The Cat Box Dilemma

Let’s be honest, Alpha-Gal or not; no one loves dealing with a litter box. I spent years searching the reasonably priced options for the best one to suit my large feline friend, but none seemed to work better than the trusty old covered rectangular box so that is what I have stuck with.

Following my most frequent tick bite, and AGS diagnosis, changing the cat box became an even more dreaded chore. Even suiting up with gloves and a mask did not seem to help me from later feeling the consequences. I couldn’t bare the thought of having to re-home my cat, she is part of our family! Root was part of a bottle-fed rescue litter my mom took in twelve years ago. Since coming to live with Jason and I, she has had a well traveled life. Starting out as an indoor/outdoor cat in Texas, Root quickly took to the apartment life when she discovered the view from the sliding glass door in Pa, she happily perched on her cat tree in Mississippi, and wasn’t terribly upset with us during our short stay in Arkansas. However, Missouri has by far won Roots heart. She spends her days sunbathing on the screened in porch waiting patiently for a random lizard to make its way in. She is the most loving and sweet cat i’ve ever had the joy of knowing, but that girl has a real issue with not being able to cover her litter!

I honestly have a hole in my carpet where Root has dug outside of the box trying to pull whatever she can reach, into the box with her. Its frustrating to say the least. I decided to resolve this issue by purchasing a top entry box. She hates it, but does (thankfully) use it if she can’t get outside to her other one. I on the other hand, love this box! I do wish it were larger for her, but since the cats have to enter and exit from the top, it does a fantastic job of keeping the litter contained.

Does this box make a difference with my reactions? Unfortunately, probably not. However, I have after many many trial and error methods, believe I have a method that does in fact help!

1. As I have mentioned before, my respirator is life changing! I keep it handy on a hook near my other supplies so I can grab it quickly and put it on to get the job done. I bought my respirator at a local hardware store prior to my diagnosis for use during crafting with epoxy, but you can pick the same one up from Amazon here.
2. Scooping is for the birds, so I found these sifting bags on Amazon. They are thick enough that my sweet Root kitty does not normally tear through them within a day or two. Anything past two days, and I may have to lift 3 or 4 of the bags because she will have dug the bottom out of it, leaving it unable to sift. It’s important to note, that more than one size is available and size does matter.
3. The bottom bag of the sifting stack is solid, but I do add one of these for some back up protection just in case. I only change it as needed if the other is torn. This helps eliminate the need to occasionally wash the box. A more cost effective alternative is to line the box with a trash bag, but those are generally thinner and difficult to hide the excess.
4. Sometimes I have an issue with scents, so I purchase a cheap unscented clumping litter and (if needed) add between 1/4 to 1/2 cup of baking soda. I purchase these large boxes of soda for use in laundry and cleaning.
5. With two cats, the bags do best if sifted daily and changed weekly. Honestly, the bags are a great alternative to scooping since you can literally cover the mess before sifting the clean litter out. You simply uncover the box, lift the corners of the top bag, pull the tie, and lift to sift. Drop the dirty bag into an open trash bag (I try to empty my litter box as I am taking out the kitchen trash), and replace the lid of your cat box. If using a normal covered box, this is done within a minuet or two. If you are like me and have this crazy contraption of a litter box that has 3 pieces to remove, it may take a bit longer.

I realize it sounds ridiculous to need to write instructions about something so simple as changing a cat box, but I was seriously on the verge of making a very large purchase on one of those crazy boxes that claims to clean its self because I was so frustrated over scooping and handling their dirty boxes and then feeling horribly for the rest of the day! This method has been a game changer for me, and after doing my research on the expensive boxes, I’m glad to have figured it out. If you too are researching boxes, make sure to understand that the self cleaning boxes do have to be taken apart and cleaned by hand fairly regularly.

If you have a method that you are using that is even more simple than this, or have a box to recommend, please leave a comment and let me know what is working for you!