Cat Owners - need advice

[Kipling]

We are considering getting a cat. I have always wanted one, and we had an outdoor stray cat that "adopted" us for two years by living on our porch. We put food out for him and let him in when it was really cold. I really enjoyed him. However, I have never had an inside cat, so I have some logistic questions regarding a litter box.

 

We have a dog and a 1.5 year old child. What are practical ways to make the litter box accessible to the cat but keep the dog and baby out of it?

 

Can a cat be trained to go outside to go to the bathroom? Could we keep the litter box in the garage and teach the cat to meow at the door to go? (Can you tell I've only had dogs?)

 

Those of you who have cats - what do you do when you travel? Do you find a cat sitter? Do you board it? Do you take it with you, and if you do, is there a trick to traveling with cats?

 

Do you have any other words of advice?

 

TIA

[Nakia]

We have five cats. I love them!! How big is your dog? You can put the litterbox in an area and close it off with a baby gate. It is a constant battle to keep our dogs out of the litterbox. For some reason cat poo is irresistible to dogs. :ack2: I have no idea about training them to go to the door or outside.

 

As far as travel, when we go out of town, we have my father in law come and feed the dogs and goats, and he checks in on the cats. Cats will pretty much take care of themselves as long as you make sure they have plenty of food and water and a clean place to go potty.

 

Have fun!! I think cats are the best!

[Carrie12345]

Our dogs have never tried to mess with the cat litter. I don't know if that's just because it's a covered box with a swinging door, or the size of my dogs in comparison (they're big!), or what.

My babies, otoh, have shown considerable interest. Lots of redirection. And hand washing!

[gingersmom]

I have never had an issue with dogs or babies/young children going in the litter box.

 

My dogs were always too busy trying to drink out of the toilet bowl to bother with the litter box.

 

I also had a covered litter box so maybe they never noticed it.

[Alice]

We've always had cats. My parents have had cats that go outside to go to the bathroom but they were also indoor/outdoor cats, meaning that that they would also play outside and roam the neighborhood. We have cats that are totally indoors and go only in the litter box. I've never tried to train a cat to go outside and then come back in when done.

 

The current cat we have is 13 yrs old so has been around when all our kids were babies. We've just kept the litterbox in a location the babies are unlikely to go unless we are with them (for us it's the laundry room). They usually go through a phase where they are interested but we just redirect them, like you would with anything you have to teach them not to touch (outlets, stoves, toilet, etc). I haven't found it to be a major issue with any child.

 

I've always gone away and left the cats with either enough food and water or with someone to come in and feed them every few days. The only time we got a paid cat-sitter was when we went away for 3 weeks and didn't feel like asking friends to do it for that long. I will say up until very recently we had two cats so I knew they would keep each other company. We haven't yet gone away and left the one cat alone for more than a night or two so I'm not sure how that will be. For the most part they are pretty independent and self-sufficient.

[KS_]

The best place I've found for the litterbox is next to the toilet in our bathroom. When my dc were little, they weren't ever in there by themselves, and when we had dogs, they weren't usually bothering with the box there, either. It's also very easy to scoop out the waste and flush it right down the toilet. We use wood pellets for litter, and besides the solid waste (which gets flushed right away), there's really not much odor (and I'm sensitive to smells).

 

I have boarded my cats in the past when a sitter wasn't available, but it's much easier to leave them at home (for one or two days, I don't get a sitter), and have someone come and feed and check in on them.

[Mrs.Gregg]

We've had our current cat for 10 yrs. We adopted her when she was between 6-8yrs old. I'm not sure it is possible to train a cat to go to a door and meow to use the litter box. Then again people have trained cats to pee in the toilet so it might be possible :confused:.

 

We've just always kept the litter box in the master bath.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

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[stephanier.1765]

I think you could probably train a cat to use a litter box in the garage. The only real problem would be having it come back in when it's done. They love to hide and climb so if you have a lot of interesting places in your garage the cat may want to hang out there for a while. One of my cat's favorite places to go is the garage and she'll scratch the door to let us know when she is ready to come back in. Our cats meow to let us know they want the sink's faucet turned on (they love to drink out of my bathroom sink) and if their food bowl is empty so I'm sure you can get one to meow to be let out into the garage. Ours just sit by the door when they want out so that may be all you get but at least it will let you know.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide. Cats add a lot of love to a home. :001_smile:

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Of course, every cat is different, but every cat I've ever had that was an indoor/outdoor cat preferred to do its "business" outside. They rarely used the litter box.

[Pippen]

I think you could probably train a cat to use a litter box in the garage. :001_smile:

 

I think it would be preferable to have something that is always accessible. Cats tend to return to go where they've gone before and long days out or cat needing to go in the middle of the night or needing to go more frequently due to illness could start a bad precedent.

 

My cat is indoor/outdoor and prefers to go outside but will use the litter box more frequently in winter, and when we're gone.

[stephanier.1765]

Our cats go outside to do their business but they will sleep indoors and stay in the house while we are gone. They just wait until someone gets up or gets home to go outside to do their stuff (same as the dog). If we were going to be gone for a long period of time, then I would definitely move the litter box into the house (or if the weather is nice put the cat in the garage). Pets are pretty adaptable to whatever the routine of the family is. Of course illnesses, just like with people, changes the ballgame all together.

[Tiff in TX]

We have 3 cats and 2 of these litter boxes:

 

http://www.petco.com/product/14467/Clevercat-Top-Entry-Litterbox.aspx?cm_mmc=GooglePKW-_-22-Clevercat%20Top%20Entry%20Litterbox%20(426822)-_-[clevercat+top+entry+litter+box]-_-xxx

 

It is a Clever Cat top entry, and I love it so much. I have tried a ton of litter boxes.... shallow with a cover, deep with no cover, automatic... nothing worked the way I wanted it to till now.

 

Yes, It is stupidly costly for what it is... a plastic tote with a hole in the top, DH was a bit frustrated with the purchase, but I felt it was worth it.

 

This keeps the dog out of the litter and the litter in the box. I have one cat who likes to kick litter all over the place and it is impossible for her to kick the litter out now.