November 20, 2002
Wednesday

Now that you've got the basics down on how to introduce Simba to her housemates, we need to go back to the basics of how to introduce Simba to your house. On the first day you showed her where all the cat boxes are, and you dropped her into each of them to let her know where the moveable ground was in the house. It's not enough to just show her where they are. Cats' instinctual knowledge base doesn't include knowing what a litter box is, or what it looks like. That knowledge base does include a strong desire to cover one's excrement, however, and that's what makes cats so easy to acclimate to a house. So let Simba feel that litter between her toes, so she knows where she can go to cover her poop.

Let's talk about how many cat boxes you need, and where these boxes should be placed.

First of all, you can't have too many litter boxes. Ask any owner whose cat has started urinating on the couch about whether she wished she'd started with more litter boxes. You have to put yourself in this little critter's paws, and then put yourself in the rest of her body, complete with a full bladder. If you have multiple levels to your house, there should be a box in each level. And if you have a lot of square footage, make sure there's a box at each end of the house. Don't make it so that Simba has to make the equivalent of a pilgrimage to Mecca in order to get to a cat box. Her attention span isn't that long. She'll just pee where she is if she can't find a box. That's no sin to her, just kitten nature.

If Simba does that, merely clean it up so it doesn't leave behind a smell that says 'bathroom!!' to her everytime she walks by. Just like with puppies, you need something that breaks down or neutralizes the ammonia that causes the odor, because their olefactory sense is hundreds of times better than ours. Ammonia is a weak base, so the cheapest way to neutralize it is with a weak acid. The only common household product I can think of is acetic acid, or vinegar. Dilute some vinegar, and soak the spot. Let it dry. Sniff spot. If it still smells, do it again.

Or, spend a little more money, and buy one of the new enzymatic cleaners, that break down urine. Beware, however. If the bottle doesn't say 'enzyme', it's just a deodorant. That may be good enough for us, but not for Simba. She'll smell right through that stuff, and be reminded of peeing every time she walks by. My favorite brand is Outright, but there are a number of products out there, so just pick an enzyme, any enzyme.

Next we'll continue with litter box Do's and Don'ts...






franimaldoc@sitnews.org

• E-mail Dr. Good your comments & pet questions.
• E-mail your dog's photo for publication on Pet Talk/Pet Health. Include your dog's name and the name of the photographer.

Submit an Opinion - Letter

Sitnews
Stories In The News