Litter Box Health and Safety Tips
Whether you have a cat or a kitten, knowing and understanding litter box health and safety tips and training your cat how to use the litter box can be a big chore. Here are some tips to keeping the litter box clean, safe, and some suggestions on how to training a cat how to use one.
Training a cat to use the litter box
If you have children you already know how tough it can be to potty train. Well, training a cat to use the litter box is similar; however you can't use the litter box to train your kids. Anyway, here are some tips for training your cat:
- The best time to start training your cat to use a litter box is when they are young kittens. Keep their bed near the litter box so that while you are training them, the litter box is close. A quite location is the best place for the litter box. Most cats instinctively want to bury their waste and a litter box is the only place to do so.
- Just like children, animals also love praise. After he/ she has used the litter box praise them lavishly to reinforce the fact that they have been obedient. You can also reward them with some type of treat.
- Stay away from scented litters as most cats don't like strong smells and will probably be more repelled by it than drawn to it.
Litter box health and safety tips
Now that you have a better idea on how to train a cat to use the litter box and have given them a chance to do so, you will need to make sure that you take the necessary steps to keeping it healthy and safe, not to mention your own house. It's not difficult to keep the litter box clean, but this has to be done consistently to avoid odors, and the spread of disease. Here are some health and safety tips to keep in mind when it comes to your cats litter box:
- Change the litter at least once a week. You can imagine what a litter box would look like if you neglected to change it often. It might be like forgetting to flush the toilet every time you went. It would be disgusting to look at, not to mention the smell. A cat's litter box is much the same. It needs to be changed often; once a week is just a suggestion. Most will often times need to be changed before that so keep an eye on it.
- Avoid strong cleaners for cleaning the litter box. This is important for two reason; cats don't like strong smells and it could dry them away from actually using the litter box, and when you mix bleach and urine it can cause a deadly gas mixture. You can clean a litter box out by using antibacterial soap with some hot water.
- Keep the litter box out of children's reach. If you have small children find a place in the house where they won't be able to find it, but is still accessible to the cat. A small child with a litter box can only spell disaster, so keep it out of sight until you can teach them not to touch it.
- Give each cat their own litter box. For health reasons it's always better if you have more than one cat to give them their own litter box. Although you have to buy more than one box, it is much more sanitary.
Keeping your litter box healthy isn't rocket science. If you want your home to stay clean, odor free, and healthy for everyone who lives there then make sure you pay close attention to keeping the litter box clean and training your cat to use one.
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