Training a Cat for the Litter Box

 Did you know that you can control when a cat has to go to the bathroom and when they don't have to go? It is called feeding time. One of the first things in training a cat is do not feed the cat anything unless you are going to be home for a time after they have eaten. This is a good example of feeding the cat after you get home from work and preparing dinner for the family. By the time you and your family have sat down and enjoyed your dinner, the cat should be ready to go out or go to the litter box to go potty.

Making sure the litter box is clean at all times so that the cat can have a nice smelling comfortable place to go potty at. There are plenty of different types of litter to get for the litter box. From plain to good smelling when they scratch at it or dig to sand to soft pellets. There is not a particular type that will help with the training of the cat. It is totally up to you and your cat. Some cats do not like smells and so this would be a consideration that you might want to find out if your cat will use the box with these types of litter. They have scoopers out that you can purchase to help clean up the litter box when the cat uses it so that they have a clean environment to go to when they need to. Another thing is that you would want to have a clean environment for this for your family too. Family member can get sick off of cat litter, clean and dirty.

You should wash out the litter box everyday and replace the litter with 1 ½ of new litter. Wash out the litter box with hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly with water. By adding lemon juice or vinegar to the water will help take the smell out of the box. Ammonia is not a good cleaning agent to use as it will increase the smell of the litter box. If you have more than one cat a good thing is to have a couple of litter boxes in different locations so that each one has their own.

The litter box should not be near the place where the cat is sleeping, eating or playing area. If you going to but the litter box in the bathroom make sure that the door is open for the cat to be able to get in when it has to use it.

What are some of the causes that a cat would not use a little box? They use a favorite chair of a family member, quilt, blanket or carpet to go on. One the litter box could be dirty, which will lead a cat to bad behaviors for potty training. Other reasons could be too many people in the house, new pet that you have gotten lately, especially another cat. Children home on vacation for the summer or holidays, or maybe they sense you will be gone on a vacation or a period of time that they will be left at home and neighbors will stop in and check on it and feed them.

Urinary tract problems are another reason. This is why it is important when getting a cat or trying to train your cat to make sure they get to vet when they need to. Infections can cause a cat to have bad behaviors. With this if you are able to find out from a vet that your cat has an infection or is sick you will be able to treat the cat. And they will not learn all the good behaviors that you have taught them.

Rewarding the cat when it has gone potty in the proper place is very important in part of a cat training good behaviors. This is a time that you will want to search out for a good small healthy snack for your cat. Your cat will know that this is good, when you reward them for a job well done.

About the author:

Tony Robinson is a webmaster, international author and cat lover. Visit his website at http://www.officialcats.com

 Tony Robinson

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