What am I doing wrong?

[klunick]

I can't seen to get the lone litter box out of my room. Boone and Gracie will use the boxes that are downstairs where I want all of them to be. But not as much as both use the one in my room. I have tried to transition it closer and closer to downstairs but it always ends up back in my room.

I have no problem having one in my room except that because it seems to be their main box, it fills up quickly with pee so will have to change it more than once a week which I don't want.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[allypuk]

I clean all my litter boxes once a day, it takes no time at all, I use the wood pellet style litter, no smell and its cheap, scoop out the poops a quick shake through a sieve tray, pop it in the compost bin/garden waste and its done.
It seems your kittys have decided where they want the litter box to be. Could you add a second box in that room maybe then it might not get so full?
What happens when you move it?

 

[klunick]

I clean all my litter boxes once a day, it takes no time at all, I use the wood pellet style litter, no smell and its cheap, scoop out the poops a quick shake through a sieve tray, pop it in the compost bin/garden waste and its done.
It seems your kittys have decided where they want the litter box to be. Could you add a second box in that room maybe then it might not get so full?
What happens when you move it?

I started out with two boxes in my room and slowly transitioned one to downstairs plus added one. I suppose I could add another one to my room but I really don't want litter boxes in my room because litter gets down into my carpet. When I vacuum, it sounds like I am vacuuming the beach. Just did it in the beginning because they were confined to my room. Once they were allowed to have full access to the house, I started moving them downstairs. The one downstairs, although they use it has also become their play area. They will hop in it and sit for no apparent reason.

As far as cleaning, I scoop the poop 2-3 times a day. That isn't a big deal. On a side note, I will see that Boone and Gracie will pee in the one downstairs. A day or two later when I am checking for poop, the litter will be completely dry. Where did the pee go? This has happened a couple times in the past. Either Tidy Cat or Fresh Step (can't remember which I have down there) is magical, I guess.

 

[allypuk]

I see so you started upstairs so that's their most secure territory area. Do they spend more time upstairs or downstairs, do they go out of their way to use the upstairs box? Can you say close the door to that room during the day? Sounds a tricky situation. I am glad I started mine our in the bathroom now as I am very happy to leave litter boxes in there.

 

[klunick]

I see so you started upstairs so that's their most secure territory area. Do they spend more time upstairs or downstairs, do they go out of their way to use the upstairs box? Can you say close the door to that room during the day? Sounds a tricky situation. I am glad I started mine our in the bathroom now as I am very happy to leave litter boxes in there.

I spend more time upstairs but my husband spends more downstairs (but they like me better). That could be the reason, I guess. I am afraid of completely cutting off access to a litter box upstairs for fear they just go wherever because they don't want to go downstairs. I guess I will just add another one to my room and keep one downstairs. I was just hoping they'd use the one in my room less and less and the one downstairs more and more. Oh well.

 

[klunick]

Husband said I just need to bite the bullet and put all the litter boxes downstairs. Just show them that there is none in my room and that they are all downstairs. At least if things go south, I can blame him. I am going to wait until after they recover from their spay/neuter surgeries. Gracie at least may be sore and not want to walk down steps right away.

 

[allypuk]

Like you say at least you will have someone to blame ! Hehe.
I was cleaning the litter boxes the other day and one of my kittens decided to just pee pee where is usually is even tho is was only half a meter away! Good job it was in the bathroom and easy to clean.

 

[HPeters]

You should have 1 more litterbox than cats that are spaced out around the house and deffinitly one on every floor ( would you want to always go downstairs to use the bathroom?) I do understand not wanting it in the bedroom so perhaps putting it in another room on that floor or atleast investing in a really good littermat

 

[klunick]

You should have 1 more litterbox than cats that are spaced out around the house and deffinitly one on every floor ( would you want to always go downstairs to use the bathroom?) I do understand not wanting it in the bedroom so perhaps putting it in another room on that floor or atleast investing in a really good littermat

I have 3 litter boxes for 2 cats. The only other place on the main floor would be the living room and kitchen which is not an option. I have had cats for 40 years and have never spread the litter boxes out amongst the floors of the house. They have always been in one central location.

