| One major problem you encounter as a cat | | | | cleaning ones, are not so flexible. Since |
| owner involves your cat's use (or non-use) of | | | | they are self cleaning, they are not designed |
| her litter box. | | | | to be picked up, and are generally |
| | | | constructed of several smaller, harder, |
| This is probably one of the most frustrating | | | | plastic parts. |
| issues that arise in caring for your new cat. | | | | |
| You buy a litter box, often an expensive one, | | | | Hard plastics are formed in molds (forms into |
| fill it with good quality litter, and then | | | | which the plastic is poured, where it hardens |
| find your cat defecating or urinating | | | | and takes shape). The molds are first coated |
| somewhere else in the house. Even more | | | | with a "mold release" agent to enable the |
| frustrating is when you discover that your | | | | removal of the plastic part from the mold - |
| cat "does her business" near the litter box, | | | | otherwise it would stick to it and stay |
| but not in it. | | | | there. |
| | | | |
| You have, of course, taken your cat to the | | | | Both materials - the plasticizer and the mold |
| vet who has pronounced her "healthy". So, | | | | release agent- remain as a residue on (or in) |
| you've ruled out any physical ailment. You've | | | | the plastic. And both materials can "outgas", |
| changed the litter; you've cleaned the box. | | | | that is, be released into the air, |
| You've made sure no other cat is going in her | | | | immediately after your litter box has been |
| box. | | | | manufactured, and, in the cases of flexible |
| | | | plastics, from then on. |
| And yet, she's still doing it - you still | | | | |
| have problems: | | | | Even though you can't smell anything... |
| | | | |
| · your cat is going somewhere else in the | | | | So, if you've tried everything to induce your |
| house | | | | cat to "go" in her litter box and nothing has |
| | | | worked, could it be that your cat is |
| · your cat is going next to the litter box | | | | sensitive to the plasticizers or the mold |
| | | | release agents used in the manufacture of her |
| · your cat is going half in and half out | | | | litter box? Even though you can't smell |
| | | | anything, maybe your cat can. |
| The last possibility can often be solved by | | | | |
| getting a larger box: something resembling a | | | | Plastic is basically an unnatural material. |
| tub that your cat can still get into and out | | | | It wasn't found in nature before Man arrived |
| of without too much trouble but will confine | | | | and started making disposable food containers |
| the scat (not the cat) to the tub. | | | | and litter boxes, and it wasn't a factor in |
| | | | the evolution of cats. |
| But the first two difficulties often remain. | | | | |
| | | | Maybe your cat is sensitive to it, and is |
| The Invisible Culprit | | | | making you aware of that fact by defecating |
| | | | somewhere else, far from this source of |
| What could be the problem? I'd like to pose a | | | | annoyance. Or maybe the plastic is triggering |
| possible answer in one word: plastic. | | | | some unnatural behavior in your cat, causing |
| | | | her to defecate half in and half out. |
| Most litter boxes, no matter how elaborate or | | | | |
| expensive, are made of one plastic or | | | | Don't tell your guests... |
| another. | | | | |
| | | | Try changing the material of the litter box. |
| Plastics are polymers...huge molecules made | | | | Try a glass litter box. |
| by chemically "stringing together" smaller | | | | |
| molecular units. Sometimes the units are all | | | | But, you say, there aren't any glass litter |
| identical, sometimes they vary in composition | | | | boxes for sale! Where can I get one? |
| and recur with some regularity. However all | | | | |
| plastics are "organic" compounds. | | | | I went to glass some time ago by converting a |
| | | | shallow baking dish into a litter box. My |
| In case you've forgotten your high school | | | | wife used it for baking scalloped potatoes, |
| chemistry, organic compounds are primarily | | | | and I unwittingly grabbed it for a different |
| made up of Carbon and Hydrogen, sometimes | | | | use, much to her...uh...displeasure. |
| with other elements such as Nitrogen, | | | | |
| Phosphorous or Sulfur thrown in. | | | | Granted, a baking dish is shallow and the |
| | | | litter is easily thrown out by a digging cat, |
| The plastics used in constructing most cheap | | | | but I place newspaper under it (not a plastic |
| cat litter boxes are relatively flexible - | | | | mat), to catch the thrown litter. I've owned |
| they can be easily bent. When you pick yours | | | | two cats in succession now, and neither has |
| up to clean it, you'll find it bending as you | | | | had a problem "doing their deed" somewhere |
| carry it out the door. It's composed of a | | | | else. |
| flexible plastic. | | | | |
| | | | So try it. Of course it goes without saying |
| Flexible plastics are made that way by the | | | | that once you convert the baking dish into a |
| addition of what's termed "plasticizers". | | | | litter box, it's the end of using it to cook |
| Plasticizers are small organic molecules, | | | | scalloped potatoes for your guests when they |
| usually phthalate esters that are added to | | | | come over for dinner. |
| the polymer to increase its flexibility. | | | | |
| | | | Or, at least, it's a good idea that, after |
| Other litter boxes, particularly the self | | | | they've eaten, to keep that fact to yourself. |