Box Basics

Listen to this article

When it comes to litter boxes, your cat-owning customers are faced with a tremendous number of choices. Regardless of which litter box a consumer chooses, retailers can assist clients by educating them about the most effective ways to utilize the product. This in turn can help build stronger customer loyalty toward your establishment. While the choice of which litter box to purchase is up to the customer, here are a few things for them to consider.

Hooded boxes are popular with customers who wish to hide the lovely sight of an open litter box as well as cut down on its odor. The thing to remember is that cats are fastidious creatures, and the scent in a hooded litter box is often stronger than an open one. Customers choosing this type of box must remember to clean it a minimum of once per day, though twice per day is preferable.

Self-cleaning litter boxes present an interesting option. Since no one likes cleaning litter boxes and failure to keep them clean can cause cats to stop using their box, self-cleaning litter boxes seem like a fantastic choice. Customers considering this option should remember that the noise from the cleaning motor can startle some cats. Also the cost can be prohibitive especially when a customer has multiple cats. Finally, clients should be reminded that the compartment where waste is stored in a self-cleaning litter box still needs to be emptied and cleaned, just not as frequently as a standard litter box.

As cats age, some develop trouble using their litter boxes. One of the reasons is difficulty walking in and out of the box. Arthritis is often the culprit and it’s more common than many people realize.
In the 2012 article “Feline Arthritis: A Condition That’s More Common Than You Think,” author and veterinarian Ernie Ward cites a 2011 study that found “61 percent of cats over the age of 6 had osteoarthritis in at least one joint, while 48 percent had two or more affected joints. If a cat was older than 14, he had an 82 percent chance of having arthritis.” This leads us to an outstanding choice for owners with older cats: the easy access litter box.

Standard litter boxes can be recommended to most cat owners as long as they understand correct size and location details. For some customers, a small litter box is atheistically more pleasing.

However, there is a growing belief among cat behaviorists that larger litter boxes are more desirable for cats than smaller ones. Since cleanliness is so important in litter box training, smaller boxes are soiled more quickly than larger ones, thus making the smaller boxes less comfortable for the cat. This doesn’t mean you need a litter box the size of a bedroom! Generally a cat should be able to turn comfortably around in a box without bumping against the sides.

Clients with more than one cat should avoid placing a litter box in an area that doesn’t have an escape route. This prevents one cat from cornering another. Finally, on the topic of location, it is best to not place a litter box next to where the cat eats. Most don’t like to dine by the bathroom and who can blame them?

The other important thing for retailers to communicate to their customers is that more litter boxes are better than fewer. This is a rule cat behaviorists follow when it comes to litter box challenges and training. Some cats like to urinate in one box and defecate in another. Each cat in the house needs at least one, or maybe two, boxes. If a customer lives in a home with several floors, there should be litter boxes on every floor to which the cat has access.

Armed with this knowledge, retailers can assist consumers in making the right choices and utilizing them correctly.