 

[She's a witch]

I guess they are still kittens, right? Then I wouldn't risk taking the litter box from each level. I would wait several months till they're adults and then move it down.
In the meantime, maybe you can add some litter mat under the box to help with the tracking?

 

[klunick]

I guess they are still kittens, right? Then I wouldn't risk taking the litter box from each level. I would wait several months till they're adults and then move it down.
In the meantime, maybe you can add some litter mat under the box to help with the tracking?

Yes 4 months. I think what will end up happening is I will have two in my room and one downstairs as a "just in case" one. I will still try to get them all downstairs but I will wait until they are a little older to try again.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! I've read that if you move a litter box in small increments, gradually over time, towards where you eventually want it the cats don't notice.

 

[klunick]

Update...
I have resolved myself to having 2 litter boxes in my bedroom and a "just in case" box downstairs. It works out better that way anyway. I only go downstairs a couple times a week so having the two main ones in my room, I can monitor who is/isn't going to the bathroom and can scoop several times a day. The one downstairs only seems to get used once a week anyway.

 

[di and bob]

If you use clumping litter it shouldn't have to be replaced every week, that is for nonclumping. Clumpinng litter Is just allowed to get low and then more is just added. If the sides, box, is clean, I only clean the litter boxes every other month or so. Once a month would be plenty. when we are super busy and with several boxes, I have let them go several months without cleaning. As long as they are scooped out daily. Let your nose be your guide. If you scoop and an hour later walk in and it smells OK, you are fine.

 

[klunick]

If you use clumping litter it shouldn't have to be replaced every week, that is for nonclumping. Clumpinng litter Is just allowed to get low and then more is just added. If the sides, box, is clean, I only clean the litter boxes every other month or so. Once a month would be plenty. when we are super busy and with several boxes, I have let them go several months without cleaning. As long as they are scooped out daily. Let your nose be your guide. If you scoop and an hour later walk in and it smells OK, you are fine.

I don't use clumping litter. Tried it in the past but prefer the other. Plus I don't have a sense of smell. I really don't mind cleaning litter boxes. I'm all for giving stuff a good scrubbing. It's like my own personal therapy.

 

[klunick]

Saw some success this week. They actually went pee and poop quite a bit in the downstair's litter box. I was wondering why there wasn't as much in the two in my room.

 

[GreyLady]

Your cats are young. I think you could get away with just removing the upstairs box. See what happens. When I recently moved I tried to put all the litterboxes in the basement but my 12 y.o kept peeing upstairs. Eventually I put a litter box upstairs and it has almost completely stopped. The upstairs box gets used way more often then the downstairs 2...

Maybe try moving it to a non carpeted area upstairs before completely removing so hopefully if the have an accident its not on your carpet where the box was before.

 

[klunick]

Your cats are young. I think you could get away with just removing the upstairs box. See what happens. When I recently moved I tried to put all the litterboxes in the basement but my 12 y.o kept peeing upstairs. Eventually I put a litter box upstairs and it has almost completely stopped. The upstairs box gets used way more often then the downstairs 2...

Maybe try moving it to a non carpeted area upstairs before completely removing so hopefully if the have an accident its not on your carpet where the box was before.

I am resolved with having 2 in my room. It's fine now. I was just surprised to see they had used the one in the basement as much as they did this week because normally when I change the litter, there is normally only one spot of pee and nothing else.

They have been spending more time downstairs so I guess it makes sense. They go down at dusk and wait for the European Hornet that likes to come the the sliding glass door. Boone and Gracie like to jump at it.

 

[klunick]

I bought another litter box tonight to put downstairs. I started thinking about how whenever one decides to use the potty, the other decides they suddenly have to too. So, there are now two upstairs and two downstairs.

Gracie was downstairs with me when I was putting the litter in it. Boone comes down and sees the new box. He ever so cautiously walks over to it like he was totally freaked out by there being another litter box. He is so weird.

 

[klunick]

They are going in the two downstairs 95% of the time now. Seems like the less I cared whether they went upstairs or downstairs, the more they started going downstairs which was the plan all along. I am keeping the two upstairs in my room but they have been unused since I changed the litter on Friday.