I’m fairly new to the “kitty game”, since my mother hated cats and wouldn’t have them in the house. We have two kitties, the oldest one was litter trained when we got him. We got the younger one as a baby, and the older one fairly much litter-trained him.
We keep the litter box in the kitchen, in a corner under the table (we don’t eat at the table, thanks).
Now we have to move the litter box. We want to move it to the bathroom, which is on the second floor, directly above the kitchen.
I think we should let the kitties use it in its accustomed place a couple of times, then move it to the bathroom when it’s not quite clean, and they will find it by smell. My hubby thinks that the kitties can’t figure that out, and we’d better move it incrementally: into the dining room, then onto the landing of the stairs, then into the upstairs hallway, and finally into the bathroom.
I think his way might be more confusing to the cats.
My general advice about litter boxes is to not mess with success. Your cats are using a box in the current location. I would leave the box there and add a second in the upstairs bathroom. Only after the new box is being used should you eliminate the downstairs box.
When we moved house, we simply showed the cat the new (clean) litter box and he got it right away. I think litter has a strong enough smell on its own that you don’t need to leave the box dirty for the cat to find it.
If I was moving the box from one place to another like you described, I would have two litter boxes for a while, one in the old place and one in the new, until the cats are used to it. I think they can handle finding the new box, but on the off-chance they get briefly confused, you wouldn’t want an accident. After a week or two, remove the old box.
But really, they will probably be okay with just the new box.
Well, we wouldn’t mess with the current location, but we need to.
See, summer is here. We have an air conditioner in the living room that’s big enough to cool the living and dining rooms, but not big enough to handle the kitchen. So the kitchen door has to be kept closed. During the day, it’s not a big issue, as the cats will let us know when they need to get into the kitchen. But at night, well, they leave us “presents” in the dining room. And who can blame them? I mean, when ya gotta go, ya gotta go.
A good general rule is to have as many litter boxes as you have kitties. This is not always necessary but it allows kitties to each have their own box or to each be using the bathroom at the same time.
Two boxes is likewise awesome, but you may find yourself with one cat ‘claiming’ the second box and the other cat still leaving you presents.
I’ve always had good luck with closing the cats in the new location until they use the box, to make sure they recognise that it’s in there. I’ve never had a problem after that.
My experience is that already litter-trained cats would find the new box if you just moved it, no problem, assuming the new location is otherwise acceptable to their sensibilities (not noisy, unstable, etc.). Making sure they see the new box when you set it up would be an easy additional step.
I think your husband’s idea (no offense) is about the worst way to do it, since it involves the cats repeatedly learning multiple locations.
Plenty of people do have trouble, however. The second most common reason for euthanasia of cats, after “illness”, is inappropriate elimination behavior.
When my older cat went through a period of pissing on everything in sight, including two of my backpacks, you’re damn right I was about ready to kill him.
We now have a large litterbox downstairs and a smaller one upstairs, which has mostly solved the problem. Unfortunately, upstairs is so small that it has to be in my room at the foot of my bed. Highly unpleasant, but I don’t see that I can remove it without him pissing on everything again.
I assumed that poster was discussing healthy cats who are already using the box in some location.
I’ve had cats for 42 years. Not one of my healthy cats has failed to understand the litter box move. I set up the new box (or, as norinew suggests, move the old box). I pick up the cats and plunk them in front of the box in the new location. If it’s a clean box, they sometimes urinate in it immediately. If it’s a cat that is easily alarmed by change, I give it a treat by the new box. I remove the old box (if I haven’t relocated it to the new spot) and clean the area around that location, typically with a wash, then Lysol, then a sprinkle of baking soda that I then vacuum up. I’ve never had a cat toilet in the old location.
We’ve moved the litter boxes around here twice, and never had a problem. We let the girls see us pick up the boxes and move them, and they then know where they are and wat they are for. No huhu.
Not to beat a dead horse , but the majority of cats I’ve euthanised due to inappropriate elimination behavior were once healthy cats who used a litter box.
Something as minor as changing from an unscented to a scented litter can cause problems. Adding another cat to the household can lead to problems. Going from an uncovered to a covered box can cause a problem.
I do not mean to spread alarm, but litter box usage is one of the most important factors in keeping a household happy.
Ah well yes, I meant from simply moving the litter box to another cat-acceptable location. Wasn’t counting other IEB problems. Should have been more clear, sorry.
Well, under this excellent guidance, tomorrow I will:
Buy a new litter box and install it in it’s new location
Physically show the cats where it is
Stop cleaning the current one, encouraging them to switch to use of the new one
When they’ve more or less stopped using the current one, I will clean, disinfect, and “de-smell” the area (which I was planning on doing anyway).
Just to show how adaptable cats can be – we, too, kept the litter box in a corner of the kitchen. When I wash the kitchen floor, I move all the trash cans (3, recycling) way down the hall to the living room, basically the other side of the house, and set the litter box on top of it to minimize how much space is used up.
Yup. When the floor had dried and I came to move the cans and the freshly cleaned litter box back…it had been used. Multiple times. All by themselves, the little darlings had located the litter box balanced atop the trashcans and used it, undeterred. :eek:
What about training the cats to use the toilet? It can be done. A friend of mine had four cats that she successfully taught to use the bathroom. The cats are all different ages…one year to six years. When you go visit, the cats would disappear into the bathroom.
the downstairs box.
