unlock doors and walk out onto main roads at all hours in the morning. My beauty of a cat Becardi is amazing because if I were to take an allergy, panic attack or night terror, she would wake who ever was in the house! Which doesn’t sound like a big deal but when you have only minutes to live she is amazing! I have now moved into my own house, and all the night terrors started again, terrifying my other half. So there was only one thing for it! Becardi had to come too.! So at a ripe old age of 14 my best pal/feline mummy still hops on my bed and seems to settle me before I even lift the duvet!. People think referring to a pet as part if the family is silly, however I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for mine . X
I have been using feline pine or some other form of natural pelleted litter for a while now (it actually lasts longer than clay litter and is less expensive!). I used to use the Tidy Cats two-part box, but I messed around with it to make it into a normal litter box because the litter and pee pads are SOOOOOOOO expensive and wasteful! It seemed like a good idea when I bought it, but man, it really isn’t worth it. And funny thing, cat urine odor from my cat box isn’t what bothers me. His poop is so damn stinky, and there are less ways to deal with that problem other than frequent scooping.
I might try the Swheat litter. It looks good! Also, flushable is nice.
My cat’s name is Frank. I haven’t quite had him long enough to have a particularly long and funny story about him, but he is a sweetheart. He’s almost more like a dog sometimes than a cat (super attention whore, really uncoordinated, etc.). Recently, He has decided that my desk chair is his favorite chair, especially when I’m sitting in it. When I’m there, he often begs to get in the chair with me, so I move over and let him get up because he’s not much of a lap cat. Whenever my roommate walks by and sees this, she laughs and says it looks like we are watching the computer together. I guess we are just two peas in a pod!
Thank you for this wonderful post! We just took in two cats from a friend. I’ve never owned a cat! Mage gave us a litter box and some litter and already, I feel like I can’t go near the box! I always had a hard time in her house because I’m sensitive to chemical fragrance! I can’t wait to make the switch to a fragrance free natural litter! And we’ll add it to our compost! And now I want to go get some cute jars like that too!
This happened by chance and I had no intention of depriving my darling of hiding her poop or pee. So here’s what happened. My lil one that became family at just 5 weeks, never really learnt to use actual commercial litter, since even at her foster where she spent less than 2 days after being picked up from the street, she went to the bathroom and pooped near the drain and after every round the bathroom was sanitized by the foster family. Well I know what you are going to say now, they don’t learn, they just naturally start to use it, if you place them in one! Well but she didn’t!!! Initially it was hard to read, so she had to go, and she looked for places to go. I thought well, she did in the bathroom before, how hard can it be, so I would place her there. But she needed privacy and went to corners, I didn’t want her to go to and the stench while cleaning was unbearable. Then I got the litter tray out, I spread the litter in it and placed her in it. She took the litter for her kitten kibbles and put one in her mouth. She removed it and realised after once or twice that she must not eat that, but she didn’t like the feel of it under her feet either and I didn’t have an optional litter type for her to use so she didn’t go in there. Perhaps coz I started with a flushable bio-organic VERY expensive clumping litter and no one told me that it was a BAD idea for a 5 week old kitten! She peed under the sink, so I placed some sheets of newspaper after cleaning up. She went back and did on the newspaper, which soaked up quite a bit. So then I spread the small 1/4th cut newspaper sheet in her litter box. I sort of started putting a couple of sheets of folded news paper over the already spread litter and she would then poop and pee in there, of course I change the sheets after every poop and pee and some gets absorbed by the litter below and I scoop out the litter. If she went back under the sink, WHEN unsupervised, I would take her to the spot, say no, do the no action with my finger , and then place her in her litter box. I would pick her up as often as possible when I felt she was going to pee or poop. Now she goes on her own. She does make the covering action, obviously in vain, and mostly I make sure, I pick up the soiled sheet of paper or towel and replace with clean, fresh ones immediately. I have serious doubts that if I gave her another litter to try, she was even going to bother getting inside the litter box. I also have read about inhaling the fine grains or others eating the litter etc and it’s scary. I guess she is so comfortably used to this. So I tried something NEW lately, I decided to chuck away spreading the organic litter in her litter tray completely. In any case she barely saw the litter or felt it, as it was covered with 5-6 layers of sheets of newspapers, so I took an old medium size wool body towel and cut it into half. Then I folded. one part of the cut towel into half again so as to fit the litter box and spread it on the base of the litter box. (of course after thoroughly cleaning and drying the litter box.) Then I spread the cut sheets of newspaper on the towel and covered the towel. Well and as they say rest is history! The downside to this is that you have to dispose the soiled newspaper sheets after every use, which is almost like scooping out the buried poop or pee from the litter tray after every use. The upside are too many, easy to clean, and towels can be washed and reused, newspapers sheet easy to dispose, even flush since they dissolve or soften in water easily. Obviously cost-effective, no licking, swallowing litter by your precious one. When I travel with her, her litter box essentials are easy to carry. Trust me, it works! Please try it with your kitten and try a few times, don’t give up.
Today my cat pooped right next to the litter box. So that was fun. I’m working on the odors (I’m in an apt, and the only place is in the bathroom with no window)… I’m going to try out some of these ways!
I know I’m a little late to the party, but I had to share. If you and your cats like feline pine, try horse bedding. That’s right- horse bedding. You can get it in pellet form at places like Tractor Supply or other farm supply stores, and it’s basically EXACTLY THE SAME THING as Feline Pine. I pay $6 for 40lbs. It’s basically the best thing ever, and cheaper even than clay litter.
And when I recently needed a new cat box, I went to Home Depot and bought a cement mixing tray for $5. It’s the same size as extra large litter boxes, plus the corners are rounded so it’s easier to clean without junk getting stuck in the corners.
I am waaaay too into cat litter these days.
http://www.becothings.com makes a litter box and scoops out of bamboo fibres. Look under “trays” for the litter boxes on their website. Purchased mine at Pet Planet in Canada.
LOL I love your writing style. Well after 3 years of using Pine I must go back to *ahem* clumping “other” litter. Certain male cats are not using just the litter pan these days. I tried everything and beyond. I broke down and put a store brand. I picked one with the least amt of perfume. It really pained me to do this.
I came up and filled a back up pan with the litter. Wouldn’t you know 3 days later and the cats are now using only the litter pans? Ugh the thought of the chemicals and dust. It was a really tough decision. I threw two couches out last year. I tried everything I tell you.
OH I did try other natural products. Yesterday’s news was a flop and my other cat is allergic to grains. *sigh* Guess we can’t win the all right.
love the idea of the olive oil. i’m currently using world’s best but since i have a young male stray that my inside young male has invited to move in i’m seeing it stick to the bottom of the litter maid. oh, just for FYI, i’m seeing there may be problems with aflotoxin i think its called being a problem with corn litters. i’m looking into the walnut now. but anyway, on to my story about weird cats. Pickles is his name. i work as a vet tech and one of the girls had to give him up, so i took him. he has never been your normal cat. the day i put down a potty patch for my dogs i knew this cat had a “room for rent”. i couldn’t figure out why i was having to change and wash it so often till i walked in one day and there is fart brain using it. he’s never pooped on it so i guess he’s figured out he can’t cover it. but he does try to cover the wet stuff and i guess he things he’s doing a good job. this also explains why my litter has been lasting longer than it should have. i thought i was just feeding good food loool!!
i have two kitty stories. both of which require little to no build up.
one time, one of my kitties(the siamese mix-how shocking) peed on my boyfriend while we were sleeping. the end.
another time, she did it again.
We haven’t been able to make the change to natural litter (our cats actually seem to dislike it – and right now we can definitely not afford it), but I’ll be happy share a kitty story with you! We have two “cat-children” – Loki (a spayed female) and Thor (a neutered male – ironic, right?).
Thor is my extra-special buddy. My husband found him when he was five weeks old, crying outside our basement window. He had been abandoned by his mother and littermates, or had wandered away from them. Long story short, even though we weren’t “ready” for a pet, we adopted him and he became the love of my life. I really feel that he was a blessing from God, because this cat has lovingly seen me through the hardest times in my life (three miscarriages, job loss, and, last week, my mother’s passing). I’ve had a great deal of support from my family and church as well, but there’s nothing like smothering the sorrows of unemployment by burying your face into a soft, warm mound of cat fur.
Great idea on the olive oil! I love swheat scoop too! And I will admit, that my cat is not only my best friend, but pretty much my soul mate. Luckily the BF is cool with that!
AS for a story about her, last time I had the stomach flu, she followed me from the bed to the bathroom every time I through up and then back to bed where she would curl around my head and pat my head with her paw. >^..^<
My roommate and I are fostering cats and we’re on round two! We love to spend time with the kitties and get to know their personalities. It is sad to see them go, but we know that they’re off to good homes! Our apartment is very small and so the litter box is a little bit of an issue. I cannot wait to try this out! This post couldn’t have come at a better time. Thank You!
Thanks. You’re a scream. I use wood pellets which also won’t clog the toilet if some falls in when your disposing of poop. It’s a natural for odour control but I’m going to try a little baking soda. You’re sure it won’t harm the cat if ingested?
Hi,
I loved Swheat Scoop and I have owned horses and know how great pine saw dust can be. My problem is that me and my beloved cat, Houston, now live in CHINA. Where there is no option but “Cat Sand” made, I’m quite certain, of the most horrific ingredients possible.
So what I want to know is how do you make healthy, non-toxic cat litter, from scratch by hand?
buy whole wheat grains from a natural grocery store and grind it up. i read about it on another “crunchy” site. basically, it’s the same as swheat scoop
Well, dang, Betty. I really love my corn cat litter, and now I have to ask the Iowa-based World’s Best Cat Litter company if their corn is GMO. And after realizing they’re based in Iowa, I’m not sure I really need to ask.
Some cats may not be able to use wheat if they have allergies or their owners may be gluten-intolerant. Hmmm…. I did just read that there is no GMO wheat anywhere though Monsanto would love to get into that market.
The Cat Story: Our first adorable (and completely retarded) cat as a couple, is the love of our lives (we even use her name as an alternative to ‘I love you’, and had it engraved on the inside of our wedding bands) we got her shortly after we began dating, before we had even moved in together.
In our old apartment, she looooved sleeping on the gas stove. You just couldn’t keep her off of it, the spot near the pilot light was too toasty to resist. One day, thankfully while my husband was standing near by, she kicked a knob on the stove and she caught on fire! My husband grabbed her, and along with a chorus of ‘Oh My God’, the smell of burnt hair and my calling from the toilet ‘What?!’ he beat her savagely and according to her we owe her for therapy, or 10 cans of tuna for emotional damages. She was barely singed thankfully, and never knew she was in danger.
One more easy and MUCH cheaper version of natural cat liter is to use horse bedding… you can find it at tractor supply stores… It is pine chips, that look EXACTLY like the pine chips that are marketed as cat liter, except you can buy a 40 lb bag for about $6.00, yep you read that right. I buy 2 bags at a time and last me for MONTHS!
LOVE IT! I am sure a little baking soda to it would make it even more amazing!
I’m so happy and mad at myself right now lol. We’ve become very holistic and organic in my house and I forgot all about the stupid cat litter! I’ve got two cats — neither of which I intended on having. Mischief I got when I was 19. She was 2 weeks old. Someone I worked with had her and her brother, but not their mother. I took her and had to raise her like a baby (feed with an eye dropper, help her poop, etc.). She’s turning 16 on November 1st. I love her so much. Leeloo I got about a year and a half ago. She was my sister’s cat, but after my niece was born, they noticed she coughed and had wheezing a lot, so they gave me the cat. She’s pretty awesome too. She’s 5. But holy crap, I hate me for not thinking to do their litter more naturally! I feed them a natural food. Duh!? So glad to find this. Gonna try it… and the oil? Freakin’ brilliant!
let us know how the real potty training goes, I’m getting ready to try that with our newish kitty :-0
Erm… pine, newspaper and sawdust tend to be much, MUCH cheaper, especially by weight, in my experience. As someone mentioned below, “toefeather” cats tend to track pine and sawdust, and I’ve found corn can attract ants. Wheat and newspaper seem to be the only successful entries so far!
