Just to be clear, it is the litter that is migrating, not the kitties.
I have been using Ever Clean Litter Free Paws for our two Siamese for about a year. As advertised, it does quite a good job at reducing the amount of litter that the cats track out of the litter box. I am happy with it, although it isn’t cheap. The odd thing is, for the last couple of weeks, I have found litter granules everywhere in a 15 foot radius of the litter boxes. I have to sweep the area at least once a day. At first I figured that the litter in the litter boxes had gotten ‘old’, so I threw it out and replaced it with new litter from a new unopened container, but the problem continues. I am baffled. Is this a problem with the product, or with my cats?
Second bonus question: one of my cats was diagnosed yesterday with cystitis from crystals in his bladder. They prescribed some special cat food that will hopefully dissolve the crystals. Problem is, the cats don’t seem to like it. They have always been a bit finicky (does anyone ever use that word for anything but cats?), but it was never a serious health issue before. Do you have any suggestions for how to get them to eat the stuff (it is actually just the one cat, but the vet said they both can have it).
I have heard that suddenly switching food (type, brand, etc) can cause digestive issues besides the cats rejecting it because it is not What They Are Used To.
The way to switch to a new food is to introduce a small amount of the new stuff (eg 25% for a week or two, then up it to 50% for a week etc). The rate and speed depends on your patience and how urgent it is to complete the switch.
I hope everything goes well.
@Disgscen above: I sincerely believe increasing it everyday might be too fast.
Whatever you decide upon as a flavouring agent, make sure it doesn’t hinder the purpose of the special food.
Also, I am sure that tuna juice is tasty, but I don’t know what the salt content (if any) is. Would it be healthy for a cat to eat “that much” salt (or whatever) every day?
You can find gravies to put over dry food at the pet food store to try to entice the cat to eat it. I have put it underneath the wet food and had some success that way. My current pair are not picky, for which I give thanks but they do eventually get tired of one flavor of dried food so I do mix those up.
Cat pickiness is really individualistic. My first kitty Ambrose couldn’t have cared less about the manufacturer or flavor as long as it was in his bowl. Imhotep didn’t get called Her Royal Little Pickiness for nothing - she tired of brands and flavors about every 6 months, and my sister and brother-in-law’s cat will only eat one flavor of Sheba.
Good point! Back when I was a teenager I ‘cat sat’ for a neighbor couple who went away basically every weekend. They had two cats that they fed an upscale food brand to, plus they got large amounts of whatever the couple was cooking for their own dinner as ‘treats.’ Both cats ended up massively overweight, and so their vet switched them to some lo-fat diet food.
Which the couple religiously fed them, but the cats didn’t like it, so they would pour HEAVY CREAM over the top of the bowl so the cats would eat it.
My experience is that most cats don’t like the UT food. If they continue to turn up their noses, check with your vet. There is more than one option.
Another thing to consider is switching them to soft food. Cats absorb a lot of moisture from their food. As they get older, a diet of dry food can be very hard on their kidneys.