Cats and litter: 7 Cat Litter Box Rules and the Best Cat Litter
What type of cat litter does your cat prefer to use? What about most cats? Well, new research has looked at cats’ preferred cat litter types. Read on for our cat litter box rules and to find the best cat litter.
Dr Jo says “It seems that I like to explore cat litter! I even wrote a book about cat toileting habits! Now there’s more to learn about cat pee and poo!”…
Cats often don’t have a choice of which litter to use. After all, it’s the owners who choose. Choices are made according to price, handling ease, recommendations from others and so on. And some cats don’t even have the option of toileting at home, as their owners prefer the great outdoors’ toilet – the soil or, sometimes, the sandpit!
Most owners replicate the litter that their cat was using when they brought them home. And we are lucky that even the tiniest kitten knows how to use their litter tray (compare that to your average puppy’s toilet training!).
People are often convinced that they litter they use is the best. But is this the best cat litter for cat?
Read more about cat toileting habits and problems
Different litter trays suit different cats
7 Cat Litter Box Rules (according to your cat!)
- A litter box for themselves, so one for each feline member of the household. (Especially important if you have litter box woes)
- The litter tray should be placed somewhere that the cat has privacy to use but also has an escape route (and watch out for ambushes from other cats or little human members of the family)
- The litter tray should be kept away from food and water and from the cat’s bed (whose cat actually uses the bed that you paid hundreds of dollars for?! Cats choose their own sleeping locations!)
- The litter tray has to be big enough for the cat. You cat should be able to turn around, squat and when they pee or poo, the waste products should not exit the tray. Try a bigger tray if ‘accidents’ happen just outside your tray.
- The tray should be cleaned as regularly as you can manage or bear. Cats do not like to see urine within their box.
- The cat should be given a substrate (litter) deep enough to dig.
- The cat should be given a substrate that they are willing to use.
Which litter do cats prefer?
It is this latter point, that cats be given a substrate that they enjoy, which creates difficulties. Which litter do cats prefer?
Researchers decided to ask cats. They did this by offering cats the choice of substrates:
- clay granules
- silica in micro-granules
- silica granules
- wood pellets
The study was divided into two sections.
- In the first part of this study, cats were offered identical litter trays, each containing either clay, silica crystals or wooden pellets for 4 weeks…
Result: Cats preferred the clay or silica to the wooden pellets. - Next, the cats were offered clay or silicate, of similar textures, for 2 weeks…
Result: Cats preferred to defecate (poo) in the clay litter.