Funny thing, I just bought SwheatScoop for the first time earlier today. Anyway, my cat is awesome and, yes, he is my best friend. Not only is he incredibly handsome but when he was about a year old he just decided that he was going to use the toilet too. He just jumped up and started doing his business and he just kept on using it. We haven’t had a litter box for most of the last 15 years. He’s really funny because he meows a lot and tries to get my attention when he has to go because he likes an audience. But now he’s getting older (16 in June) and isn’t as agile as he used to be (yes, he’s fallen into the toilet a couple of times recently) and has been showing some hesitation to jump up on the toilet so it’s litter box time.
I have 3 kitties who are indoor only because they have poor decision making skills and I like birds in my back yard. So now you get 3 stories.
Stella is our large and in charge alpha female. She controls everything, including you- you just don’t know it because you haven’t met her. She’s a tortie who typically gets the following exclamations in order: “Wow that is a BIG cat!” and then, “She’s….interesting looking isn’t she?” Stella is a rescue and an emotional eater- I really do think her greatest thrill is when we take her to the vet and then she gets to listen to us get yelled at about her weight. Her current drama is with the 6 pound ball of fluff named Princess who lives next door. Princess is an outdoor kitty who takes delight in lounging on our front porch in view of our cats and THIS.IS.NOT.OKAY. Sometimes when we’re bored we measure how big her tail gets before chasing Princess off the porch before we lose our front window.
Iggy is our pretty boy and is just not bright, at all. He is also a rescue and his ongoing activities are going from sleeping to sprinting out of the room if someone puts a glass down on a coffee table, uncrosses their legs, or (dear god!) stands up. Stella hated him until she realized how helpless he was and then became some sort of protector but she only protects him so long as he does exactly what she wants. Even though he is so frightened of everything he is fierce with his toys. Have you ever seen a cat drop a toy mouse in his water dish and then use his paw to hold it under for over a minute? I really wish I could say I hadn’t seen that, I’m still disturbed and am glad that he’s not bigger.
Pete is the kitten although he’s now 2. He’s kept his kitten fur so he’s the softest ever. Pete is our undamaged cat who was spoiled rotten by the people who handfed him and then even more spoiled when he came to us because he was so cute. He’s charming and upon meeting him everyone wants to take him home, even people who are self proclaimed cat haters. His quirks are his obsessive compulsive disorder- he gets stuck on an idea and then just flips out until he’s mewing and crying a lot- we call this Pete Breaking. Pete also feels like he is entitled to do whatever he wants (more so than other cats) so when he gets disciplined or told no he looks at you like your a complete fool and then gets a hurt look on his face. We call this Breaking Pete’s Feeling.
So there you go, 3 brief stories and there are tons and tons more. All in all their pretty great although I will never in my life have 3 cats at the same time again.
I agree with you Kara. You have 3 cats indoors, I have 4 indoor only cats. As much as I love them all, and would not part with anyone of them, will never own more than 2 at the same time. It’s just too much work, too much hair, too much maintenance, from brushing, too nail clipping, too feeding time and last but not least attention wise… but I enjoyed reading on their different description and personalities… 🙂
Kara, I loved your stories about each of the cats. I couldn’t control my laughter when I read about Iggy drowning his toy mouse. We have a boy in our house who does the same thing. My 3 get to go outside in Kitty Jail (a large foldable dog kennel). Kitty jail lets them enjoy the fresh air & keeps the birds & the kitties safe. Larry has been drowning his mice in the water dish since we got him 6 years ago. He doesn’t like to go to jail during the day, but prefers late evening and night. As the kennel is right up against the house the odd mouse will taunt the cats by running along the foundation. They have caught the ones who weren’t bright enough to realize there was a cat present. Larry has now graduated from drowning toy mice to drowning the real thing in the water dish outside in kitty jail. He had been out in the kennel for quite a while one evening, & was not really impressed when I bribed him in the hosue (kitty treats work wonders). The next moring when I was letting our old cat out for his dose of sunshine & fresh air, I spotted something in the water dish. At first I suspected that Larry had taken his favorite grey toy mouse outside the evening before (it looks very real when floating in a water dish). Upon a closer look I realized that it was not a toy, but a real (now dead) mouse. Even though you suspect that Iggy isn’t the brightest kitty in the house, he may just be practicing!
I am convinced that my cat’s poo is straight from the seventh level of Dante’s Hell. I’m not sure what makes my sweet boy create such atrocities, but there we are.
I would love to put both my critters (we have a noisy coonhound, too) on raw, but The Husband isn’t convinced, and it’s been an uphill battle. I give Holden (my cat) Blue Buffalo in an attempt to give him a better kibble option.
Although he loves to lick the coconut oil off my legs in the mornings.
I think I will have to try this – I hate that we take something that is so biodegradable and put it in junk and then in plastic. Holden is 14-ish (we rescued him from the Humane Society, and they told us he was 3 – that was almost 12 years ago), and to be honest, I’m not sure he’s really into adult education. Also, if I’m not there to monitor things, I can only imagine the attention that he’d get from the dog while trying to attend his business. Can you say disaster????
Life saver! My cats litter box is the battle story of my life : /
I can’t wait to try the olive oil idea- I just did a ‘litter dump’ and so much was clumped and stuck to the bottom of the boxes..grr…I have been using The World’s Best Cat Litter for years now- and, while it is pricey, it really works better than anything else I have tried (it is also flushable- but if you live anywhere near the ocean please do not flush- there is a parasite in cat urine that is thought to be contributing to killing sea otters) and I have tried EVERY natural littler out there. The other day I was refilling on litter at the local pet store and saw a new type of litter made by Blue from walnuts. I bought a small bag because I had a feeling about it and I have to say WHOA, it works at least as if not better than WBCL!!! SO I would recommend it! We may be switching over all the way.
I was told that if you live ANYWHERE you should worry about flushing natural cat litter, but if you bring your vet a sample of cat poop and have it tested for toxoplasmosis you are ok to flush if it comes out clean. I am pretty sure it is the feces and not the urine the bad stuff live in since urine is NH4 heavy and therefore sterile. Just yucky. I used to live in Ontario and was advised to test them even in the absence of an ocean. As they were indoor cats one test per lifetime was all that was required.
Please correct me if I am mistaken.
Your cat says you are keeping the litter box TOO CLEAN! 🙂
Jackson Galaxy has written a ton of articles on this. Scoop frequently, but fulling cleaning too often makes your cat anxious and feel like they don’t “own their space.” 🙂
I have two cats, both boys, whose names are Nyan Cat and Wheatley (black and white tuxedo and orange tabby respectively). They are 2 of the most loving/cuddly cats I have ever had the pleasure to know. Never thought I was a cat person until I adopted these guys. I see them as my babies and I want the very best for them. I am definitely interested in trying this natural litter. I hate the clay/dusty rocklike litter. In fact, the other day I saw a sharp piece stuck in Wheatley’s paw pad. So yeah, totally over the crappy litter.
I can’t pick a particular story about my cats other than some of their mannerisms. Wheatley has a compulsion to pick up small things off the counter, like pens, pins, wrappers, my glasses, etc, and place them on the floor in rows. Strange right? Nyan is almost too hypersensative to any toy. I could be in the other room, barely move a toy of his (that may make no sound mind you) and seconds later he is attacking the toy and/or the place where it once lay.
Both are just over a year old, so they are still kittens and drive me crazy sometimes; but they’re my boys, gotta love’em =)
oh my gracious, that has to be one of the funniest posts i’ve ever read! i was trying not to wake up my little guy while reading it! it is also, of course, very helpful. while i doubt i’ll be able to find your brand of kitty litter where i live, i will try out your other tips. thanks!! 🙂 lisa
Thank you! Today is litterbox cleaning day anyway, so when I found this post last night I sorta (SORTA) started to look forward to doing it. I’ve always used baking soda in the litterbox as well as rinse it with vinegar (to nuetralize any urine smells the soap might miss) but have never thought of the olive oil. So simple but so genius!
Our cat, Paisley loves water. She was our second furry addition to our family. We had had a Boxer (Scooby) for about a year and a half when we got Paisley. He had never shown an interest in our running water untill the cat came along and taught him how to get fresh cold water poured right from the spigot into his mouth. Paisley likes to follow us- ecspecially me- into the bathroom and jump up onto the counter while we wash our hands and then lap at the running water. If i’m going in there for any reason that does not require water, she curls into a ball in the sink basin and stares at me, willing me to turn it on. I fear her cat powers so I always turn it on and let her drink to her little cat’s heart is content. Scooby, who also follows us into the bathroom (and everywhere else, how very dog of him) watched this with curiousity (or was it jealousy?) maybe all of three times untill one day he stared me down, stepped his big clumsy self into our bathtub and said “OK, now it’s MY turn, turn it on woman”. Or at least that’s what his look was telling me. So now all three animals (we recently added a Min Pin to the mix) follow me in, Paisley to take her princess perch and get her royal drink, Scooby to follow in the cats footsteps because we all know dogs don’t think oif these things without cats to goad them along, and tiny little Smidgen running back and forth between the sink and tub thinking they are both crazy:) Maybe one day I’ll be able to do my buisness in peace, but i’m not betting on it.
Too funny! I have 2 dogs and cat too, sparkling personalities that truly are linked in and deeply connected with owner! I on;y give them RO water though and high quality food (I HOPE) I will try the baking soda, vinegar and coconut oil! What is best food to feed?
Great tips! I will be adding the olive oil part to my regimen. We use Feline Pine pellets and compost the litter. We tried Swheat scoop but if you have dogs too, we realized it was an invitation for the canines to get a sprinkled snack and had to switch back to pine 😉
Hey Betty,
I’m all for natural cat litter, but one of my boys likes to perch’n poop. I had just put the corn litter in the litter box and sat down to read a book, when Marz came tearing out of the bathroom covered in the corn litter. Poor guy had been attempting to poop when he tipped the litter box over. I like that it lasted longer then the clay and that it’s better for the earth, but I need something with a bit of weight. Any ideas on how I could counter weigh the litter box?
How about a nice rock or two in the corners? Cheap (free), natural, fully washable…
CrunchyBetty…
It seems like you care just as much about the safety of your pet-care products as you do your own. The comment about essential oils especially made me want to ask you this. I am just entering the world of safer products and foods, and so far I am having the most trouble finding replacements for two things – my wash-by-hand dish liquid and Frontline. So tell me, please, if you are still reading comments on this post – what do you use for flea control?
I realize this is a year later but a water & raw apple cider vinegar spray works really well.
Wow, it really was exactly one year! How bizarre and awesome!
I use Diatomaceous Earth. Works great, and is all natural.
clove oil is great for flea control. I had a stray dog that was covered in fleas. I sprayed the couches and all soft things with a mixture of water and clove oil. You can also put a drop of clove oil on a bandanna or something that the pet is wearing. Don’t apply directly to skin as it can cause irritation.
Last Spring 2015, I decided I was going to find a more natural alternative to clumping clay kitty litter. I didn’t want the cats or us to continue breathing in harmful clay dust and keep asking a non-biodegradeable substance to the landfill. After testing numerous materials, including shredded paper, saw dust, pelleted horse bedding, crushed corn cob horse bedding, and cracked corn, I finally landed on’The One’! I now have been using Chicken Layer Crumbles for 9 months and love it! It is MUCH less expensive and has low dust, clumps well and is excellent at controlling odors and I use less than I did with clay litter so it is longer lasting. It comes in 50lb bags which Selim for $10.99 to $15.99 each. Buy it at farm stores or wherever chicken feed is sold.
