Everything You Need to Know About Cat Litters and Trays

 Cats are wonderful, elegant, a little dangerous and mysterious animals. They're very particular about their hygiene and would "demand" a clean and safe place to use as a toilet. No matter if your cat is staying indoors only, or is free to go to your backyard, you should always have a kitty litter sand. A suitable tray will be of great help to allow the cat to learn where its toilet is, but also will ease the cleaning part for you. If you have just adopted a cat or plan to adopt one, here are several important things you need to know about cat litter.

Type of Litter Tray You Should Use

The market is abundant with various types of litter trays. The basic ones have no rim or hood and are very common and the most affordable choice. You can find them in small and large sizes and they have other uses such as foot baths or children's pools.  Hooded litter trays are a good choice if you want to prevent your cat from scattering litter all over the place. Also, these litters will give your cat privacy and a feeling of safety when it uses the litter tray. These trays also absorb odours.

Where to Place the Litter Tray?

Cats are very particular animals. Just like people, they prefer to have some privacy and a quiet environment when using their toilet. Where you'll place the kitty litter sand depends on your home and its size. Most people keep these litter trays in the bathrooms, others place them in the hallway, or outside on the balcony.

You should know that once your cat learns where it's placed, it will connect that spot with the litter and will always use it, so it's best not to relocate it often. Put it in a place where the cat will feel safe and have some privacy. Make sure it's not close to the cat's food and water bowl, but also farther from your living room, dining room or bedroom.

How Many Litter Trays Are Enough?

Usually one is more than enough. However, if your home is larger, and your cat spends time outdoors, maybe you'd want to have one for indoors and one for outside. If you have more than one cat, it would be a good idea to have more than one cat litter tray.

How Much Litter Should You Put in the Litter Tray?

Vets recommend a depth of 3-4cm, but this is general advice since your cat might have a different preference. Keep an eye on your cat to see if it's happy. Some cats prefer deeper sand in their litter tray, others may prefer just enough sand to dig and bury things. If you find your cat is using the toilet more than normal for medical reasons, you'll need to adapt the amount of litter to its needs.

Type of Litter To Use

You'll find many different cat sand litters on the market. Some are made of recycled paper, others are made of wood, clay or silica. What you'll choose depends on your preferences. Make sure to use a significant amount of litter to cover the base of the tray so your cat can scratch and cover any waste it leaves. It's worth mentioning that soft and clumping litter will easily stay on your cat's paws, so you might want to choose a litter that's made of silica (it won't clump and stays dry to the touch).

On the other hand wood and recycled paper are natural organic materials that are soft, dust-free and control odours. Also, they're highly absorbent and make good garden mulch once used. Another thing to remember is that your cat might also have preferences. For instance, some cats might not use the litter at all if they don't like the sand.

Clumping or Non-clumping Cat Litter

Cat litter can be either clumping or non-clumping. As the name suggests, clumping litter clumps together after your cat uses its toilet. This makes it easy to scoop and remove small parts. Non-clumping litter will absorb urine. This means you'll need to change the whole litter tray regularly. No matter what type you choose, if the tray starts to smell you need to change the sand or clean the entire litter tray more frequently.

How to Clean the Litter Tray?

If you are a cat owner you already know that cats are fastidious. In other words, they want their litter tray clean when they use it. Otherwise, you risk your cat doing its business out of it. Remove the waste after your cat used it. You don't have to remove the entire sand, just the waste. However, from time to time, it's recommendable to wash the tray with soapy water and rinse it well. If you're going to use strong-smelling detergents, be sure to rinse the tray well, so there are no odours that your cat may hate (yes cats might not use the tray if there’s a weird scent).

Should You Have a Litter Tray Inside if Your Cat Goes Outside?

If your cat normally goes to the toilet in your backyard, it's still a good idea to have a litter tray indoors just in case (for emergencies, or if the cat wakes up in the middle of the night and you don't hear it meowing). Also, when it's too cold cats would refuse to go outside, so they may delay emptying their bowels or bladder and that's not a good thing. Your cat might do an accident or use some of your flower pots.