Cat Litter. Read all about cat litter, litter boxes and litterbox training your cat.

Litter Boxes

The most common reason a cat stops using its litter box is because the litter box is dirty - from the cat's viewpoint, not yours.

Cats often react to any type of stress by suddenly urinating or defecating outside the litter box. The stress may be caused by a new cat too many cats in the house; your going away on holiday or a new piece of furniture.

Urinary tract problems also cause cats to urinate in places other than the litter box. Any sudden change in elimination habits should be discussed with your veterinarian.

Prevent House Soiling

Until your cat is reliably house trained, it should not have free run of your home. If your cat continually makes mistakes, the behavior can simply become a habit.

Punishing a cat only teaches it to be afraid of you. Basically, punishment doesn't work with cats: prevention and praise for getting it right are the keys to training.

When you leave the house for any length of time, your cat should be confined to a single room, preferably one with non-porous floors, such as a kitchen, bathroom, utility room, basement or garage.

Provide your cat with a bowl of water and a warm place to sleep at one end of the room and a freshly cleaned litter box at the other end.

Choose a litter box that's large enough for the cat to fit comfortably inside and place in a quiet area.

Cats like commercial, unscented sand or clay litters with relatively small granules.

Clumping litters now available make the task of litter box cleaning easier. Eliminate box odor simply by cleaning the box frequently with warm soapy water (avoid scented disinfectants).

Kittens less than eight weeks old may be too small to use an adult-size litter box; an inexpensive aluminum or plastic pan with a two-inch rim will suffice until the kitten is able to graduate to a regular box.

Remove solid waste daily and change the litter completely once a week or less frequently if you choose a clumping litter. If more than one cat is using it, you may need to change the litter more frequently.