I call my cat, Oliver Twist, the Little Dickens. Not just because of his name, but because he is the Best of Cats, he is the Worst of Cats. He was living ferally (is that a word?) when I adopted him and still insists on doing all his…ahem…business…outdoors. When he does deign to come inside, he is the sweetest, most cuddly, most always-purring little cashmere-soft furball in the world. Until he decides to play. Then without warning he latches on to my ankles with his razor-sharp talons and viciously bites my Achillles tendons until the dog, hearing my screams, runs over to rescue me.
My cat Tony ran away a few years ago- we have woods behind our house. Sad! But, that cat was so weird. He really liked water. I couldn’t put out the dogs’ refillable water dish because I kept coming home with it tipped over and water all over the floor. But the weirdest thing he did with water is he’d take his catnip mice and drop them into his bowl to make “tea”.
He somethimes used to get on the back of the couch behind my husband and play with and lick his head (he was in the Navy so his hair was really short and fuzzy).
He also loved shoes. He’d try and climb into them, loosening the laces with his face as he went. He took the insoles and laces out of my husband’s dress shoes doing this. I also found him sleeping inside my Uggs- his head in one and his butt in the other.
I love the idea of keeping a natural kitty litter box! This isn’t something that had occurred to me, but it makes great sense.
I have to say, though, that while I was initially in love with the idea of toilet training for cats, I recently learned about something called toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is a common parasite found in cat feces, and when flushed down the toilet, it can end up in the ocean. This is problematic because toxoplasmosis has been directly linked to a significant die off of sea otters, which are an important keystone species in kelp forests. Flushable cat litter has actually been banned where I live (Monterey Bay, CA) due to this problem. This website explains the parasite and its link to sea otter deaths a little bit more: http://www.moderncat.net/2008/11/13/toilet-training-your-cat/.
I am right in the middle of training my 9-year-old Fluffypants to use the toilet–she’s in middle school right now, with a large opening in the remains of the litter tray. It being summer, though, she prefers to make solid in the grass (and she DEMANDS to go outside; there’s none of that tea in the garden room nonsense for her) and only leaves yellow in the commode. She has left solid presents in the toilet, but has held it for three days (and I have to close myself in the bathroom with her and psych her into it, as she gives me lots of warning that she’s wound up and full of crap. HA). As such, we have extended our training time until she either gains some manners and quits screaming to be let out, or the weather turns yucky enough that she doesn’t WANT out. It actually works pretty well, because I would rather move the tray every time I need to use the restroom than EVER clean another litter box (she misses the litter completely, so I don’t have to clean what’s in the tray–it’s all psychological for her at this point), and I’m certain that once the snows start flying, she’ll be graduated in short order.
If you can’t tell, I highly recommend toilet training, but the ticket is take it slow. We got a little in a hurry, graduating from the middle school to the high school sized hole, and had an accident (I wasn’t home, and hubby didn’t realize what her manic pacing and strange yowling was), and we ended up taking it back two steps. Some kitties (especially younger ones) take less time–my Snotty McBratt is just stubborn.
Being honest, my cat is not the brightest bulb in the box… but she is probably in the top 10 most adorable/weird cats in history. See below example. Like they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Ridiculously cute!
OMG!! how cool. must have been some nip in those jars lool
Thank you for these tips! I also use Swheat Scoop, but it tends to stick to the bottom. Definitely trying the olive oil and baking soda tricks! A funny thing about my cat (Amelie, 11 years old) is she hates getting in and out of her carrier. Absolutely detests it. So much, that she will go and hide while I am packing up to go to our cabin (her Fave place to visit). I have spent hours looking for her; she’s hid in the laundry, under beds, closets, you name it, she’s hidden there. A few times I’ve had to arrange for someone to take care of her because I can’t find her lol!! And that’s with putting her in one room so she can’t go to far. Oh my, what a character. 😀
My cat is my best friend. She’s the sweetest bundle of fur I’ve ever known and sleeps snuggled up to me any and every chance she gets. Lilbit (that’s her name) is a himalayan and she is SUPER spoiled. My husband and I don’t have any children so I tell people she’s my child. Complete with her own Facebook photo album that currenly has about 110 pictures in it from the past few years. =P I know it sounds sad, but it gets worse. I just made 22. I have friends that tell me they feel so sorry for my kids when I eventually have one, since I spend this much attention on a cat that a child would be much worse.
I love this post! My babies (girl and boy cats) have a Facebook album as well! They both sleep with me and are my children. I love them so much that its hard to fathom loving my children any more. Therefore, I know as a parent…my children will be completely and awfully spoiled.
I too use baking soda for my kitty litter. It does help. We tried the corn kitty litter and my cat did not like it, karma my fuzzy first born peed on everything. So we had to change back to clay… I know, not proud that now I know how terrible it is for the environment. Maybe we will try your wheat litter. Thanks for the post. 🙂
I am So surprised nobody has mentioned TOILET TRAINING! It’s the ULTIMATE “eco-friendly” litterbox! We are in the process of training our cats, and while it’s definitely a challenge, I can’t WAIT for the results! We bought the book/DVD from http://www.toilettrainedcat.com. It’s very well presented, easy to understand, and (it seems) VERY successful!
You are just a hoot! I love this article. I’ve not put much attention to cat litters before now, even though I have seen the brand you recommend on the store shelf before… Mostly I wondered if they’d be any good for the “kids” (yes, they are my fur kids). I have four (yes, well on my way to being a proud card carrying member of “The Crazy Cat Lady Society”) wonderful cats (3 more or less indoors and 1 outdoors) and a HUGE cat litter trowel (well that’s all I can figure on calling it) and have wondered if SwheatScoop would work for our house. I think I’ll give it a chance now.
Cat story: Her Royal HIghness… my little Shiva (a five year old Persian mix) who knows she is just thee been knees around here, like many other Persian cats walks and sits with grace and elegance. Unlike them she loves to sit around and look like some kitty out of a magazine until you take the time to look at her to praise her for her looks then she runs like a mad cat straight to our metal screen door, jumps onto it, climbs half way up and hangs there until she hears you laugh.
I feel compelled to share kitty story – I’ll try to be brief, but a can of worms has been opened. I love my 9.5 year-old kitten dearly, but seriously, why do I have to pull logs of crap off her butt every few days?? She knows they’re there, but she insists that I finish the job for her! WHY?
Ok, so i don’t have a cat… But i have two ferrets who use a litter box corner just the same! We use newspaper litter for them because the clay-like ones can damage their respiratory system when the dust is breathed in, and i read that clumping litter can cause bad problems if ingested. Despite looking like a fluffy tailed rodent, ferrets are actually quite closely related to cats (they eat the same food as cats), and in personality are a bit like a cross between a puppy and a kitten that never, ever grows up. They can be trained to walk on a lead, come when called and do tricks (when there’s something in it for them, of course). They steal things like magpies. One of mine has a thing for toiletries – once she was running around the room when i was packing for an overnight trip, and when i arrive at my destination i found that SOMEONE has removed my razor, toothbrush and tampons (i found them behind the washing machine when i got home). The other particularly likes bottle caps and lids, medicine cups and small plastic dishes. They’ve also been known to steal wallets, and go through the bags of guests looking for things they like. They climb everything, get into everything, deliberately tip drinks over, dig in pot plants, steal and hide food (even if it’s not something they eat). They wait around the edges of doorways and wait until you walk past in order to ambush your feet. They do wild victory dances, hopping up and down and clucking when they’re excited. They get excited when they hear you come in the door. If you give them a dish of water on a hot day they go paddling and blow bubbles in it. I could go on a lot… But seeing as this isn’t even a cat story i’ll stop.
I had a cat years ago named Horace. He was a rather rotund black cat. We had bought a new home which we soon discovered came with a few mice. We ended up setting traps in various places, out of the reach of the cats, we thought…One morning I heard strange meowing coming down the hall. I opened the bedroom door and there stood Horace with a mouse in his mouth. I about died laughing because the mouse was in the trap, but that cat was so proud of his catch. He wandered around doing that funny proud little meow/purr sound when they have caught something. I wish I would have taken a picture of his first ‘catch’.
Love this blog! Went “no poo” because of you (6 months and going strong). Use your VCO + CS deodorant recipe, and recently added activated charcoal to my eco-dent. And now I find out you’re a cat lady who uses Swheat Scoop? Totally in love. My kitty has never known anything but Swheat Scoop since I adopted her, and I feed her a grain-free wet diet (mainly Soulistic, which is made by Weruva for Petco).
Like some other folks, I’m commenting for the first time b/c of this post. And, sorry to go off topic, but I’m getting all my Betty-love and Betty Questions out of the way in one fell swoop.
1. You’re a great writer, with so much heart and soul. Really, this whole endeavor of yours is great!
2. Question: Do you use a neti pot? (I use a plastic neti bottle b/c the ceramic ones break on me–could probably up cycle a soap bottle of some kind). Seems like something that would be up your alley, and I haven’t seen any references to them, unless I’ve missed something.) Would love to have your take on neti pots. (Lots of cute post title possibilities: Betty-Neti, anyone?)
3. Another question: my favorite beauty accessory (there aren’t many) is a nail shiner/buffer. Give you nail polish shine without nail polish. A popular one right now is the Revlon crazy shine. Any thoughts? Can’t figure out how they work…are they some special evil kind of plastic? Or would they pass a Betty-test?
Love, love, love! (We need more pictures of your kitty, now…)
I read all the way to the end of the cat litter post – and I don’t even own a cat! Very glad you added cautions about essential oils. I don’t know much about cats but have studied essential oils and every aromatherapy book that I’ve read recommends using extreme caution around cats. BTW, I always enjoy your blog. 🙂
It’s so funny that this post showed up in my inbox when it did. I just got 2 kittens two weeks ago and the smell from their cat litter has been bothering me. When I read this, I was like, “Oh, hm. This seems like such an awful lot of work for my cats.” But the smell kept getting worse.. (And not worse as in I needed to change the litter box, worse as in the horrible perfume kept stinking up my house!)
So when I stopped in to get some cat food, I decided to check out the cat litter situation. It was expensive, though I was prepared for that, and I wasn’t going to do it, but then I remembered your last post and I was decided to splurge for quality. So. While I sort of feel a little bullied by this (not you, just the whole spending money to do good thing), I also feel good and proud. Hopefully my cats like it!
I don’t have too many stories about my kittens since they’re new, but I do have something weird, strange, though probably normal. They like to sleep on my neck. What is that about? And they’ll poke me all night until I roll over for them to lay there. And one of them loves laying there, but must readjust every 3 seconds for about an hour before he falls asleep. Sigh, but they’re just so cute. How can I say no?
Thank you for this post! I’ve been wanting to clean the litter box for my cats more often but I didn’t want to have to use a plastic bag. It never crossed my mind to use one you could flush for some reason, even though I use feline pine for my rabbit. I’m super excited to make the change and I’m hoping my cats will be too!
My cat Mickey sits on a cushion on the settee between me and my husband every evening. We take it in turns to stroke him and he loves all the attention so much he drools all over the cushion. Honestly, he needs a baby bib. Occasionally he shakes his head and the drool flies everywhere. Gross! The other evening he was sitting there as usual with his paws sticking out in front, when I noticed that one of the claws on each front paw were locked together. It was so funny watching him try to disentangle them. Eventually `i had to help. Has anyone ever seen this happen before?
Hi crunchy Betty, Our cat is a long haired gray male cat named Rocky. He comes to you when you call his name. My husband also has taught him to fetch. He is the sweetest little guy. He is a faithful companion. He is just over a yr old. I am allergic to short haired cats. The long hair is o.k. My real name is Betty by the way! Love the name of your site!
