Cleanliness and Litter Trays

Cleanliness

Cats like cleanliness and spend a lot of time washing themselves. This not only cleans their coats but also gives them messages about their environment and those they have contact with via their sense organs. They are in effect tasting you after you've stroked them.

If a cat's coat is dirty on a continual basis, the cause must be sought. For instance we adopted a very dirty but loving cat who drooled and whose tongue always hung from his mouth. It turned out he was unable to wash himself as he couldn't lick and this was the reason why he smelled and his coat was full of mud.

Regularly worm and de-flea your cat. Use a anti flea product like 'Frontline' every month/6 weeks. This is a single dose dropper applied to the base of neck between the shoulders. Your cat should be wormed every 3 - 6 months depending on if it is a indoor or outdoor cat. There are various worm pills available and now there are even 'dropper' treatments similar to 'Frontline'. Speak to your vet about these products and which would suit your cat best. Humans can catch worms from cats and their fleas can bite us.

Litter Trays

Cats also like their litter trays to be kept clean and if it is not cleaned out regularly enough they may refuse to use it. Remove faeces on a daily basis even if you only change the overall litter once a week or fortnight! Wear plastic gloves and use a special 'litter shovel' that allows the litter to fall through back in to the tray but retains the 'poop'. If not wear a plastic glove inside a plastic bag. Use this to pick up the 'poops' and put it in another plastic bag and then discard the handling plastic bag into it as well.

If you have a cat that doesn't know how to use the litter tray then try some of the following:

  • A cat that uses the garden as a toilet needs to associate the litter tray with it's usual spot. Therefore either dig up some of her excrement or take some soil/sand from that area and in a little container leave it next to the tray (if you put it in the litter it will be deodorised and be of no use). She will smell her toilet smell next to the tray and may get the message.
  • When she 'poops' outside say the word "toilet" over and over. When she is indoors scrape her paws across the litter and say "toilet" over and over.
  • Try moving the tray to a more private spot, or even try covering it with a box leaving just one side for her to enter into it. Cats are the only animals that like humans seem self-conscious when they go to the loo.
  • Try different types of litter, what is closest to the garden toilet? Sand or sawdust or pebbles?
  • Check that the cat does not have any disease which might cause pain during defecation/urination as this will cause dislike by association with the tray.

If a cat goes in the wrong place first try and work out why. If this is unusual, she may be feeling threatened by some new cat, or she may be trying to mark her territory for some new reason. To make her feel more comfortable, gently rub her cheeks with a soft cloth to pick up her own familiar marking scent and rub this over the area she's not meant to go in and see whether she feels less threatened and stops the behaviour. If the cat regularly does it in the wrong place, try putting her food bowl near the spot as cats hate to have their toilet near where they eat.