LITTER BOXES

An old saying says, "When ya' gotta go, ya' gotta go!", so where are all these indoor cats "going"? Enter that great invention, the litter box.

Choices for substrate, or what to put in the box for cats to "go" on range from the old standby clay litter to modern, high-tech products.

There's even a kit to train your cat to use (and flush) your toilet, eliminating the litter box altogether, but that's beyond the scope of today's column.

Starting with the oldest first, let's make a comment on the old standby, common clay chunk litter. Some people are tempted to use cheaper products intended for soaking up oil spills. Many cats are sensitive to the excess dust it contains and may develop chronic respiratory problems from inhaling it.

The newest item with the largest market share is a product called clumping litter. I started our newest cat, Martha, on this and fell in love with it immediately. Initially it was marketed as a flushable litter, but urine clumps so solidly that most, if not all companies have dropped that claim. Stopped up drains may result if it is flushed.

Still, the advantage clumping litter has is that all of the urine can be removed with each cleaning of the box, so no urine smell remains for you or your kitty. The urine forms into a little ball of clay. Stool may still be flushed, thus maximizing the ecofriendliness of the product. Additionally, one never need totally change all the litter in the box, making it even more economical.

One of the most common reasons cats develop an aversion to their litter boxes is urine odor. With regular clay litter, even if the stool is removed daily, urine continues to collect in the bottom of the box, and results in ammonia-like odors which can make a cat leave the box and start to use other areas.

From the world of high technology comes the litter box of the future called, "The Dry System". Imagine a two-tiered box. In the top layer is a bed of special plastic-coated gravel into which the cat urinates and defecates. The gravel is supported by a finely fenestrated grate which allows urine to flow through to an absorbent pad in the second layer. Think of the pad as being like a diaper, contained by a ventilated box which allows air flow, thus dispersing odors.

Maintenance is light, with the pad being changed once per week per cat (twice per week with two cats, etc.). The gravel should have stool scooped out 1-3 times per week, but only needs to be changed about every 6 months.

The system is environmentally friendly since the gravel can be cycled into your driveway, garden, or potted plants. The pads take up far less space in landfills than clay litter, and stool can still be flushed down the toilet.

Dr. Ron Hunt of Pass Christian (452-9475) both sells and uses the system, and has been delighted with it for over a year. Special pads are even available for detecting glucose, blood or protein in cats' urine.