I love your blog. I’ve learned so much. I am really enjoying all the cat stories.
My kitty, Muffy is polydactile with extra toes and does in fact have opposable thumbs! She will grab onto things, like a pencil.
She likes to wake me up early every morning with a very gentle pat on my sleeping closed eyelid. muff is very smart.
I am well on my way to crazy cat lady status.
Can this be translated to guinea pig litter/cages?
Since our oldest son is allergic, it has been quite a few years since we have had a cat in the house. I did try baking soda in the litter box for odor control, but she refused to actually use the litter box whenever I had added baking soda. I suspect she objected to the flavor/scent.
I wonder if activated charcoal… hmmm. It would probably be the cause of little black kitty prints all over the house.
I am allergic to short haired cats. I was told by the cat shelter to try a long haired cat. I have had no problems with my allergies with our long haired cat.
Ah, cats. While my current cat is pretty quirky and lovable, including coming whenever I start singing “Amazing Grace” She often wakes herself up by meowing in her sleep and continues extremely disorientated until you talk to her.
However, the most side-splitting moment I have ever had with a cat was with a lovely, tubby marmelade back at my parents. Remember those “Garfield” plushies with suction cups on their paws that you could stick on you car’s rear window? Well, one day my tubby marmelade was sitting on the floor of our living room. He saw a bird through the window and decided to challenge the quantum physics theory that if one is indeed going fast enough one could pass through a wall; or perhaps he was just having a bird moment himself and couldn’t see the glass. He dashed up the couch valiantly, took a daring leap at the window, and just like a cartoon character went splat against the window and still in that “Garfield” plushie position slowly slid down the window behind the couch. After seeing that he was unharmed, I couldn’t stop laughing.
Thanks for the tip about the olive oil. That is just what I need! =)
I have a similar one. My mom was getting a room added onto the back sliding doors to become a den. Well, she replaced the sliding back doors with a nice frame with narrow windows on the side and french doors in the middle. Well, as the frame was being put up her cat would go through it freely. One day (after one of the side windows was put up) her cat decided to run through that side….and smacked right into the new window in it’s place! Ok, so the cat started using the other opening because of that incident. Then a few days later, the second window was put up (and the door too) and again the cat wanted to go through the supposed opening that she knew….and smack! It was the funniest thing I ever saw a cat do. I just can’t believe she fell for it twice!
What an awesome post – I read ALL of the comments and loved each and every one. Cat people are special – because cats are special! As they say, Dogs have masters, Cats have staff – and it’s sooooo true! I love the olive oil idea – I’ll try it. Another tip. My two cats love to kick litter out of the box and I keep it in a corner of the laundry room. Under the litter box, I placed a large plastic (I know, plastic) try designed to put under a washer to hold any drips or overflow. It works really well because if there is an out of the box accident, it’s usually contained in there. Every other week or so (if necessary) I just take it outside and spray it off with a hose and let it sit in the sun for a while to dry. Unfortunately, I use clumping clay litter. I did try swheat Scoop several cats ago when I lived in a condo because I liked the idea of flushing it and not having to carry litter from the 13th floor to the basement but I noticed little flying bugs in it so I quit using it.
Cat Story! We have two cats adopted from animal rescue. Oscar is our boy and he’s a big orange cat who has adopted the same personality traits as my hubby. They are both overweight and both will eat anything they can find in the house! Oscar has to be fed separately from Nikko because he will gobble his food then eat hers! Nikko is a beautiful cat with the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. I got her as a kitten and she looked like a long haired siamese. Well, she doesn’t now except for those huge blue eyes. We love our cats and they are our kids. Nothing is too good for our kids!! Oscar likes to lick your toes when you are in bed so unless you keep your feet under the covers, you can be woken up in a really odd way!!
Thanks, Crunchy Betty for a wonderful blog. I thoroughly enjoy reading what you post!
Best post ever!
i freakin love sWheat Scoop!!! L O V E. been using it for years now. cannot believe the difference. my cat has the smelliest bodily functions i have ever encountered with an animal. ugh. this stuff does the trick! i am going to try the olive oil trick though, great idea!
Cool tip about the olive oil. I wouldn’t have thought of that! I’m using some generic wheat based litter right now because the store was out of my usual combination of corn and pine (which seems to clump and smell a little better). It’s not bad. One reason to not train your cats to excrete outside is that toxoplasmosis in otters has been linked to fresh water run-off (not flushing litter down the toilet). I’ve also seen a number of studies that suggest that cats can’t metabolize essential oils, so they bioaccumulate and are generally not good for cats. I’ve cut way down on using essential oils out of concern for the cat, who (I’m not ashamed to admit) is my favorite companion, ranking even above the spouse at least some of the time.
Olive oil! Genius! We use Feline Pine already, but the olive oil trick is amazing. Must try. The only thing is we have a little dumb (but very sweet) kitty that will probably try to lick it off the sides of the box. Taking care of clumps and hairballs in in one swoop!;)
I absolutely LOVE this post. I went through the problem of finding a more natural litter that can control the smell better. To bad this wasn’t posted just a day before! I will try this though for sure next bag of litter.
Ms. Hemmingway is only 2 yrs old and she has 6 toes ( E. Hemmingway’s loved 6 toed cats). To get my attention she loves to wrap her paws around my leg and soft bit me when she wants to play. it always surprises me and then I can’t stop laughing. Now I follow her and lightly shake her tail and walk way, to which, she follows me again and attack my leg again.
Well, I think this will be one of those occasions where I know what I should do better, but things are a bit too tight, so it’s either buy nice eco litter or feed them and use standard litter. But I will try oiling the bottom for sure.
Anyhoo, Kevin the mama’s boy & alpha, Rudy the silly one and Chunk the loner were born in the morning of April 27th. Kevin was 2/6, Rudy was 3/6 and Chunk was 5/6. Their mama was a tortoiseshell Manx (RIP) and Papa is a local stray we now call Charlie. He still hangs around, but his boys hiss at him through the window.
Kevin earned his name after his human uncle’s fussy eating habits – his refusal to eat the carefully prepared weaning food, instead preferring the roast beef leftovers. Kev knows his name and likes to show off his belly at every available opportunity and takes over ownership of my bed during the day after supervising me get dressed. Chunk used to be the biggest of the litter and looks very much like Charlie. His lonersomeness made him shed the baby fat, since he stalks around the place like a insomniac. Rudy started life as a girl, I swear, I checked. We had to close them off on one side of the house so as to not eat with 24 kitten feet in our food, but Rudy managed to go through the kitchen, up the back stairs, over a 6 foot door (he was about 2 months old at the time), through the library, through our bedroom, down the main stairs and over the rail into my lap. In a little over 1 minute. (s)He was “being very rude!” we’d exclaim and one one of these occasions, while we picked up this rude little fuzzy tuxedo kitty and support his butt did my boyfriend have a weird look on his face and them tell me “Umm, girls don’t have those” Rudy wanted to be with us so much, he sprouted boy parts! Well, not really, but it’s cute, right?
Sadly, their mama died but left us with 2 other boys from a previous litter. Pumpkin, the proverbial scaredy cat and his brother Peaches. Peaches is also gender confused since he is very fluffy and his boy parts were not obvious until he was an adult. They are the barn cats who don’t spend much time in the barn. Peaches is the local stud and leaves apricot babies scattered throughout the land. Peaches gets called Bob Marley during winter when his lovely coat dreadlocks since he likes to dive for frogs in the ditch and I can’t shave him until the spring. Pumpkin mostly hangs out on the porch and helps out his human dad with the farm chores. They even play with the chickens – they role over, the hen will fake a peck at them and they role over and fake attack her.
We were given a new girl cat who looks very much like Mama cat. We call her Penny (“pretty as a penny”) but I have been known to call her less than cutsie names. Like the time she crawled up through the vents to get to the boys. 7 kittens arrived 60odd days later. Her domain: the basement. Her proposed role: mouser. Her actual role: having babies like there is no tomorrow. And helping choose whats for dinner from the freezer and about the laundry. Ya know, girly stuff. On cooler days, we put her in the sunroom where she catches up on her tan and reads some romance novels. Probably.
Do I assign personality traits to my cats? Totally. Do they live up to them? Absolutely. And the pee on my new issues of National Geographic.
I tried to get my cat Kipling to use the toilet…I thought it was hilarious, he didn’t agree. I had to stop because he kept holding in his poos and the vet said it could stretch his colon and we’d have to give him enemas. I love him, but we went back to cat litter.
On the other hand, we ended up with World’s Best cat litter, which I love. We also started keeping the litter tray next to the toilet (first as part of the training, but we’ve kept it there). It means that when we go, we clean out the litter tray so it never gets as stinky as it used to. Plus, there’s the comedy potential for tandem weeing (or is that just me?)
‘Tandem Weeing’ *snicker*
My cat will be 7 years old this September and despite being in love with a wonderful man, SHE is my soul mate and best friend. I got Phoebe when she was only a few days old and I took care of her and her litter mates round the clock, only getting 2-3 hours asleep in between feedings and helping them potty. She was an absolute mess when I got her and looked like a wingless bat with crazy hairs of different lengths sticking out all over the place but she had a spirit about her like no other pet or person I have ever known. She was so tiny that she received lots of special attention, including riding around in daddy’s shirt pocket and sleeping in bed with us under my chin. I loved every single one of those little guys but she was like a child to me and when she first got sick I was terrified of losing her. She spent a lot of time and thousands of dollars in the local animal ER. I would come to visit her everyday even though it was 40 minutes away and all the nurses would tell me that she was so wonderful they all secretly hoped I was a bad mom so they could steal her but realized how much I loved her so they settled for pictures and updates. Phoebe was finally diagnosed with Hemo Bartinella after months of medicine, fevers and iv’s and we got her back on track. Her growth had been stunted and when she finally tipped the scales at 6.5 lbs around the time she turned 2 I was thrilled. Her brothers were 17 pounds each! She is now the most beautiful loving friend I could ever ask for. She sleeps in my dresses or shirts or in a sling I made for her because she still likes to sleep as close to under my chin as she can, even if I am trying to type or do dishes. She is my constant companion and I can’t imagine my life without her.
We have two cats. First up is Ninja. He was a skinny, mangy and malnourished little pussy cat. Now, a year later, he is a somewhat overweight and spoiled gentleman.
Our other cat is a cute lady by the name Skrållan that we have taken possession through a shelter. She is a noble girl with royal features and she purrs at the slightest touch. When she does not tip over half the house, she loves to lie and sleep wherever we do not want cats (kitchen table, on top of shelves, etc.).
Thanks for a nice and useful information post about natural litter boxes. Will see what I find here in Sweden and try it out as soon as possible!
Ask for cat stories and you shall receive! 😀 I love that you posted this, even though it may be more expensive I know what litter I am buying next. Our roommate was trying to help and bought some scented extra clumping poopy stuff, uhg! I have had such a headache! Especially witha box in our bedroom as we protect six week old Loki from her big doggie sister Gojiera whom wants to love and play so much she doesn’t know how to be nice. Now if only Loki knew how to be nice to ankles while we are seeping… But that’s the price I pay for having a husband whom goes to the grocery store and comes back with a kitten to prevent it being taken to the shelter that is too full so sadly, are not no_kill.
Mew, our first cat loves looking at the spinning toilet water, she would likely take well to toilet training… my story is from bringing her home. November 3rd 2010, in a snow storm that doubled the two hour trip to four and a half. We adopted her from a person who is alergic tocats whos family abandoned he and left her in a truck. We bought a litterbox with a flap and tried to use that ad a carrier for the first hour. (Yes, i know now that was a mistake… we only use the bottom, doesnt like enclosed spaces] she was sooo noisy that is how she got her name. Then all of a sudden, she was out! She launched into my lap and made not a sound the rest of the way. She has never ventured outside since launching into our doorway from my arms as we got home.
