Conference misery::feline_v1

    I did have quite a problem a few years ago when I went out and got
    two such covered boxes.  I got the kind with a changeable charcoal
    filter in the top.  At the time I had 6 kitties using the "facilities",
    and found that each and every one of them, instead of going _in_
    to the box would climb on top of the box and pee on the filter grate.
    You have never smelled *anything* until you smell one of those filters
    when it's saturated with kitty pee!  Needless to say, the tops came
    off in short order. 
    
    Marion  (Mommie to a bunch of brain damaged furries)

We use a closed litter box.  It's a simple molded plastic lid with an opening 
in the front that locks onto the top of the box portion.

All the kitties use it with no problems, and it does lower the mess that they 
can make.   It also is less of an eye sore when you have quests over (assuming 
that the box is not hidden in the basement, etc).

However, they still manage to dump litter out the front!   :^(

    I never could get my cats to tolerate the cover for the litter box;
    I eventually gave up on it.  They would either kick it off the box
    (if they could get it to come loose), or use the area right in front
    of the box on the floor (luckily, this is in the basement).  I guess
    my furries are a couple of exhibitionists!  After a few weeks, they
    won.

    re: original question
    
    I switched about 1/2 year ago to the expensive (but worth it for
    us! -- and they are MUCH cheaper at cat shows!) Booda-Boxes.  These
    are oversized, but their main advantage as far as I am concerned
    (because the cats seem no more and no less pleased than with any
    other covered or uncovered box they've had_) is that there is no
    clear_path_opening for the litter to scatter out the front.  The
    bottom of the box is DEEP.  And the top overhangs it.  Scattering
    of litter is minimal.  I don't know how well the filter on top
    actually works, but activated charcoal IS supposed to be a good
    odor absorbent, so perhaps that does make a difference.
    
    As for cats peeing ON the filter...well they have given you a
    just perfect hint.  Take filter out of top (leaving empty slots),
    and place filter *inside* box *on top of* litter!  ;-)
    
    In place of the regular litter box liners, I use a *large* garbage
    bag:  place box bottom INSIDE bag, pour in litter, secure bag in
    the *rear* with little "tie-thingies."  Time to change litter?
    Simply carefully remove garbage bag by turning it inside out,
    and litter will be inside!  Warning:  if your cats have sharp
    claws, there will be little holes in the bag, so have another
    garbage container waiting right next to it to deposit bag+litter.
    (minimal mess in box to clean!)
    
    	Penelope

    re: .6
    
    Newspaper!!
    
    Great idea!  I'll have to try that.
    
    Actually, Karen, I *am* going to try putting a layer of newspaper
    inside the bag before I pour in the litter.  It should help absorb
    any urine that might have seeped out a claw hole.
    
    Thanks for the idea!
    
    	P

    Let me get this straight - do I put the charcoal filter above or below
    the news paper????
    
    Marion (I'm *so* confused!)

I forgot the smiley face  :^).  I'm not really *that* confused!
    
    Marion
    

    
           YES! Of course!

    I started my two kittens out with a covered litterbox.  Neither of 
    them seem to mind it a bit.  One goes in, the other one watches
    to make sure she does it right and doesn't mess up the box too much.
    :-)                                                     
                                                            
    Tabbatha does do something pretty funny, though.  She waits until
    the last minute before she goes to use the cat box.  All of the
    sudden, she tears through the kitchen (Sounding like a heard of
    elephants.  How can a little kitten make SO MUCH NOISE?)  and stops
    short when she gets to her box in the foyer (The hind legs stop
    after the front ones do.) 
    
    Happy Holidays.
    
    Holly

    re: original question.
    
    We keep our cats litter box in a corner of the bath room.  Every
    time she did a doo-doo she would try to cover it up by scraping
    the walls around her litter box.  This made a mess of the walls.
    She also often missed with her bum hanging over the side of the
    box.  Finally we got a covered box. No more mess!  We love it and
    she doesn't seem to mind it at all.
    
    Suzanne
    
    

    re: .12 and the thundering herd of elephants,
    
    	Who was it who wrote the poem including the line
    
    	"The fog came in on little cat feet" ???
    
    	The author (Frost? Sandburg?) OBVIOUSLY never had a
    	single cat, much less several all thundering around
    	the house like no fog I'VE ever heard!
    
    	;-)

    Re: elephants
    
    I like it when they make racing turns on the hardwood floor.
    

    I should get a litter box cover.  I've tried using the liners but
    Snuggles just seems to make more of a mess by pulling it up and
    then peeing where there is no litter.  Or he'll pull on the sides
    and manage to get half the liner off and go in the unlined part
    of the box.  I've given up.  Now I have to empty the box and wash
    it with disinfectant and sweep half the kittie litter off the bathroom
    floor.  Maybe if I use the newspaper with the liner it will help
    keep Snuggles from pulling up the liner.
    
    Kathy

    	Copy has used a covered litter box from day one at my home.
    The first one, with the entrance in the vertical front, was a bit
    messy (the one time I boarded him, he was proclaimed the messyist
    litterbox user ever). I switched to the box with the carbon filter
    in the top: Much better.  It seems like the litter that got out
    mostly was stuck to his paws.  A chunk of shag carpet around the
    entrance cured most of that. 
    	Then I made the BIG improvement: I put in a cat door.  He's
    only used the litter box once or twice during the past year!
    	So now it's food, water, some affection, and an occasional visit
    to the vet.  'Ray for low maintenence cats!  - Chris
    

    Two of our cats adapted to the covered litter box quite well.  Alex-II
    just wouldn't accept it, even when we bought a second one just for
    him.  He also had trouble keeping his rear end inside the open litter
    box -- a lot of turds found their way to the floor just outside
    the litter box!!
    
    I solved his problem by buying one of those 16-gallon tubs at Spags
    (only $6.99) with relatively high sides (6") and a large interior.  It
    really doesn't use too much extra litter because you can spread it
    quite thin, he has lots of room to find just the right spot to use, and
    it's easier to keep clean.  And although Alex doesn't have the problem,
    it would also help for male cats who tend to stand up as they urinate
    and spray over the sides!
    
    So, the covered litter boxes are the best, but if your cat won't accept
    one, then try a very large high-sided litter box to prevent over-the-
    side misses and messes! 

    
    Where can you get the covered litter boxes. I live in Pepperell
    Ma.
    
    Suzanne
    

    Re:  .19
    
    Suzanne,
    	
    	You can get the covered litter boxes in almost any pet store.
     I don't remember seeing them at the one in Ayer, though.  I got
    mine at Debbi's pet land in one of the malls in New Hampshire. 
    I think the new pet store in Sears Town in Leominster has them.
     (I think Pepperell is somewhat near Leominster, right?)
    
    Holly

    I bought one at Spags.  I also saw them on sale at Zayre recently.