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How To Take Care Of The Litter Box

Updated: August 10, 2022 by Kristen Chapple

We all love our adorable furry friends so much, but when it comes to taking care of the litter box, oh well, sometimes we don’t love them that much anymore. You all know the feeling. Most of us would love to get rid of that poop so fast that sometimes we make mistakes. So let’s see how to take care of the litter box.

And speaking of mistakes, it’s not the cat’s fault that the litter box has that odor we all know too well. Most of the times it’s our laziness at play. Or our hesitation to clean it properly or at the right time.

How To Take Care of The Litter Box

It’s often neglected, but keeping a clean litter box for your cute furry friend is very important. Not only do you make your nose a favor for getting rid of that odor, but you’re also making a favor to your cat.

And we all know how much cats love cleanliness.

Daily Scooping Schedule

Create a schedule for cleaning the litter box. It’s very important to get rid of those solid chunks of urine and litter before they start spreading their smell all over the house. Not to mention the cat’s poop.

It’s recommended to have a daily schedule of scooping the litter box, but the number of times a day you should do that depends on how many cats you have. For one cat, a minimum of one scooping per day should be enough, but with more cats, you should do it a couple of times per day.

It’s a basic task, but besides the smell, an unclean litter box – or to be more precise, its contents – can transmit various diseases to humans as well, so it’s that important to keep a daily cleaning schedule.

Cleaning, Washing and Discarding the Old Litter

Besides the daily scooping of the litter box, cleaning and washing of the actual box should also be done every week. Once per week is usually alright, but depending on the litter box, the litter and the number of cats using it, that might differ.

Regular scooping and refilling is enough to keep the litter box fresh for a while. But afterwards, you need to empty everything inside it, wash it thoroughly with detergent and hot water and then let it dry before filling it with new fresh litter.

One important thing here is to never wash your litter box in the sink or the shower, because of the bacteria it contains.

Also, the old litter must be disposed of right away, since storing it inside your household trash is not a good idea.

The Materials

When you choose your materials, pay attention to clumping litter and non-clumping litter. The first one is usually recommended since it has the property that urine clumps into big chunks and it’s easier to scoop. The latter won’t have the same effect and urine will get through it and accumulate on the bottom of the litter box, so it will make cleaning a harder and more frequent job for you.

In addition to that, make sure you always wear gloves when doing the scooping and cleaning. After all, it’s not cookies and candies you’re handling there.

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