Goodness gracious, I love you, too. This post made me giggle so much! As far as cat stories go, my black cat, Onyx, chases his tail in the bathtub. You don’t know cute until you’ve witnessed it, bahaha. I love your site bunches, and I’ve learned oodles from you!!
FIrst of all, we love you Crunchy Betty! Your site has made our lives more wonderful overall ;-D
I’m so glad you recommend Swheat Scoop – we’ve used it for years, we love it and more importantly… our 3 cats love it. You can try the toilet training thing, but it is a challenge. 3 cats and each one adjusted differently to it. We gave up as it was stressing a few of them out too much. But I thought you’d enjoy a pic of our Chairman Meow giving it a go… so to speak He was pooping in the tub too much, so back to using a good old fashioned litter box. But we haven’t tried the Olive Oil tip, we will now!
I am cracking up right now. I can barely get my 2 boy children to wipe the seat…..
I don’t have a cat…but can this work with a guinea pig cage? He does poop/pee everywhere, and whilst I use paper litter pellets… can this translate to another pet? thanks in advance. Michelle
I will definitely be rethinking my kitty’s litter (baking soda, so simple, so genius!). A story about my kitty? Well, you really shouldn’t let me get started. lol. My current kitty, a 9 month I acquired a few weeks ago by the name of Jareth, I have fewer stories about as we are so new to one another. I was terribly amused one day though when he came wandering into the room with his belly all wet. At first I was rather disturbed by this, fearing he had peed on himself or made some other mess. Fortunately that was not the case. It was a hot hot day and Jareth dragged his belly through his water dish to cool off. I had been warned by his previous owner that he liked water but was not expecting that.
I’ve got a few good ones about my previous cat, Paws, who passed away a couple of years ago though. He actually convinced my step-mother that he knew the days of the week. He always got moist cat food as a treat on Wednesdays and Sundays. One morning while I was having breakfast before school he was meowing and whining most insistently. My step-mother told him it wasn’t Wednesday and he would get his treat the next day. I then informed her that it was in fact Wednesday and thus treat day. She apologized and corrected herself, telling Paws he’d get it later (he didn’t answer per se), and was convinced for weeks that he knew the days of the week. It was only some time later that she realized that she made bacon and eggs for my dad (who ate and left for work before me) on the same morning that Paws received his treat. So Paws didn’t actually know the days of the week, just that treat day for my dad meant treat day for him.
Then there’s the time he punched me in the nose (deserved, admittedly) or bounced off a bath tub full of water (naughty humans leaving the tub filled when that’s where we kept his water). 🙂
I will definitely be rethinking my kitty’s litter (baking soda, so simple, so genius!). A story about my kitty? Well, you really shouldn’t let me get started. lol. My current kitty, a 9 month I acquired a few weeks ago by the name of Jareth, I have fewer stories about as we are so new to one another. I was terribly amused one day though when he came wandering into the room with his belly all wet. At first I was rather disturbed by this, fearing he had peed on himself or made some other mess. Fortunately that was not the case. It was a hot hot day and Jareth dragged his belly through his water dish to cool off. I had been warned by his previous owner that he liked water but was not expecting that.
I’ve got a few good ones about my previous cat, Paws, who passed away a couple of years ago though. He actually convinced my step-mother that he knew the days of the week. He always got moist cat food as a treat on Wednesdays and Sundays. One morning while I was having breakfast before school he was meowing and whining most insistently. My step-mother told him it wasn’t Wednesday and he would get his treat the next day. I then informed her that it was in fact Wednesday and thus treat day. She apologized and corrected herself, telling Paws he’d get it later (he didn’t answer per se), and was convinced for weeks that he knew the days of the week. It was only some time later that she realized that she made bacon and eggs for my dad (who ate and left for work before me) on the same morning that Paws received his treat. So Paws didn’t actually know the days of the week, just that treat day for my dad meant treat day for him.
Then there’s the time he punched me in the nose (deserved, admittedly) or bounced off a bath tub full of water (naughty humans leaving the tub filled when that’s where we kept his water). 🙂
Great post! You forgot to mention SweatScoops frequent buyer program! Save the proofs of purchase and once you accumulate 12 they will send you a coupon for a free bag. They also send some $ off coupons. I always flush the litter and have never had a problem. Our Lil’ Big Guy died in May of Cronic reinal failure. He was only 11 and the meanest cat I have ever had. He was a feral rescue and hated our guts. We trained him to a leash and harness so he could safely enjoy the out doors. He never got his legs tangled, like a dog would, and if he got stuck he would sit and wait for one of us to help him out. He did not purr until he was three. I was napping on the couch and had made peace with the fact that this was not a cozy cat. He jumped onto my stomach and started purring. I loved that cat. My husband works at a country club and three weeks ago a kitten with her eyes still closed was found stranded in a Bougainvila 12 feet off the ground. Her name is Little LuLu and she will be using SweatScoop until I train he to use the toilet:). She also has her first kitty harness. . . It is a little large.
I used to have a Himalayan named Spookie who was an absolute eating machine. It was around this time that I first discovered Swheatscoop and was ecstatic to have a planet-friendly cat litter for our home. I lived in my happy delusion for about a month when one day I noticed that there wasn’t very much litter in the pan compared to what I normally put in. Then, of course, it slipped my mind. Until a few days later, when I noticed that there was barely enough litter to cover anything, and there was very little too scoop. Scolding myself (of course), I added some more. This went on for some time until I discovered that Spookie the Pig-cat was actually EATING THE KITTY LITTER. I honestly think this is unique to the deranged nature of this strange cat, since none of my other cats were eating their crap-coverings and pee clumps. Needless to say, I had to stop using this kitty litter because I figured eating his sibling’s waste was decidedly unhealthy.
I’ve been using Swheat Scoop for about 4 years, and like it fine, although I’ve never used anything other litters so I don’t have a reference point. I like the tip about the olive oil, I’ll have to try that. The Swheat Scoop does tend to stick to the box, and I just scrape it with the back side of the scooper. I wash the cat box periodically with Simple Green using the hand-held shower, and haven’t had much of an odor issue except right after my cat poops. Now, if I could only figure out why my cat periodically pees along my stairs.
The cat in your post is gorgeous!
Cat boxes will smell horrible if you don’t feed them good food! I feed my cat a raw diet (currently Nature’s Variety, but I’ll make my own once I can get a meat grinder!) and her litter box smells downright pleasant in comparison to when she was eating friskies! If raw isn’t possible, at least feed them canned, with dry food cats will always be dehydrated and their pee will stink!
I love the olive oil idea! I’m going to try it next time we change out the box. I’m a huge fan of feline pine. It works great, smells great, and the used pine dust can be poured in the yard. Unfortunately, one of my cats likes it less than I do. So we have 2 boxes with different litters. Picky boy has round walnut shell litter (clumping). It’s by Blue Buffalo, the company that also makes dog food.
You must’ve read my mind. As I was scooping my toxic cat litter just two days ago, I was thinking that there had to me a more natural alternative. And I just found out what it is. Thanks! I love you!
Here’s my cat story…
I have two kitties, and although I love them both equally, I think Motorboat loves me more than Moonshine. Every morning, she greets me with urgent meows, and she won’t stop until I follow her into the only carpeted room in the house and tell her to throw herself on the floor. She immediately throws her body down, stretches out, and bares her belly for a good rub down. She will occasionally do this during the day, but every morning is a given.
My other kitty, Moonshine, likes to jump onto the screen door and climb to the top to try to get the moths that are flying around outside. It freaked me out the first time she did it, but now I just think it’s cute.
I love my shelter kitties!
Aw, man…I miss my cat. His name was Lestat (he would suck on your neck when you held him). I could swing him in a circle, by holding his back legs. He loved it! He would come when I called, and he loved strangers. He hated other cats, and would defend his “territory” of 20 yards in either direction. He always pooped outside if he could. He was an enthusiastic litter-kicker, so I had 5 inches of litter in a big plastic tote. I took him to work to help with a mouse problem…and he disappeared in the woods. :'( My life hasn’t really been the same since. I still miss him, and it was 2005 that he disappeared.
Wowza, cat stories, eh? Hmmm…well I’ve had: a blonde Maine coon named 46, black polydactle manx named Sasquatch, calico shorthair (Fitz) who would hold complete conversations with you and ride shotgun, a superneedy purebred Persian (Max, who got a better eulogy than some of my family here: https://absolutehaven.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/eulogy-for-a-cat/), a tortie shorthair that was smarter than most boyfriends (Hogey), a jet black shorthair who never bumped the line on an EEG (Koahle), a tortie shorthair that was almost turkey vulture dinner (Snack), and an orange longhair runt named Fuzz who turned to eating hummingbirds when he ran out of chipmunks.
All of them were great cats, with distinct personalities; none of them typically cat-like. Several played fetch, one sang, one learned how to lock the dog out, and all of them loved us back.
Damn. I miss having a cat.
Love this post & replies. Question: anyone have problems switching over to this type of litter from clumping litter? I know cats don’t like change, so that’s something I’m concerned about. Here’s my cat story – Puma & Lola love to go outside, but they stay in our fenced-in yard most of the time. When they do get out, they stay close and come in when I open the gate for them. When it’s time to come indoors, I call them & they come in! My neighbors get a charge out of this! Thanks for sharing everyone!
Make the change slowly….use 3/4 old litter (as in fresh, but old brand/type) and 1/4 new litter at first and gradually increase the new litter and decrease the old litter until you reach 100% new type.
Thanks, I’ll try it!
This is awesome. I’m going to try it this weekend. I love your blog. Here’s a little tidbit about my kitty, Pearl, who’s terribly annoying and totally wonderful: She hops in the shower with me every morning, gets right under the shower spray for a minute or two, hops out and proceeds to groom herself all dripping wet on the bath mat. Then with her slicked forward spikey hairdo, she heads downstairs for breakfast. I must say she has the most beautiful coat of fur on the block.
This is my favorite kitty story!!!! Freaking awesome!
My stars! I bet you’ve gotten more people to de-lurk from this post than from any other. Heeheehee.
My kitty is in Heaven now, but she was the ne plus ultra of typical cat behavior–snobbish, independent, the Jedi master of hairball production. I miss her dreadfully but I don’t miss scooping that $@#&^ litterbox.
Her name was Squish. Mom wanted to name her Fluffy or Muffy or something, but Dad was afraid he would accidentally run her over with his power wheelchair. “Oh, no Mr. Bill! Squish.” And she was Squish from then on.
I love all your posts, and I did read all the way to the end. You can go on an ramble all you want 🙂 I have a 7 year old persian ( that is human years ). The joy of my life and spoiled rotten. He is the best cat I ever had, just one issue he has acquired in the recent past few years, he has decided I guess the litter box is not as good as the carpet or near surroundings outside the box. Thankfully, I usually will only find a gift waiting for me outside the box when i get home not # 1 but # 2. I cannot totally complain, because its alot easier to clean up then his pee. That of course as long as its nothing like what you might find in a babies diaper, YUCK! He has given me those gifts too but not as often. I have tryed new litter, putting Vicks vapor rub in his popular areas ( suggestion I found on Pinterest ) that did not work, multiple boxes, placing box over his choice spot on the floor to scolding my precious and locking him in the bathroom with the box for the day. Sometimes it works and other days not. The little furball has even gone into my standup shower and tinkled in there. Amazing! He is something else, I dont get so bent out of shape with the shower, better then the rug. I took him to the vet to learn there could be a possibility he has psychological issues and they have feline Prozac. Its apparently not uncommon. I decided to not pump my cat up with drugs if at all possible. I am happy to see your post and I am going to try it out and hope Betty you helped me find a solution. Anyone else has a cat going through a spell like mine I would definately love feedback. Thank you Betty 🙂
Have you tried Ssscat spray? It’s compressed air in a can with a motion sensor on top that gives a quick blast of air when your kitty goes into the area you want them to avoid. Cats don’t like the blast, but since it’s only air, it doesn’t hurt them. You can adjust the motion sensor so that you won’t set it off every time you walk by. They can be sensitive even with that option, but if you angle the can well, just your cat will set it off most of the time, and they will learn to avoid the area. It’s not a perfect solution, but it might help. I’ve used it many times over the years when I’ve had places that I didn’t want my cats to go (such as keeping them off my kitchen counters or table). I’ve not had the type of trouble you have, but it might for your problems, too! 🙂
I love the olive oil tip!
