by Monica L. Garrett

Created on: July 30, 2011

Visitors driving up to our home may see multiple cats on the roof and it may look as if there is a small army of cats "guarding" our home around the perimeter of the property.  Not all of the cats were purchased by us as a family pet.  In fact, only two were claimed by us.  The rest claimed us and moved in.  

While not all are welcome inside our home, we do have multiple cats who come inside to visit with us and make their demands. Most of the demands revolve around canned cat food, which they prefer over the dry variety that is fed outside to the many cats, opossums, and raccoons who come up to eat.  

There are a few cats who have peculiar litter box behavior and demands.  They make their demands well known.  You may notice, if you have multiple cats, that they will go just outside of the litter box or right in front of you, in order to make a point.  Ours have done so.  We got the memo.

Choosing the best cat litter for your cat or for multiple cats is not always an easy task.  There are four main types of cat litter:

1.  Clay Non-Clumping Cat Litter

2.  Clay Clumping Cat Litter

3.  Crystal Litter, which is made from sand or a blend of sand 

4.  Natural and Biodegradable Litter, which is made from pine, paper, wheat, or corn

Clay litter was the original type of litter used and is still used by many cat owners.  If you are unfamiliar with the types of litter, consider using a litter shopping guide to determine which may best suit your needs.  

Let's look at some of the quirks I've found with our cats and their litter preferences.   

The Cat Who Prefers Its Own Litter Box

One of our oldest cats prefers not to have to share a litter box with the other cats.  She refuses to step into a "soiled" litter box, even if it has only been used once by one other cat.  For her, the options were limited.  We could force her to stay outside or we could just get an open, flat litter pan for her.  The others have the large, covered kind.

Single Litter Boxes with Scoopable Litter

The benefits to using a scoop-able litter include lower costs and easier cleaning.  If you scoop daily, you can skip the every few days dumping of the entire litter box contents.  Just replace with new litter as needed and clean the box as needed.  It saves time and money.  This isn't always feasible with multiple cats though, as you may be scooping hourly, depending on the number of cats and frequency of use.    

The Multiple Cats Who Use the Litter Box

For the multiple cats who do use the litter boxes as they should, we use TIDY CATS CLAY CAT LITTER FOR MULTIPLE CATS.  There are a few things we prefer about this litter.  One is that it is dust free.  This helps in our household due to my allergies.  Second, it absorbs odors better than many litters we tried.  Lastly, it is inexpensive and that helps when feeding and caring for multiple cats.  

Tips for Outdoor Cats

Fresh dirt will bring all cats over to use it as a litter box.  If you have a tiller and can till up dirt around a tree, that will be where the cats go.  If you have a sand box, even if it is supposed to be for your kids or grand kids, the cats will run to it.  Be sure to keep it covered to keep them out.  To keep cats out of flower beds or any other area, provide fresh dirt elsewhere.  

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