Hi there, I'm just taking care of the kittens and thought I would take this opportunity
while they were playing outside in their enclosed area, to clean up their litter box area.
This should be done, oh, I'd say - scooped out, at least two or three times a day, and
completely cleaned - including the box, the sides of the box and everything else, at least
once a week.
You really want to prevent litter box odors from becoming too strong.
Cats have very sensitive noses and especially when they're kittens and they are learning
litter box training, you don't want to turn them off the idea by having a dirty litter
box, so they're just go somewhere else.
And even though these kittens are doing really really well for - they've just turned 8 weeks
old.
They almost don't make any mistakes at all.
I've noticed when I was cleaning, that they did pee on one of the papers.
Well, that's normal...that's what the papers are there for.
These things happen.
So I definitely want to remove all of the newspapers that have been soiled from the area because if they
smell urine, they're going to pee there again.
Now you can take away all of these old newspapers that have been peed on - that's not a problem...of
course you would do that anyway....BUT the pee still smells.
Even though you don't see it, or maybe you don't smell it (if you're lucky) - but they
do.
They have very sensitive noses and if they think that here in the corner or something
is where they're supposed to go (because they can smell the urine) they're going to keep
going there.
This is a very important time in a kitten's socialization.
They need to learn how to use a litter box; that that is the only place that is acceptable
for them to go pee and that you don't just "go" anywhere you want.
So this is very very important time, it's not a time to just say..."ehhhh, throw some
more papers down....it's fine"....you have to keep things quite fastidious while they're
learning how to properly use the litter box.
So, what I've done is of course remove all the soiled newspapers (no problem) but you
also need to clean the area.
Now, the best thing to do...there are many things you can use for cat pee...but the best
thing is an enzymatic cleaner.
This is something that destroys the parts of the urine that regular cleaning can't take
away.
Soap, water, some people use vinegar, bleach (is not recommended at all)...there are many
different types of cleaners that people use but this is the one that I prefer...(Pee-Off)
and it is derived from soybean extract (so it's natural), it does not have a strong smell
- like, it doesn't smell like a really strong air freshener or something like that, because
again - cats have very sensitive noses and if it smells too strong or perfumey, it's
going to turn them off and they're going to avoid the area, so you don't want to do that
because this is their litter box area and I would really like them to use their litter
box.
So, this also has mild surfactant - which is like a soap (but not like, dish soap or
something) it's just a little bit, a mild scent, it also has an antibacterial and anti-fungal
agent which is safe for people and for pets, it's been tested....besides, you're not leaving
it on, like you're not making a swimming pool out of it...you are going to clean it, going
to wipe it up.
SO what I'm going to do...because this is a hard surface I don't have to use as much
as if it were (for instance) their carpeted cat tree.
If THAT had been peed on, you definitely would want to soak the area very well, let it completely
soak in, blot it up, re-apply...it takes longer for soft surfaces because they're porous.
Now, I'm using a hard surface here which is concrete that's covered with a tarp.
So this is going to be a little easier for me.
So all I'm going to do is, I'm going to spray the area liberally, that I know that they've
peed on (even though I can't see any urine they can probably smell it) then I'm going
to take some fresh paper towels and I'm going to clean it completely, I'm going to throw
the paper towels away RIGHT AWAY because the smell of the urine might attract them to do
something that they shouldn't so...You can see the kittens are outside...in their little
enclosure.
They're playing while I'm working; that's normal.
I'm going to put down fresh newspapers and now they have a clean litter area, so
we can continue with their litter box training.
So once again, very important to keep the area VERY clean.
All cats like a clean litter box area - they don't want smells, like pee & poop smells,
they also don't want smells like perfumey smells that either are from scented litter
or some air freshener or something else that you've got around - that you maybe think smells
good but they don't.
So you got to keep it really clean, very neutral, and just in case you didn't notice, in MY
case, because I have very young kittens here, I'm actually using a pine based litter which
is - this is very clean, this is not a used litter box (so don't be like "ew, that's gross").
You can see that it's a very fine texture, it does clump but unlike a clumping clay (which
if the dust gets on their little feet and they lick it, it can cause some problems inside
them) this stuff is considered to be safer for little kittens, so that's why I do not
use a clay, I use a pine-based litter for the kittens.
And it smells really nice.
It smells like fresh wood, you know, like the lumber store.
So it's quite nice.
I'm usually in here three or four times a day to check to see if they went in the box
and then I clean it, and I clean out the ENTIRE box, all fresh litter and I also use this
(Pee-Off) to clean the litter box about once a week to keep it really really clean and
odor free.
And that's the best thing that you can do when you are litter training kittens.
Just keep it clean, keep it 'friendly' (cat-friendly), keep everything at the right level for them (don't
use too big of a litterbox, they have a hard time climbing in and out of), keep the litter
not too deep, not too shallow, be sure it's very clean for them, easy for them to use
and if they make a mistake and they miss the litter box...don't get mad at them, they won't
understand what the problem is anyway...you kind of have to think the way that they think,
and just do your best.
And enjoy them....because they won't stay kittens forever - they grow up so fast!
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