We have a sweet 2 year old cat named Graycee, that we adopted after my daughter went to Humane Society camp. And an old crotchety cat name Purrl. Purrl was my grandma’s cat and when she came to live with us a year ago I threatened to rename her Hisster, because she was so irritated by our mere presence. Purrl grew up in a home without any stairs, and it took her about 6 months to venture up ours, but she still doesn’t quite know how to walk down them. She goes front paw, front paw, and then back paws together in a little hop and it sounds like, pat pat thunk, pat pat thunk, all the way down, one step at a time,
We are temporarily back on “the clay” at our house until we can enclose our little Artemis’s box. We have a really small house, with two dogs and Artemis (Guess its easy to tell is the boss around here, right?) we LOVE the Swheat Scoop! BUT, after finding that the pups made an all night snack buffet out of the litter box, we had to shut it down… Quick, fast, and in a hurry. They both have wheat allergies! So, a few vet appointments, creams, and baths later, we are back on the clay until we can fashion a pup-proof box. Since we rent, we can’t go putting cat doors in the bathroom or anything. So we bought a storage bench for a few bucks at the flea market, and will be hiding it all together. Both Artemis and I can’t wait to get back to the Swheat scoop, she hates the clay. It tracks too much and she doesn’t like leaving a “trail” outside her box.
But, for our cat story: For people who say cats could care less about humans, I say Boo! to that. At 9 pm every night, no matter where she is, Artemis will seek us out for bed time. She will follow us around, and if we go anywhere near the bedroom, she darts in and sits on the foot board waiting for us to take our spot before climbing in herself and getting comfy. If we are staying up a little too late for her liking, she will meow at us until we get up and follow her. She leads us to the room as if to say, “Hello! Mom! It’s bed time, don’t you see what time it is?” and she will not be content until both Tom and I are in bed. Now, it’s not as cute on Saturday morning when she wakes you up at 5:30 to fill the dish. I didn’t know I got a cat with not only the cutest tiger stripes, but an alarm clock function as well…
Ha! I love it. Our cat has started telling me it’s bedtime, too. It usually starts around 11:45, he’ll come out and stare at me and meow until I say something back to him. Then, he’ll go lay down somewhere and revisit me in 10-minute intervals, like a snooze button, until finally I’m, like, “Fine, dummy. I’ll go to bed.” Then he lays on my head.
We had a big problem with kitty box tootsie roll eating dogs too. I found that you can buy a top loading litter box at Petsmart for roughy a million dollars. So we made our own. We bought a large rubbermade tote with a lid, cut a round hole on one side of the top, and bingo. Kitty can jump in and out to do his business but dogs can’t snack.
Thoroughly enjoyed your litter box piece! Wish I’d thought of the oil on the bottom of the litter box back in my younger days. I used a couple of black plastic cement mixing tray things and a few extra large commercial litter boxes for my cats litter … I did animal rescue for just about twenty-five years and I let the ones not adopted or adoptable live out their lives with me … I was a cat lady … not crazy yet, though … I used plain clay to start with and then discovered the problems associated with it and shredded newspaper when funds were low …. that stuff you had to toss EVERYDAY … but fortunately I had a newsstand that gave me papers without the front page on it the day after it came out … the cats didn’t know the difference 🙂 Feline Pine was the best/healthiest litter out there at the time … (I have no association with them but I wish I had a nickel for every bag I used) All the cats in my care lived out their lives and about five years ago …. I became catless. Generally I picked solids everyday (cheap plastic baggie over my hand) and when it turned to sawdust … it got tossed… Didn’t smell unless I forgot one of the litter boxes and it overstayed it’s welcome:) I remember scraping the bottoms and then taking them outside to soap and bleach … a little squirt of oil in the pan first would have solved the major cleanings! VERY good tip… doesn’t make me want to get a cat again (although I miss every one of them) … unless an older hairless one comes up for adoption 🙂 Memory exercise is naming all the cats that lived their lives with me… Jingles was the first (I was 3 ) Tootsie was the last (I was 52) and they looked identical!
I don’t have a cat. I like cats—not as much as dogs, but you all are making me want to get a cat.
How about a story about me telling stories about my catS? 2nd date with the now husband: over 5 Guinesses I told him the stories of ALL OF THE THIRTY cats me and my family had owned throughout my ENTIRE LIFE!
I know, he STILL married me. AND he is always reminding me of this night. Yeah me.
My bf knows well the tales of me and all my dead/living cats…
We have two lovely boys, Jasper aka Mean Mr. Mustard or JammyCat, and Rufus ‘P.P.’ Smallpaws. The ‘P.P.’ stands for Poo-Poo, because when he was a tiny little feral kitten from the Cats Protection League shelter, he didn’t now how to properly clean himself and was always a bit whiffy. When he used the litterbox, he scratched the sides of the box and the floor outside it, but never the litter itself. It took him about 2 years to learn how to scratch and cover properly.
Oops – one more thought (I was just so excited to read about cats, and I’m raising two more cat lovers). My mom once had an old enamel refrigerator drawer for a litter box (dang, where’d that thing go?!) for a litter box. Great for cats who need deep boxes due to scratching/flinging action, and so easy to clean and deodorize! I suggest hanging out at old dumps to find one?
WAIT – I HAVE A GOOD LITTERBOX TIP TOO (the olive oil is a fantastic one!). Make sure you have two litterboxes for when it’s time to wash one (the laundry sink also works as well as a bathtub, if you have one). Then SOAK that baby for a couple of hours (because, really, plastic retains odors so!) in hot sudsy water, and the best I’ve found is Dr. Bronner’s peppermint stuff (or Trader Joe’s version). All natural, and with a strong enough scent to overcome cat pee! Luckily my kitties have all been indoor/outdoor types (and yes they live to be 16 to 20 years old, b/c the street in my suburb is only one block long, no stray dogs or coyotes, etc.), so we only have to see litterbox action when we go on vacation and lock them in with catsitter visits, or when they get old and lazy or sick. We’ve been transitioning to pine litter from Trader Joe’s. Go Cats!
My cat story (litter related even):
This is from back when I was using clumping clay (no more! now I spend my paycheck on World’s Best), so my litter came in a nice big five gallon bucket. I had just emptied and scrubbed the litter box (which I do WAY less then every two weeks), and I had the lid off the bucket of fresh litter. I turned away for some reason, and when I looked back, one of my cats had climbed INTO the bucket and was peeing in there. They always like clean litter best, of course….
I love your post! There is a lot of cat ladies out there who just love all cat-related “nonsense”, I bet;)
I just bought Swheat Scoop last week for the first time and set it up yesterday and so far so good:) I never knew that the clay ones are no good for kitties even though I always knew to avoid the scented ones. But then again, I just started my journey so there is a lot I haven’t read about yet… So I’m glad I got the crunchy-betty-approved Sweat Scoop! LOL
Ok, so I’ll chip in with my tiny bit of kitty-litter-related wisdom… Not only that RAW DIET is beneficial for your pet in every way you can think of (including weight management which a lot of indoor kitties struggle with) but it also leads to virtually NO ODOR of the litter box! I switched to entirely raw diet last year (even though my kitty was eating a lot of raw beef before too) because my vet suggested that as the only healthy diet to prevent him from getting overweight. Wise vet!:) Anyway, I observed that every time I’d give him little bit of the dry food we had left (Orijen), he would stink… If he eats raw, we are all happy in our little apartment:)
About training a cat to go to the toilet… I just think it’s really unnatural for them and I wouldn’t stress my cat with something like that;) The litter box is as close to the natural way as we can get indoors, I guess…
And my cat story:) I call my kitty the love of my life (ahem, don’t tell my husband…I just happened to have TWO loves of my life, so what!). His Name is Bentley and he truly is wonderful cat;) He flew with me three times Prague-New York without any complaint AND without going to the bathroom (even though he had special pads for that purpose). He travelled across the country for 10 days when we were moving from NY to CA. And he didn’t mind. He used the litter box when he was given the chance and didn’t mind to sleep in different hotels all the time. Now he can say he spent NYE in Colorado, he visited Grand Canyon and he did little hiking (on the leash) by Four Corners.. LOL
We are both Czech, but hell we did some traveling together! 😉
LOL, I read all the way to the end and I have no cat. But I used to when I was a kid. Outside cats (we live in the country). My first cat was Fluffy, who had only three paws. My Dad and brother found him caught in an animal trap in the woods, and I found him in a box in our cellar the morning they saved him. What a great cat! Also great blog on the all natural, non smelly litter. I tried the charcoal teeth thing yesterday and it worked great!
Aw you make me miss my cat. I wish I had known about this handy dandy olive oil trick, because his litter box was SO ANNOYING!
It’s okay that your cat is your friend… my beagle has been here by my side for the last 12 years, and we’ve made and lost lots of friends together! :p
Cat Story: When I was really young, a cat had kittens under our porch. We took them in, and one of them – an adventurous black cat that I loved very dearly – had his favourite sleeping spot on the back of my neck. I would just pick him up, drape him over my neck like a fancy purring scarf, and he would fall asleep.
I have been using a cracked pine litter, but recently switched over to a walnut litter that seems to be working out well. One of my cats (I’m one of those crazy cat ladies, though cat #5 moved out with my youngest daughter — her beloved person — last year) is allergic to wheat, so I am afraid to try the wheat litter. I like to sun-sterilize the boxes. We have 4 boxes, and a few spares. When the litter needs a change, the old box gets scooped and put outside, where it is washed and then left in the sun to dry and sterilize. The new box is filled and ready before the old one goes out.
Would the oil be useful for non-clumping litter?
Cat story: You know how non-cat people say that cats don’t get attached? Squawkie, who is now living with my daughter, grieved when my daughter left for college. Honestly, she would just sit in my daughter’s room and howl. She was always ecstatic to see my daughter when she returned, and would grieve again when she left. So we got permission from the rescue group we adopted her from to transfer ownership to my daughter, (after she graduated and moved into an apartment) and they are very happy together.
Teaching the cats to use the toilet is not an option here. Four cats, three adults, one bathroom.
Now Dear Crunchy Betty – I Am Afraid I Need a Litter Box in My Office Because I Have Laughed So Hard Throughout This Post That I Think I Pee’d a Little…
You are the absolute best. You asked the internets for a cat story without fear.
Several years ago, my dear cat Emia escaped from the house three days prior to my finals for the semester (backstory: I have a degree in voice and every semester we have a “jury” where we sing two songs for our professors from our repitorie). Distraught and stressed about my jury two days away, I walked the neighborhoods searching for my poor kitten. The day of the jury-final, I found a cat that had been hit by a car with her exact fur markings (though the face was hidden). I screamed my poor voice out and buried the poor thing, finishing with a prayer. I promptly went to Uni and performed as best I could with a shot voice and shaken nerves.
The next morning, my grandmother (I was living at home as I was raised by her and went to college in the city’s University) presented me with a hungry, slightly annoyed, mewling Emia. I was so happy and snuggled with her, forgetting the stress of the previous day.
