Cat Latrines

Cats do not share latrine facilities so, in multi-cat households, the optimum number of latrines should be one per cat plus one extra. This number of cat litter trays is obviously a horrific prospect for the owner of a lot of cats. The answer is to provide cats with outdoor latrines in the owner’s garden. With the current fashion for hard landscaping, cats may have few opportunities to use good outdoor latrines and may have to travel across several gardens to find somewhere suitable. In winter, these toilets may become sodden or frozen, making them unusable. For this reason, many housesoiling problems are worse during the winter.

GENERAL LATRINES Outdoor latrines are actually very easy to construct. These outdoor toilets should be hidden in flowerbeds behind shrubs and tall plants to give the cat privacy. These latrines are essentially self-cleaning but it is sensible to regularly use a litter scoop to remove faeces in the same way as with a conventional litter tray. The sandy part of the latrine should be dug out and replaced every six months. One outdoor latrine is unlikely to be enough, and different cats will have different preferences for location. At least two latrines should be provided.

There are often concerns that other cats will come into the territory to use the outdoor latrines. This is a possibility but rarely causes a problem. In fact, the presence of nearby latrines tends to strengthen the boundary of the resident cat’s own territory.

Indoor latrines should be made as appealing as possible. They should be positioned in quiet locations and deep filled with a scent free mineral based litter. In some cases, soft sand or a mixture of soft sand and litter is attractive to cats, and the sand content can be reduced gradually once the cat has shifted its location preference to the designated litter tray.

Inappropriate facilities may be at the root of inappropriate toileting problems and it is important to consider the type of litter used in the tray, the sort of tray that is being offered and also the location of that tray. The cleaning regime may also be relevant since most cats are reluctant to use trays that are dirty and some others will fail to bond successfully to their latrine if it is cleaned too frequently. Other potential causes of a breakdown in house training include challenges to security in nervous individuals, overcrowding within a small-sized territory where there is competition over the resource of the latrines or access to the trays is controlled and manipulated by one individual within the household. There is also the issue of old age and debilitation.