Cats avoid the litter box for countless reasons, but if you can determine the cause, you can likely correct it.
He’s sick. Any number of illnesses cause pain or discomfort that your kitty associates with his litter box. As soon you notice a mishap, take your cat to the vet. Often inappropriate elimination is the first sign of disease. This is an opportunity to treat an illness before it becomes advanced.
The box is dirty. Like you, your cat wants to use a clean toilet. If his box hasn’t scooped for days, I can’t blame him for seeking out less stinky accomodations.
Scented litter. Cats have sensitive noses, and that sensitive probuscis is just inches from the surface of the litter. For many cats that’s too darn close. Switch to unscented litter.
He’s scared. Cats are amazing hunters, but they are also prey. They spend their lives worried about a surprise attack from larger predators. Everything scares them: loud noises, cat ambushes, dog harrassmment, slamming doors, and even loud music may make him feel vulnerable.
It’s hard for him to make it to the box. A stairway between your kitty and the box may make it difficult for your cat to get to his box especially if he eight years or older. After all, you don’t make your grandmother climb stairs to go to the bathroom
If you need more than a short list, check out my new book, Cat Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery, the consummate inappropriate elimination guide. CSI approaches kitty crime scenes through the eyes of a detective to help determine your cat’s motive and the remedy. Check it out at Amazon.
Cats avoid the litter box for any number of reasons not their fault, from an illness to a box that in some way doesn’t meet their standards. Their fault or not, cats who miss the box are at risk of being surrendered to an animal shelter. And since families aren’t standing in line to adopt inappropriate eliminators, litter box avoidance can be a death sentence.
Now that I’ve got you totally depressed, here’s the good news: Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract™ actually encourages kitties, even those with wandering bladders (and bowels), to return to the box. I’ve been a fan of Cat Attract™ for over a decade. (Keep reading to learn how you can win a bag of Cat Attract™.)
There are aisles of litters on store shelves with a variety of characteristics. Unfortunately felines and humans don’t always agree on which qualities are important.
People want a low-tracking, low-dust, yet affordable, litter that controls odors, has a pleasant fragrance, and produces hard clumps. Cats, true to their nature, are more comfort-oriented. They want a fine-textured litter that feels good against their paws, but with without an overpowering fragrance. Cats don’t give a rat’s rear about perfumes and tracking.
Enter Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract™ Cat Litter. I discovered this litter when the product was first introduced to north Texas. In 2003 I was the product editor for the Tufts University publication, Catnip. I was in the midst of a cystitis-inspired outbreak of inappropriate elimination that I called The Great Litter Box Rebellion. There are few things more frustrating than my cats not using the litter box.
I conducted the side-by-side preference test of popular cat litters including the newly-introduced Cat Attract™. During that week-long evaluation, the little product testers showed a (pardon the pun) marked preference for Dr. Elsey’s. The Rainbolt Test Kitties love, love, love this litter. Since that review, my cats have had at least one litter box filled with Cat Attract™. Today, five out of seven litter boxes in my house contain a Precious Cat® litter.
Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract™ is a therapeutic clay clumping litter with a moderately fine, sandy texture that contains a proprietary herbal cat attractant undetectable to the human nose. It has all of the attributes cats find desirable in addition to my wish list.
As soon as I poured out the Cat Attract™ the cats jump into the box and begin to dig and use the litter. They actually appeared to be having fun. Cat Attract™ even coaxed my Siamese-mix Cosmo, who suffered from two urinary tract blockages, back to the pan. It’s ideal for multicat homes, where litter box issues are more likely.
Cats are very sensitive to texture and scent.
Now for the human perspective. Cat Attract™ is a low-dust litter. It forms very firm clumps that don’t break when you scoop. Neatness aside, broken clumps leave behind little crumbs that cause the litter to smell. It clumps so hard and so quickly, it works in electronic litter boxes. It even comes with a booklet filled with suggestions to help your cat make friends with his box again.
The downside is that it has a moderate level of tracking, and well, that’s all I can find. Hmm. Sweeping up tracked litter versus soiled carpets. You do the math.
Yes, it’s more expensive than bargain brands, but it’s worth it; it’s certainly cheaper than a carpet cleaning service or buying new flooring. Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract Cat Litter can be purchased online and at most pet retailers. It comes in 20 and 40-pound bags.
Do You Feel Lucky?
Enter the Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract™ Cat Litter Giveaway. For a chance to win a 20-pound bag of Cat Attract™ simply leave a comment on this blog before 11:59 CST April 10, 2014. Don’t forget to include your email address. The Cat Attract™ Giveaway, across all participating blogs, is limited to one winner per household. For additional chances to win, share this post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest using the hashtag #PreciousCat. Don’t forget to tell me in a separate comment where you share it. Sorry kiddos, you have to be 18 years old and live in the U.S. to enter. Winners will receive an email with instructions. Prize delivery can take up to eight weeks.
It’s time for full disclosure: Precious Cat®, who makes Cat Attract™, sponsored this review on behalf of the BlogPaws Blogger Network. Yes, Dusty Rainbolt’s Universe is being compensated for spreading the word about Precious Cat’s Cat Attract formula, but as I’ve said before, I only write about products my cats love and I use regularly. Precious Cat isn’t responsible for the content of this article.
