A
Litter Box of Glass
By
John Young, author of "Your New Cat's First 24 Hours" E-book.
One major problem you encounter
as a cat owner involves your cat's
use (or non-use) of her litter box.
This is probably one
of the most frustrating issues that arise in caring for your new cat. You
buy a litter box, often an expensive one, fill it with good quality litter,
and then find your cat defecating or urinating somewhere else in the house.
Even more frustrating is when you discover that your cat "does her business"
near the litter box, but not in it.
You have, of course, taken
your cat to the vet who has pronounced her "healthy".
So, you've ruled out any physical ailment. You've changed the
litter; you've cleaned the box. You've made sure no other cat
is going in her box.
And yet, she's still doing it – you
still have problems:
- your cat is going somewhere
else in the house
- your cat is going next to
the litter box
- your cat is going half in
and half out
The last possibility can often be solved by getting a larger box: something
resembling a tub that your cat can still get into and out of without too
much trouble but will confine the scat (not the cat) to the tub.
But the first two difficulties often remain.
The Invisible Culprit
What could be the problem?
I'd like to pose a possible answer in
one word: PLASTIC.
Most litter boxes, no matter how elaborate or expensive, are made of one
plastic or another.
Plastics are polymers…huge molecules made by chemically "stringing
together" smaller molecular units. Sometimes the units are all identical,
sometimes they vary in composition and recur with some regularity. However
all plastics are "organic" compounds.
In case you've forgotten
your high school chemistry, organic compounds are primarily made up of Carbon
and Hydrogen, sometimes with other elements such as Nitrogen, Phosphorous
or Sulfur thrown in.
The plastics used in constructing
most cheap cat litter boxes are relatively flexible – they can be easily bent. When you pick yours up to clean
it, you'll find it bending as you carry it out the door. It's
composed of a flexible plastic.
Flexible plastics are made
that way by the addition of what's termed "plasticizers".
Plasticizers are small organic molecules, usually phthalate esters that are
added to the polymer to increase its flexibility.
Other litter boxes, particularly the self cleaning ones, are not so flexible.
Since they are self cleaning, they are not designed to be picked up, and
are generally constructed of several smaller, harder, plastic parts.
Hard plastics are formed in
molds (forms into which the plastic is poured, where it hardens and takes
shape). The molds are first coated with a "mold
release" agent to enable the removal of the plastic part from the mold – otherwise
it would stick to it and stay there.
Both materials – the plasticizer and the mold release agent– remain
as a residue on (or in) the plastic. And both materials can "outgas",
that is, be released into the air, immediately after your litter box has
been manufactured, and, in the cases of flexible plastics, from then on.
Even though you can't
smell anything…
So, if you've tried everything to induce your cat to "go" in
her litter box and nothing has worked, could it be that your cat is sensitive
to the plasticizers or the mold release agents used in the manufacture of
her litter box? Even though you can't smell anything, maybe your cat
can.
Plastic is basically an unnatural
material. It wasn't found in nature
before Man arrived and started making disposable food containers and litter
boxes, and it wasn't a factor in the evolution of cats.
Maybe your cat is sensitive to it, and is making you aware of that fact
by defecating somewhere else, far from this source of annoyance. Or maybe
the plastic is triggering some unnatural behavior in your cat, causing her
to defecate half in and half out.
Don't tell your
guests…
Try changing the material of the litter box. Try a glass litter box.
But, you say, there aren't
any glass litter boxes for sale! Where can I get one?
I went to glass some time ago
by converting a shallow baking dish into a litter box. My wife used it for
baking scalloped potatoes, and I unwittingly grabbed it for a different use,
much to her…uh…displeasure.
Granted, a baking dish is shallow
and the litter is easily thrown out by a digging cat, but I place newspaper
under it (not a plastic mat), to catch the thrown litter. I've owned two cats in succession now, and
neither has had a problem "doing their deed" somewhere else.
So try it. Of course it goes
without saying that once you convert the baking dish into a litter box, it's
the end of using it to cook scalloped potatoes for your guests when they
come over for dinner.
Or, at least, it's a good idea that, after they've
eaten, to keep that fact to yourself.
About the
Article Author:
John
Young is a writer and a cat lover, having owned one cat or another since
he was four, and that was over 57 years ago. He is the author of the E-book:"Your
New Cat's First 24 Hours", which is filled with information to help
you introduce your new cat to your household and care for it from then on.
John's book is available on-line at: www.yourcatsecrets.com.
He also has a free newsletter: "Your Cat's 9 Secrets" which you
can subscribe to from his Web site.
