Brother and Mom don't understand Cat, why?

[flutegeek104]

Our cat is 10 years old, an old man by some standards, and my brother and mom throw him outside because they won't clean the litter box.

My dad travels a lot, so he's not really home, and I'm a little beat down with these animals cages. I own two ferrets, who I absolutly love, a cat, three dogs, and now, a bird. I'm tired of this. Anyone know how to protect my poor cat, or, help him make it to the litter box more?

I think we should get another litter box, so he has more then one. Is this the right thing to do? Anyone know how to de-stress myself? I'm in school, and am almost failing my classes. And it's the third week of school. I'm killing myself with this. I don't want to get rid of anyone. I was three when they got the cat, the ferrets are soley mine, the dogs are my parents, and this bird is supposed to be for my mom. But, be realistic, she doesn't clean the litter box, how will she take care of the cage? I wasn't involved in this bird's bringing into our house at all. Does anyone have anything that might make the litter last a little longer? Or something besides newspaper to put on the bottom of the birds cage? I am desperate, and will use my own money to fix these animals up. Thanks.
Katelyn

[opokki]

Are you sure the cat does'nt have a medical problem? This is something I would have ruled out first.

Do you use scoopable litter? I have 4 boxes that I scoop daily, it only takes me about 5 mins. to scoop all of them and I only change the entire contents of the boxes every 2wks and thats with 7 cats. I use Tidy cat scoopable litter or Dr. Elsey's Precious cat scoopable litter.

[mr gerbil]

I think you need to try and explain to your family that the litter box needs to be cleaned. Try and reason with them.
If they simply wont, then there are other ways of dealing with the situation. Is your cat a indoor/indoor-outdoor cat? If he's indoor, you could try letting him go out all the time. However, if he's been inside all his life, the change wouldn't be good.

Arguments should only be a last resort, as they can do more harm than good.
Do you do anything to help in the house? If so, refuse to do it if the rest of the family can't be bothered to clean the litter box.

[christen renee]

scoopable litter will help. also, theres freshening powders that you can put in it to make it last.

and litter liners. theres plastic bags you can put at the bottom to make it easier to change. you just pick it up and throw it out.

litterbox cleaning really doesnt take much time at all.

if he's still going outside the litterbox maybe you should talk to his vet.

[flutegeek104]

we took him to the vet and nothing seems to be wrong with him except that he is old and lazy. We do have scoopable litter. But, the reason it takes so long is that he often misses the box entirely and I have to hunt around the house for 'presents'. I do do dishes and help with all the other animals, but I don't think refusing to help will be any good. It would make me seem like a selfish brat who isn't getting what she wants (not the angle I was going for).

[mr gerbil]

but I don't think refusing to help will be any good. It would make me seem like a selfish brat who isn't getting what she wants (not the angle I was going for).

No, it's not really the best angle. All you can do is reason, perhaps get the vet to talk to them?

[Nell]

Is it that he just doesn't make it to the box in time, or does he just not want to use it (too dirty, bad location, etc)? Or does he miss when he tries to use it?

I think adding a few more litter boxes would be a good idea. Put them in places that are convenient yet private. If it seems hard for the cat to get in and out of the box, then it will be neccessary to get boxes that have low sides (plastic storage bins work well for this purpose.)

If no one else is going to take on the responsibility of cleaning the litterbox, then its just another responsibility that you're going to have to take on yourself. Maybe you could make a deal with your family that you will clean up after him if they won't toss him outside. Just make sure that the boxes are scooped very frequently so there's no reason that he wouldn't want to use it.

I know it doesn't seem fair that you'd have to do all the work, but I'm sure your cat will be glad that at least one of his people truely loves him even though he's no longer the kitten he used to be.

[creativz]

How about getting a bigger litter tray ? Moving trays/changing litter brand used can often cause confusion, but he's probably thinking 'I'll just go wherever if they can't be bothered to clean out my toilet' ! Introducing another tray elsewhere may help, then you'll have 2 to scoop and clean, but that's gotta be better than stinky little pressies on the floor ! Maybe also try reintroducing cat to litter outside in a secluded corner of garden. Set a good example, let your bro and particularly your mum see that you're going out of your way by making an extra effort to help the family cat, really make a meal of it, you could keep a basic daily rota - pin it up somewhere your mum will see it and make a point of ticking off each scoop/clean when she's watching ! Hopefully they'll feel a little guilty that you're having to do all the 'dirty' work !

[o0sapphirerat0o]

the general rule of thumb is one litter box for every cat plus one.....

another thing, you need to get a good enzyme cleaner, as getting rid of the smell that HE can smell will help him not go where he keeps going. His smell keeps making him come back to the same places to "go". Try maybe putting one or two more litter boxes in a couple of places that he likes to "go". and slowly moving them to where you want them to be.


I can still be medical just becuase your vet doesn't think so. There could be something that he is missing....

personally, everytime my parents/family did soemthing like that, I would always remind myself that I will be the one chosing their nursing home. lol.

[Jiffykat]

Lol, be nice to the cat or watch out when you get old, you'll be in a crappy nursing home! I'll make sure they use electro-shock therapy!

Try getting at least one more litter box and making they are scopped out regularily. That should really help unless it is something medical that the vet missed.

[o0sapphirerat0o]

Jiffy, when you've worked in the CNA "world" for almost 15yrs (like my mother has) and seen how bad it can REALLY be, you wouldn't be making fun of it.

It can be downright disgusting and extremely abusive.