Fast forward a year later, she did another 3 day disappearance. I was upset, but trusted she would return. Another year later, she did the same thing. This became known to my family as the Emia-Jesus act and I proclaimed she was the savior to all cat-kind.
Inactuality, she just wants to overthrow the nations of the world and instill Emia-law.
One other thing to mention about clay litters is how awful the strip mining is that’s needed to obtain the clay in the first place. It’s scarring the earth something fierce, the final insult to the injury is of course that it never, ever degrades back to said earth. I switched to all natural litters 6+ years ago and never looked back. Even when some of the new litters didn’t perform well, I never went back to the clay. I started out using pine clumping which at first seemed like a Godsend. It’s so lightweight and fluffy. It smells great, if you like the smell of fresh cut pine trees that is. But, the clumping is iffy at best and because the litter is so fluffy, it is static cling’s best friend. It tracks absolutely everywhere in the house. I have 4 cats (I work at an animal shelter), and my female is all black, & she’d look like a ghost from the dust everytime she came from using the box. I eventually tried the Swheat Scoop and liked it very much at first. But recently it stopped clumping, not sure why but all the little crumbles that fall through the scoop get mixed into the litter box thus requiring it to be dumped out and cleaned way more frequently. Kind of costly with multiple pets. I thought about switching again to “World’s Best Cat Litter” which is corn based but it just wasn’t in my budget. It’s seriously expensive! Then I discovered a blog post regarding this very issue and someone there explained how they tried using chick starter feed as a cheaper version, it’s the crumbled grain mix given to newly hatched chicks. It is amazingly similar in composition to World’s Best litter. (both made from corn). I bought a small bag and changed out one of my 5 boxes to experiment. It clumped just as good if not better than the Swheat Scoop or the pine. It is soooo much cheaper as well. A 50 lb bag is around $13.00 and can be purchased at a feed store. I do mix baking soda in with it as well to keep it dry as well as odor controlling for as long as possible. I do not flush the waste simply because with 4 cats, the water bill would be enormous. Also, it’s generally not a good idea because of the bacteria linked with cat feces. I compost the used litter in my backyard. During the winter months when the ground is frozen solid and composting is on hold, I dispose of the waste in eco-friendly, fully biodegradeable bags.
I have had a very picky kitty who would go on strike if the kitty litter was not clumping clay. I had been able to use pine and other non clay litters with one car because she would use whatever was in the poop-be-gone box. I’m starting our family cat’s transition to barley litter. It naturally clumps and is grown right here in Saskatchewan. The price is good. I have a few friends who use it, including in multiple cat house holds.
Time for the cat story. My brothers cat Blackie opted for the very ecofriendly waterless toilet we had as a children. (If water was needed it was added with a bucket.) A little about Blackie. He made sure everything happened his way. We could not get him neutered as he would not go near a vehicle. This was the 80s, we lived in the country so didn’t think much of cat population issues. He was THE Tom cat, I’m certain none of the other cats had a chance to mate with the females. He never came home with more than a minor scratch. He was a mini panther, 15 lbs of muscle. When he came home for rest in the summer and for the winter he opted for the lap of luxury. Good food, lots of cuddles and no kitty litter. One day we found a poop in the toilet. We knew it was a Blackie poop. (Our other cat’s was smaller.) Blackie taught himself to sit on the toilet seat and do his business. He was the cleanest Tom cat. Never sprayed at home and learnt after one attempted bath to not enter the house until he washed off the spray from frights he was in.
I love the pine litter! I used it for my kitty who passed away at 16ish yrs old this year. I know a few people who would disagree, one because she is allergic to pine.
Our problem is my husband and I and our adorable 18 month old each have a cat. Plus we have another one. That is 4 bottoms that fill up the litter box. Thankfully, we have a kiddie pool that we turned into a kitty poop. We have also found that giving them a raw diet (which we make ourselves) reduces their poop by like 60%!!! (not that I actually did weight comparisons….ahem). They eat better than kids in lots of public schools do. What do you feed your darling cat?
I noticed that too. I still feed kibble, but I top it off with what my butcher calls ‘sawdust’. Sometimes it is requested to the management that it be cooked, other times, ”steak tartare” will do just nicely. They also get their share of dinner meat scraps and I even make them scrambled egg once in awhile – or they swipe it right off my plate, often while I’m still eating it.
Thanks for the oil tip! I’m going to do that next time empty out the entire box. I love Swheat Scoop! And baking soda!
I also want to mention that one of my cats started biting off the fur on her legs and stomach. This was before Swheat Scoop. I was using a clay litter (gasp!) When I switched to Swheat Scoop she stopped biting her fur.
We’re very fortunate that our cat has always been an outdoorsy kind, and so all of her business happens out there. Usually in the most recently planted area. Among the beautiful plants we’ve just put in. Digging them up in the process. Ah well! we used to have her litter tray out for nights but now we have a cat flap, so she can take herself out. Now if we could train her to take herself out for puking after she’s eaten too much…!
I love Swheat Scoop! I’ve been using it for about 3 years once I finally realized how bad clay litter is for the environment. And this post was great. Thanks for the tip about the olive oil. Will have to try that.
I’ve never flushed the Swheat Scoop, even though it is flushable, because I’m afraid of backing up my sewer. But I might have to try it… it would be nice to be able to get rid of the stinky smelly used cat litter pail.
Oh, here’s a story about my cats and the litter box. Holly only goes number 2 with her front paws and one back paw perched on the edge of the litter box. I suspect if she didn’t think she’d tip the whole thing over, she’d try to get the other back paw up there too. Maybe she’s a prime candidate for toilet training! And Figaro uses the litter box with both front paws just outside the box. They’re weirdos.
Definitely love my stinky tyrant king and I’m happy to read this post!
Thaaaaaank you! My cat’s have been on natural food since I got them, but for some reason I just never even considered natural litter. Apparently my brain thinks the only natural things out there are things that are intended for eating. Anywho! This weekend, my kitties are moving over to SwheatScoop, which I have actually heard of before somewhere in the distant past. I can only imagine their excitement 🙂
This was a really fun read, and I made it all the way to the end! It probably made me laugh the most out of all the posts I have read from you so far.
I have way too many kitty stories to tell, but I will say that our current male cat requires a “whale sized” litter box according to my father in law. It is one of those huge 30 gallon tote things, not because of the depth but because of the width. Any time our huge male kitty tried to use the typical sized kitty litter tray his butt would inevitably end up over the edge. Ew.
He also requires a dog carrier for travelling, with metal bars. He has already bent one of those metal bars while trying to escape. He sounds like a monster, but is the absolute sweetest cat in terms of tolerance. (My most affectionate cat died a couple of years ago.) He is always friendly to everyone, even if that someone is an 8 month old literally dragging you around the room by your tail.
His scratching post is also 2 and a half feet tall, and it’s not big enough for him to get a full stretch out of it anymore. In fact, it is actually just the right size for our normal size female cat. Were cats way smaller back in the day or something, and manufacturers haven’t caught up yet or something?
My cat meows a “bless you” at us whenever my husband or I sneeze. Never fails, even from the other room, if one of us sneezes we hear a little chirping meow.
Us too! We had never heard of it before, but she does it so consistently!
Woogie gives the same chatter he uses for stalking birds when Tom and I sneeze. I’m pretty sure he plans to separate us from the herd if we appear too weak.
Oh, cat stories. We don’t have any because my sister is allergic, but my brother and his wife do have a cat which is slightly neurotic but usually very sweet. One upon a time, sisterly duties demanded that I drive from Illinois to Maine with my brother and his cat, four days after having my wisdom teeth out. That cat refused to take the sedative and also refused to use the litter box we hauled along with us. So, second day, constantly yowling cat, Lord of the Rings audio book, and then the obvious happened. I ended up cleaning both the cat carrier and the cat with wet paper towels because said cat would only hold still if my brother had her.
Oh, also, you know how motel bedframes reach to the floor so you can’t leave stuff under the bed? Well, in some Motel 6’s there’s a gap between the box frame and the mattress that a frightened cat can climb through, which will lead to the cat’s owner and his sister scouring the outside of the hotel for an hour, until they give up in defeat and return to glimpse the cat scamper up again.
Also, fast food restaurants do not carry soup during the summer.
Posie was our rescued kitten who went on to share our lives for 18 years, then broke our hearts by dying (so inconsiderate of her). We were determined not to have another cat, and lasted two years, then adopted Bono a few months ago. She is healing us nicely. At first, she was a putting-up-with-you-but-keeping-my-distance kind of girl but now she’s more a need-to-be-with-you-at-all-times-and-tell-you-stuff-and-please-stroke-me-while-I’m-at-it baby. Keen to try the olive oil and baking soda tips =D
So excited to see this!!! I have 4 furries plus a foster baby at the moment. I have 3 huge litter boxes (and a cat who prefers the tub if accessible). I have tried the non-clay in the past but found it not as practical with the multiples. Perhaps it is time for me to try again. I do use a metal litter box or one of them (from a restaurant supply store) which is much easier to clean. Love the olive oil tip! Hate scraping clumps off the bottom. My husband dislikes cats and the thought of him having to wait until one gets off the toilet gave me my chuckle or the day.
I loved this post and all the comments! I am a firm believer that house pets should be kept in the house. I love cats, but don’t love the dozen-or-so strays that poop in my yard and spray my house.
I guess I am lucky that my city has a composting program that includes pet waste (including kitty litter) so ours does end up getting composted by the city.
The main reason I am posting though, is to let you know that you are not alone. My kitty, 6-year-old Pixie, has taken to sharing my pillow while I am sleeping. I wake up with a warm cat “hat” many mornings!
I really would like to switch to something more eco-friendly for my cat, but he refuses to go near any non-clay litter! It has cost me a pretty-penny trying out different options, none of which he has taken to. Has anyone else encountered this?
Try a very slow gradual switch from clay to a natural litter. Mix a little of the new litter in with the old for a week. The next week mix in more and more the next week. Even if you are only increasing it by a cup or two. Slowly increase the amount of new litter while decreasing the amount of the clay litter. This very gradual transition means small incremental changes your cat won’t notice. Then one day, it will be all new litter.
The scynchronicity in this post was awesome. Just this morning as I was standing in the kitchen with the horrid chemical scent of the kill-the-environment clay-clumping nonsense plaguing my nose (it’s throughout the whole house now, so gross, and I dont’ know why because it’s the same brand I’ve been buying for months) I was thinking “I gotta do something about this”. And here something is! Also, toilet training is something I’ve been contemplating for a while but one of my mogs is older and athritic…not sure he’ll manage. So this is good advice for me in the meantime. Thanks.
Mog stories – I’ve got two. One is called Blue becasue he came that way and the previous owners are a bit toop and named him such because he had blue eyes as a kitten. Most kittens have blue eyes, admittedly, but that’s them for you. Otis – my second mog – is called such because he’s orange…so we though “Red” would be a good counter to “Blue”, except…you know…a bit *obvious*. So Otis is named after Otis Redding. He’s unlike any cat I’ve ever known, he’ll literally let me cuddle him in a big bear hug and sleep like that for hours. The closer he can be, the better. He’s very comforting. Blue’s a diabetic, poor mite. I wonder if there’s synchronicity in that, too, since I’m a type one. Don’t they say pets turn into their owners?
