Litter box

The litter box is a sanitary installation for domestic cats in which they can store and bury their urine and feces. It involves a (usually rectangular ) shell that is filled with a substrate of cat litter.

The litter box with his loose substrate is contrary to the instinct of animals to bury the excrement and so conspecifics and enemies to face to hide. Once adopted sites for the deposition of feces and urine are often visited repeated using olfactory stimuli play a significant role. This favors the always desired housebreaking the animal.

A cat uses the litter as early as the third week of life, when they shall be led by her mother. Housebreaking is possible after about eight weeks.

Litter will only be accepted as a rule, when they are neither smell of feces excessively even after cleaning agents and placed in a quiet place. Also visiting the litter, especially in young animals may not be associated with negative experiences ( traps, trips, etc.).

As a cat urinating and defecating is vulnerable, preferably the animal a place with all-round visibility, while covering non-accessible areas. Litter boxes are perfectly in a room corner.

Litter boxes can be fitted open or with a roof and an entry. The advantage is that no litter is gescharrt out of the toilet out and urine accidentally gets next to the toilet. As the roof limits the visibility and can create a space with malodor, does not take any cat on a toilet with roof.

Cats toilets can be cleaned with a small shovel, will that help excrement separated from the litter. Another option offer special plastic bag that one up in front of the litter in the litter box, so that when cleaning the entire cluster can be replaced. There are also litter boxes with automatic cleaning offered to recognize the visit of the cat by a photocell and switch delayed a screening device.

Litter

Cat litter usually consists of clay minerals that can absorb through the porous structure of a lot of moisture. Many of the cat litter offered commercially, since clay minerals (examples: bentonite, sepiolite ), not biodegradable, but safe for the environment. This litter clump in the urine and the moisture of the feces and can be easily screened.

Cat litter made ​​of organic materials, such as wood or straw are completely biodegradable. Cat litter made ​​from wood fibers or wood pellets ( which swell upon absorption of moisture and crumble ) stand out in contrast to mineral litters by their less dust is generated from. In mineral litters usually a higher proportion of fine dust is formed. Beyond a certain degree of fineness of these can even be carcinogenic.

There is also litter that consists of silica gel. This substance can store very large amounts of odor-tight moisture and is lighter than traditional materials. The change interval is particularly great here.

Some manufacturers place for effective odor control and neutralizing unpleasant odors to the addition of fragrances. However, nothing is known about the acceptance of these flavored scattered locations.

Basically, all substrates are suitable to trap moisture and odors are harmless to humans and animals and meet the needs of the animal, to bury his excrement.

Clumping cat litter has the advantage that the litter riddled after insertion and this can then be disposed of in a targeted manner. The complete change of bedding does not happen as often as with non - clumping litter.

Cats develop as creatures of habit, a preference for certain litter. To train a cat to a new cat litter, should the previously used litter with the new spreading a long time mix and the proportion of new scattering increase until the cat gets used to it and accepted the litter.

Trivia

The litter box is discussed in the humorous song Katzeklo published in 1993 by Helge Schneider. The song was very well known in German-speaking countries, entered the charts and won an Echo Award.