This beautiful picture comes with a very dirty topic: your cat's litter box!
Part of the responsibility of owning a cat is that a litter box comes with her. That means you can’t take care of one and ignore the other.
Cats may not bark at you every morning, for a walk as dogs do, but even if they are independent animals, they do need some things to be happy. One of the most important is their litter box.
Just as you, would not want to use a toilet that never flushes, cats can face similar feelings when their litter box is not clean.
Well, my approach to my cat's litter box is as my daily routine:
- clean my teeth
- shower
- flash the toilet... every time
I believe that we need to clean our cat’s litter box at least twice per day, in the morning and in the evening.
Your Cat’s Dirty Litter Box Is Putting You Both at Risk:
Leaving a dirty litter to your cat, can cause possible cat diseases. Your cat will be the first one to suffer. Of course, she’s the one using the dirty litter box, you know...
I don’t know why some people believe that cats are "dirty animals''. Cats are fussy when it comes to their bathrooms and cleanliness.
If the box isn’t clean, they will try to hold it in. The longer you delay the cleaning, the longer they try to avoid using the bathroom. This may eventually lead to a urinary tract disease.
Not only is this painful, but it can also lead to temporary kidney failure.
A dirty litter can also affect human’s health.
Humans are as much at risk as cats. Here are just a few illnesses that you can acquire from facing and handling dirty litter boxes:
- Overexposure to ammonia (OMG THAT toxic gas , can you imagine how your cat is feeling when she needs to use that litter ?) Ammonia is a toxic gas and can be dangerous for you as well.
- Bacterial infection.
- Parasite transfer.
In our days you can find many products in the market that do make it easier for us as pet owners to clean up without too much fuss. Some of these products do half the work for us (like self-cleaning boxes).
From my personal experience I find it much easier when we place the litter box in a more easy-to-clean area of our house and with less traffick.
Even if you are using a cover litter or a conventional one , you need to empty it completely every 2 to 3 weeks and wash it with a soap and water (having in mind of course the fact that you are cleaning the litter daily and if you are using a good quality litter). When washing the litter box, do not use anything with a heavy scent.
Another important thing is the type of Cat Litter you will use. Is better to invest in a good quality one since it will save money in the long run and will be the best gift you can offer to your cat.
What Is the Best Type of Cat Litter?
This we will talk about it in one of our next post.