Hi Crunchy Betty! I made it to the end of the post, and I don’t even have a cat! How’s that for a cat story 😀 In all seriousness though, we’re thinking of adopting a kitty and will totally do this for litter box if we do
I love my Kitty, she is about 10 years old. I adopted her from a dog rescuer last year. She was living on the streets, had rotten, broken teeth and a b.b. pellet lodged in her eyelid – all of which has since been remedied. I use Nature’s Miracle litter and it truly is a miracle – no odor, smells fresh, clumps like a dream, made of corn so it’s not bad for her to lick it off her paws. Kitty poops once per day regularly – a sign I take to be the epitome of health. She is a loving cat, always willing to come sit in your lap and purr whenever you call her. Even when she’s sleeping, she doesn’t mind. An amazing cat despite her hard life – nothing is too good for her now! I can’t wait to try the olive oil trick, I already do the cleaning w/Bronner’s, vinegar and the baking soda, although the smell of N.M. is awesome already and completely covers up any ammonia smell. Since I know when she poops, I just scoop that out daily.
Pointer: I’ve been using Feline Pine for about 8 years now…ever since I moved out of my mom’s house. I got a cat about 5 months after I moved out and once I got the clay litter in my apartment, I noticed I was starting to get horrible allergies again. Deductive reasoning (and general concern for the environment) caused me to check out alternatives and I found the Feline Pine. It also was certifiably flushable, which I liked. Years of using it, and I no longer have the horrible allergies like I used to. Whenever I go back to my mom’s house, they start acting back up due to the clay dust in the air. Weird, but true. All this to say…switching may not ONLY be good for the environment. You might actually find it helps you or your kids too. Or that annoying relative who is always complaining that they are allergic to cats, so how dare you own one even though they only visit once a year….well, it may be that they are only allergic to the cat litter too. 🙂
Another pointer: There is a book that I purchased years ago about how to toilet train your cat. There is also an entire Yahoo group dedicated to it, complete with pictures, testimonials, and support. I recommend checking it out for the pictures, if nothing else.
Question: If you aren’t using clumping litter, as I am not, is there any benefit to using the olive oil?
Cat story: 2 of our cats play fetch, somewhat obsessively. Hermione plays with wadded up paper. Whenever I am trying to balance our receipts in our money program, she is in my face trying to get me to wad them up and throw them for her. Luna only plays with a certain type of foam ball cat toy that you can get at PetSmart.
My cat loves Swheat Scoop (when I switched to it I was hoping she would be ok with the change and she actually climbed into the litter box before I was done pouring in the litter). At one point I looked into making DIY litter out of old newspapers, but I don’t think I will ever get there.
I also use these 100% recycled, biodegradable litter boxes called Wonder Box. I really cannot recommend them enough. I get them at Petsmart, 3 for $12, and they each last 2-3 weeks (the description says up to a month). I know a plastic box is a cheaper one-time investment, but I hate the idea of plastic and cleaning, mostly cleaning. These are really durable, non-smelly, non-toxic, etc. I also use the lemon with sea salt, baking soda, and a pomander ball to fight the odor that happens if I’ve been a little lazy. AND, my last thing, I promise! is that I just bought biodegradable bags for the transfer from litter box to dumpster (I live in an apt.). I currently live in the desert and grew up in a city that had frequent droughts, so I just can’t bring myself to the extra flushes made necessary by flushing the Swheat Scoop.
And my cat is named Portia, because I found her on the porch. I was deathly afraid of cats before she showed up. 🙂
There is a natural type of clumping cat litter. Feline Pine started using guar to clump one of their variants. It works pretty well. BUT! I have a wegie (Norwegian Forest Cat) and his toefeathers are absurd. We had litter all over the house. And a new baby. There was litter in the crib! So we switched back to regular pine pellets.
Cat story: He likes to sleep on the back of the couch. What cat doesn’t? But he was sleeping exclusively on one cushion, thereby deflating it faster than the other one. I told him, in regular plain old English, to sleep on the other side until they were both deflated and keep ’em even. And he did. My couch is now evenly worn in. My beloved couldn’t believe it. Every cat I have ever owned is like that.
I used Feline Pine and had the same problem! Tony was part Himalayan so he had hairy toes too. Clumps really well though.
1 out of 7 cats always walks out with a white face…she is a calico with barely any white fur. lol
We use newspaper based litter for our cat Lucy (and our four bunnies). We don’t flush the litter, but we scoop the poop out and change all the litter at least once a week. We use vinegar to clean the box, but I like the oil idea.
Lucy is a very obedient cat, but we put her in the bathroom at night for her protection, to keep her from terrorizing the bunnies, and to keep her off our bed (we are allergic, but we seem to do okay as long as we don’t sleep with her). When it’s time for bed, we tell her “Go to your room, Lucy,” and she will meow a few times as if she’s protesting, but she always goes.
I read all the way to the end because I love all 6 of the cats in my household (they are not all “mine”). LOL.
Thanks for the tips because litter boxes are the least favorite chore in this house (even below scrubbing our toilets…go figure).
Unfortunately it’s not a good idea to flush cat litter, even the kind that doesn’t mess up the septic system or sewer – cats carry a parasite and it’s very hard to kill; composting and sewage treatment can’t do it, and by just flushing or composting, the Toxoplasma gondii parasite can endanger animal life.
No, I’m not paranoid I promise 😀 This link: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/02/26/cat-litter-is-it-green-if-you-flush-it/ explains better than I can.
I also used wood pellets like the ones for a wood stove and they were super, super cheap.
I was wondering about this after reading the posts. Thanks for posting that link!
I tried (well, I didn’t but my cat did) the Swheat Scoop, but found it too dusty, which is a problem for me (when I pour, scoop, etc) and also for my cat. Dust particles are not good for their little lungs! But the feed store tip is a great one and I’m going to check that one out.
So, I have a cat, Armani, who seems to think he’ll get his water by digging for it. Yes, he frantically digs on the floor right in front of his water bowl. Sometimes he adds a little hop up into his maneuver with each dig, sometimes just head down and paws going. He can keep this up for 30 seconds or so before taking a drink. Evidently it’s not as uncommon as I thought; lots of cat caretakers report their owners doing this, and seems to be linked to some primal feline instinct from the wild, where the big cats drink from muddy watering holes or river banks, and dig at the water to move it around to get clear water. Now, if he would only dig as well in his litterbox to cover up the little “presents!”
(Thank you for the invite to talk about cats. You know not what you’ve done.) Your cat is cute 🙂 I like this post (yes, I read all of it!), although at the outset I was hoping (perhaps unreasonably) that it was about training my cat to use the actual, hoomin, toilet. That would cut mess and smell, too. Oh well, onwards with the box.
I use a litter made from mooshed up newspaper, which is flushable as well and, awesomely, compostable (the main reason I started using it). It’s also a lot softer on Da Maggot’s little paws than the crystal stuff I used to use before I knew better.
Da Maggot. Yep, that’s her name. Well no, it’s not really. She’s a pre-loved cat, and came to live with me bearing the moniker “Brandi” (spelt that way on her rego; she’s pure-bred Devon Rex and not at all snobby). Now, this is all very well if the name suits you, but it doesn’t suit her, and makes me think of some very disturbing cat-stripper hybrid, so she’s been Maggot (Maggotrude, Your Royal Maggotness, Maggotron, Maggot-Fish, Maggot-Toes, etc.) for as long as I can remember.
She’s the best cat in the world. As is yours. Oh, and yours, too (yes, you over there). We all say that, don’t we? I tried to find a photo to share, but she’s as photogenic as her mother (i.e. Yours Truly) and really, you all won’t believe me about how awesome she is if I show you the one Devil-Eyes-I-Will-Tear-Your-Face-Off-Maggot shot I do have, sooo…use your imaginations. The story I want to share is about the other night. She was sleeping next to my girlfriend, and said girlfriend woke up at about 3am to find the cat. Licking. Her. Armpit. Not the cat’s own armpit (although she gets in trouble for licking when sitting on us or in bed with us) – noooo. Licking The Girlfriend’s armpit. Weird, no? She’s never been a licky cat, but then she’s not very smart either so she probably thought she was licking herself and didn’t bother to wonder why she couldn’t feel it.
LOL.
I smiled all the way through this post. 🙂 Your writing is among the best online, in my not-so-humble opinion! I have to try oiling up the cake pan, I mean, litter box.
I love cats! Our kitty was a very young rescue kitten and we adore her! She is a petite, long-haired 3 year old Tuxedo and we feed her a raw food diet. I’ve never seen such clean EARS on any pet ever! And, her coat is amazing! Plus, her diet leads to far less smelly waste products and the solid waste is smaller, naturally. Urine output, however, is much higher, which is really good for cats since they tend to have a lot of kidney issues on the typical diet. We use Feline Pine usually, but have used Swheat Scoop, as well. The original Feline Pine + kitten = playtime + finding cat litter all over the house! The clumping version, thank goodness, tracks very little and does an excellent job on odor control. She also played with the Swheat Scoop and they scatter oh so nicely on our cork floors…
Meanwhile, I wanted to tell you we started toilet training our cat when she was younger and it was moderately successful. She would pee in the toilet, but wasn’t so apt to poop in there. However, we kept having interruptions to our training due to various issues. Major floods to houseguests and vacations to long-term home improvement projects made it rather challenging to get the job completed. We are about ready to embark on the training journey again….
Love it. I feel very similarly about my cat, and this post cracked me up.
I started out using pine pellet litter, bought as cheaply as I could find it locally, and then we met someone who runs a feed supply store, and she told us that pine stove pellets are the exact same thing, but are way cheaper, and many of her customers use them for litter! So, ever since then, we just hit that shop every few months for a ginormous bag for $5. It’s totally the same thing, and way easier on the budget. 🙂
You can also get the giant, cheap bags of pine pellets or alfalfa pellets at a feed store. We’ve used these as litter for years now — picked up the tip from a cat sanctuary. We’ve never, ever had a problem with smell & the alfalfa pellets are flushable (maybe the pine, too, but I can’t recall). We compost whatever’s left in a pile separate from the regular compost.
This post cracks me up. Now if only I weren’t too terrified of cats to own one.
We use a newspaper based litter for our 2 house cats (who are now outside in the daytime cats, so the litter lasts longer) and we compost it. Once the kitties got used to it, it worked great. We now have only one litter problem these days and that is our adolescent dog. Apparently, in his pea-brain, cat poo is delicious….. I know, gross right? So we have had to put the kitty litter tray behind a door that has a cat flap (not a dog flap) so that he can’t get at it. Works well tell someone forgets to shut the door…. 🙁 I love our dog, he is gorgeous, but boy is he dumb and annoying.
We lost our elderly dog (the sad lost – not the clumsy lost) recently but before that he lovingly thanked the cats for his yummy buffet tray ? Bleugh!
We don’t have any cats right now (just dogs), but we have had several in the past. My most favorite kitty was a black kitty that I named Skeeter. He was the runt of his litter, and the most adorable one (because the runts always steal my heart…especially black ones). And he was not scared of anything. He and our dog were BFF’s…they would cuddle and wrestle…it was always hilarious. We lived in a old house at the time, and we had a thick blanket hanging in the doorway to the dining room (because we never used it, and it helped keep the heat in the kitchen…it was winter time) and Skeeter would climb to the top of the blanket and sit and wait. Wait patiently. For dog to come looking for him. Then he would jump from the top of the blanket on to the dogs head, then jump up and run and hide. Dog would go looking for him again, and they would start the game all over. It was the funniest thing ever.
If we ever get another cat, now I know what litter to use. We tried all different kinds of litters, especially when we had multiple cats. I did like using the big litter boxes with the tops and swinging doors though. Yeah, they’re made of plastic, but keeping the bottom enclosed helps keep odor down…especially if you have more than 1 cat (it also helps keep any doggies out of the litter box too)…plus it keeps them from kicking litter out all over the floor. Its like a game to them, I think. Lol.
Thanks for this!! I was just scooping our kittens box earlier, and was thinking that there had to be a better way, and a better litter to use! I’m definitely going to try Swheat Scoop and I’m pretty excited that it’s flushable (I know, who gets excited about cat litter….me.) So thanks again for this post, it’s just what I needed!!