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“The other issue is if you don’t have a confident cat,” de Jong says. However, if someone in the home shuts out the cat by closing the bathroom door, it may prompt the animal to do her business somewhere else. Your cat’s toilet can also be placed near your toilet, if it’s just you and your pet living in the home and the room is large enough for a litter box, de Jong says. If your kitty likes a particular bedroom, and you don’t object, place a litter box in the room, Garber says. Solving Litter Box ProblemsĬats like to hang out in comfortable rooms. While an upstairs hallway can be peaceful, busy foyers are not ideal for a litter box, she says. In her own home, she keeps a litter box right at the top of the staircase leading to the bedrooms. Kitties feel vulnerable when they’re going to the bathroom, especially when there are other cats in the home, Garber notes. “You want to spread the litter boxes around the home.”Īnd because some kitties prefer to urinate and defecate in separate boxes, Garber recommends maintaining two litter boxes for each feline in the family. “In multi-cat households, you definitely don’t want to put litter boxes right next to each other,” since cats will see the two as one litter box, Garber says. Since not all cats will share their litter boxes with housemates, it’s important to have enough boxes to take care of all your pets, she says. “The garage is probably dark and probably gets cold in the winter time,” Garber says. One cat uses the boxes, the other one doesn’t, despite the cat door on the garage door. What works for one feline may not be acceptable to the other kitty.Ī client of Garber’s placed litter boxes in the garage for his two cats. Litter box placement can get complicated when multiple cats live under one roof, Garber says. For instance, a senior cat with limited mobility cannot be expected to travel far when nature calls, so make sure her litter box is nearby, Garber says.
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Your cat’s personality, age, physical condition, and the layout of the home are factors to keep in mind, she says. “If you lived in a home where the only toilet you could use was in a dark corner, you would not want to go there,” Garber says.
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If possible, use nightlights to brighten an area.
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Choose a spot with sufficient light since cats want to be able to see when they go to the bathroom, she says. Think about the aspects you look for in a bathroom, Garber adds. Cats usually like to hang out with their humans, so one of those favorite spots may be perfect for a litter box. Instead, place the box someplace that the cat can easily get to, preferably a low-traffic area away from food and water bowls, Garber recommends. “If your cat never goes up to that weird attic room, don’t put the litter box up there.”Īs a rule, cat owners don’t want to see or smell litter boxes, so they may tuck them in places that are out of the way for the pet, says Paula Garber, a cat behavior specialist from Westchester County, New York. “Check out where your cat spends the most time,” de Jong says. The best places for litter boxes are usually quiet, easy-to-reach corners that offer privacy, de Jong says. “Once they start, litter box problems are a pain to manage.” Where to Put Your Cat’s Litter Box “In the cat world, one of the biggest problems we hear about is litter box training and inappropriate elimination,” de Jong says. If you want your felines to feel comfortable doing their business and minimize the likelihood of soiling around the home, it’s wise to put some thought into where you place the litter boxes, says Blair de Jong, an ASPCA feline behavior counselor. Where you put the litter box can mean the difference between harmony and hostility between you and your pets. The old saying in real estate, “location, location, location,” applies to litter boxes, too.
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