(Yes, it CAN be done!)
There is a down side to being a cat owner – especially if you have an indoor kitty like we do.
Fleur is totally embarrassed because she knows what’s coming …
Of course, I’m talking about litter tray duty.
It’s a horrible job.
But I have found a few ways to make my at-least-once-a-day chore more bearable – even FUN (yes, I’m weird like that).
First of all, I have perfected the art of holding my nose without actually physically touching it, breathing through my mouth instead. Once the smell is gone, it is MUCH more bearable.
Toilet Train Your Cat
Or maybe, she has trained me …
I usually clean Miss Fleur’s litter tray as part of my morning routine, and as necessary. Because it is such a part of our routine, my very clever kitty seems to have adapted her toilet habits. She always hangs around while I am doing litter tray duty, almost as if she is crossing her legs and hanging on for it to be cleaned so she can use it again!
Many is the time when I will scoop that poop, only to turn around and find she is already scratching in her litter, about to give me another turd burger present. Which is great because I can deal with it straight away 🙂 .
Panning for Gold
My next trick is to think of it as “panning for gold” … if you use clumping cat litter like we do, you need to shake the litter tray to reveal the nuggets and clumps you will be removing. You’re guaranteed a Eureka! moment every day 😉 .
Carefully panning for gold
That Eureka! moment when you find a nugget 🙂
I do have one other tip. It’s not very environmentally friendly but desperate times call for desperate measures. If I am away, and we need Mr 21 to take over litter tray duty temporarily, I buy some of the large disposable alfoil baking trays to use as cat litter trays. That way, he doesn’t need to scoop that poop (something he refuses to do), and can just chuck out the whole thing and replace it.
Desperate times call for desperate measures …
And finally, because I love my kitty dearly, I don’t see litter tray duty as a burden or chore. It’s just something that has to be done, like changing nappies when the kids were babies: you do it because you love them.
If you have a kitty, what sort of cat litter do you use? Do you have your own patented system for cleaning it (like I do)?!
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Lol, panning for gold ?
We use a combination of Coles & Aldi brand clumping litters. Iv played around with a mix of litters over the years and find these ones tend to go well together. Sometimes I’ll add catsan too if I’m not going to Aldi. With 2 indoor cats I tend to have to clean it 2-3 times daily.
That was meant to be a smiley face not a question mark lol
Danielle, this is probably the only thing putting me off getting a second cat …
Bahaha! Panning for gold. Whatever gets you through. I wish they had kitty litter for dogs. Mine is a daily hunt through the backyard while trying not to step on it. Ah the joys. #TeamIBOT
So there’s a downside to dog ownership too? I never realised that before as I’ve never owned one!
The things we do for our pets! At least Miss Fleur uses the litter tray. I have my son regularly sweep our backyard pavers and courtyard to get rid of our bunnys’ poops from there.
We used to have cockatiels that we let out in the house sometimes (before we had an indoor cat), I was forever cleaning up little packages. I swear they pooped every 10 minutes!
Bahahaha I’m not a car person so I wouldn’t be panning for anything lol
Glad I could make you laugh 🙂
Hilarious! We have 2 inside cats, and funnily enough, I must have forgotten to keep the litter as clean as one of them would like, because she has just peed on my bloody lounge!!!
Damn I hate that! Thank god for Febreze!
I can just picture you wrinkling your nose and getting on with the job 😉 Not pleasant, but as you say, a job done out of love.
LOL the things we do for love hey Jo 😉
I use crystal litter (or rather, Potato does) cos he seems to track less of it out of the bathroom and onto the carpet. I love him, so I do it, but definitely not my favourite household chore!
Oh yes, pebbles of litter all over the floor – it’s fun isn’t it!
I like the crystal litter too, because it’s less smelly!
Thankfully our cat tends to prefer to go outside, so we don’t have to change it a lot. And we have kids who can do it for us 😉
We keep the litter tray out on the cat patio so thankfully the smell doesn’t tend to invade the house 🙂
Sasha is a sprayer and it does my head in. She sits IN the litter and sprays up the wall. So we have to put puppy pads on the wall. With two cats now so much litter and I can’t stand to see them so we have converted bottom of linen cupboard into a cat toilet. Putting the box in there with a flap so we can’t see it. We use the purple one that is flushable, so we just pan for gold like you and flush. The only shitty thing about kitties!
Oh my, that would suck. Yet you still got a second one! 😉
Layla is an indoor dog and is trained to use training pads so I have to clean those. Like you with Fleur, I love her so while it’s not the best job, I do it because I love her.
I’ve never seen training pads used on a dog so not sure how they work at all! I’m guessing like nappies on babies?
p.s Sorry it has taken me so long to return the IBOT comment love xx
Always happy to have you here Tegan, I’m not worried about you sticking to a deadline! xxx