New Cat Owner - Must knows?

never, the litter i have clumps wee and can be scooped out, then the poops as well. You would waste heaps of littler if you just changed it every time it gets soiled. Bags seem geared around excessive litter use to me.

 

That's what I'm thinking...

What brand do you use?>

I've just switched from crystal litter to clumping clay, as the crystal was getting soiled suuuuuper quickly, and didn't really cover the poop. Clay has been so much better.

 

I've tried...several times. They just end up shredding the liner and it makes a bigger mess than I started with.
I make it as deep as I possibly can, so nothing can settle on the bottom. If I take too long between cleaning it out, it can stick to the bottom - that's a sign *I* am doing it wrong, not them

 

Pretty much all of this. I feed mine wet food in the morning and dry food at night.

We take him out on a lead (he doesn't go outside otherwise) and if we take him out after I mow the lawn he sulks at not having any grass to chew.

 

I use Catlux, it's a wood based litter, very gentle on paws and feet. Also clumps up nicely, we pickup the tray gently shake it down, scoop the wee with a little plastic shovel then fish out the nuggets and you're back to a clean tray again.

It's available at Woolies, Big W and Pet Barn. God, I sound like an informercial - anyway something like this is perfect for us we are in a unit so it needs to absorb smells and be flushable.

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/230824/catlux-litter-light-clumping

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/catlux-softwood-clumping-litter-24l/p/8407130/

https://www.petbarn.com.au/catlux-softwood-clumping-litter-30-litre

 

See I personally didn't like that...

Too many options! Haha

 

Have a Costco near you? The 'Scoop Away' litter sold there is some of the best we've used.

$40 for a 19kg bag.

https://www.costco.com.au/Grocery-H...Complete-Performance-Cat-Litter-19kg/p/506958

 

wondering what you didn't like about it

 

Our recommendation is Rufus and Coco. Clumps well, non toxic and kinda smells like biscuits? Very neutral and friendly stuff. Only downside is that it's not cheap.

As for poops - depends on how hardcore you want to go. Cats on a proper meat only diet will make incredible small dry poos once every 3 days or so. They will be almost smell free after a few minutes. The difference is kinda incredible. Again the downside is mainly cost but also the inconvenience.

On commercial foods you get poos every day that are huge and smell terrible.

 

a lot of people use breeders choice which is similar afaik?

whiskas anyone?

 

Hahahha... we started with Royal Canin sachets. It's gross but essentially cat man concentrates whatever food you put in him. So his poos smelled bad on that, but with added... gravy? Lol...

 

Yeah my cats aren't too terrible with the stinky shits. Haha

I've switched up their food though so we'll see. I've stopped using royal canin just for costs sake, and have more refined their diet (was leaving food all the time, but chonks has been getting... chonky). So now it's a cup each in the morning, and then wet food of some sort at night.

 

Still having massive territorial issues though, and it only seems to be getting worse Penny knows her 'safe space', Milly practically never goes in there... I'm debating if I should feed them in there, and see what happens...

 

This. They LOVE roo meat, my Bengal pretty much lived on it exclusively until we moved to the Philippines. Kinda hoping to find it imported here one day, just so I can give him his favourite food again. Even my little black kitty, who won't eat anything but dry food, loves roo meat.

Z...

 

So in consultation with the vet, I'm rehoming Milly, as the vet believes her dominant personality won't change, based on where she came from (40+ cat household).

Sad outcome, but it's what's going to be best for both kitties.

 

Our cats were raised together and for the first year maybe two they liked each other enough to sometimes sleep curled up together.

But after that they started to get on each others nerves and would never tolerate that sort of physical closeness again.

We manage fine and the cats are happy, there is a lot of info out there and people managing similar situations, what was that dude Jackson Star or something? post google edit: Galaxy - he had some cat program where he helped households with their cat problems, highly recommend you track down and watch some of it - but every cat is different and owners too.

 

It's not just not tolerating though,its actively searching for her and attacking her.

 

But didn't they raised and lived together, with same owner you said? And 1 to 3 years old, you said iirc.

It seems unlikely that sort of thing would have gone on between them that entire time. What has changed?

But oh, 40+ cats you say. That is very complicated situation.

If it is really serious with search and attack, then perhaps you would be forced to temporarily barricade apart, while working your way through a desensitisation training regime. But it is understandable that the work involved is too much for some people's lives to accommodate, or even that some pairings of cats are simply untenable.

Guess my point is, there is stuff that can be done (see galaxy program), but it takes commitment, sometimes too much, and nobody here to judge you about that.

 

well that didn't end well

I hope that she finds a good home. I've never had an aggressive cat so I don't know what to advise, the group we adopted from had a behaviouralist who could recommend what to do with different animals and would only home them where suitable. Hopefully this will make life happier for both of them.

 

https://www.gracepets.com/storage/app/media/_learning/94796feline-behavior-aggression-other-cats.pdf