Cat owners love their kitties. Everyone loves cute kitten pictures. Cat fanciers adore their buzzing, cuddling house mates. But no one loves a cat box. (Except possibly a cat who has just been presented a clean one.)
When I first had cats, we had no such thing as a cat box. Growing up on a farm, our cats had free access to house and barn. They did their business in flower beds and the garden (which occasionally caused a dislodged seed or two), but we did not own such a thing as a cat box.
I missed cats when I was a college student. Dorms aren't supposed to have anything fuzzier than a goldfish, after all. And when I finally had my own place, I got a kitty. Outside cats in the city are at extreme hazard. Cars, dogs, mean people are to be found everywhere. Cats may be a little safer than dogs, but the risks seemed too great.
Indoor kitties need a place to go. There is no question of that; if not provided with an appropriate spot, they will find an inappropriate one.
I've never tried teaching my cats to use the flush toilet. It is my understanding that it does work well, and there are kits on the market to facilitate the process of teaching your feline companion to use it. I have given it some consideration-especially since clay litter is not the most ecologically friendliest of stuff. There are nicer kinds of litter for sale at supermarkets and pet supply houses, but some of it can be seriously pricey. Cost is another good argument for toilet training one's cat. Maybe I'll get around to trying it some day.
Or maybe I won't. Recent studies indicate that flushing cat feces can spread a parasite, toxoplasma gondii , which has proven harmful to various sea creatures.
In the meantime, there is the cat box. A fresh box of kitty litter can be a playground, a bed, but most especially it is a welcome relief station. It may be contested, missed (ew!), or, when filled beyond cat's desire, ignored.
Since no human loves a cat box, quite a lot of ingenuity has gone into creating the perfect cat box. For the first indoor kitties, a cat box was a wooden or cardboard box filled with dirt. Occasionally, it might be filled with shredded paper. This had some obvious drawbacks: as the earth or paper became soaked, the box could leak liquids and would certainly exude odors. Next came pellets of clay; then along came plastic-which was a pretty good improvement, since it didn't leak. This did NOT, however, prove a barrier to odors. Nor did it make clean up any more fun.
Next came slotted kitty litter scoopers. This was dandy for dealing with solid matter; but not terribly effective when dealing with soaked litter at the bottom of a box. Baking soda figures in there somewhere as an odor controller-and it works pretty well. And about the same time that the plastic litter trays and scoopers made their debute (I'm working from memory of items that were displayed in stores, not from any solid source), deodorizing powders also appeared.
Powders of any kind have potential hazards around cats. Some have allergies, some of the substances used in the deodorizers were potentially health threatening as well. (We've come a long way.)
Large, hooded boxes followed their shallower cousins. This was a real boon to home-owners who preferred keeping their possesions out of the kitty box. It had its drawbacks, however. Some of the larger felines had a hard time fitting inside the box. The hood was dandy for keeping litter and odors in the box, which was great for the people in the house, but not so very much appreciated by the cats.
Other innovations have been disposable boxes, cat box liners, sifting boxes(which rarely survive kitty claws), and finally the mechanized, self-cleaning boxes. Cat owners and others have invented many ingenious covers, boxes and hidies for their friend's sanitary arrangements. What does cat think of all of this? He or she will let you know-by whether or not he uses the facilities provided!
