Millie fans and cat experts, I need your advice.
As you know, Millie has a small litter box in "her" room. Since she also uses the big cat litter box in the bathroom (right next door), I was planning to remove her personal one this weekend. She still hisses at the big cats, and they still hiss at her. She is comfortable in my presence, as long as she doesn't think I will try to touch her.
What do you think? Should I remove her litter box and make her use the one in the bathroom, or wait another week? Here's a picture of the bathroom, so you can see the setup, if that is any help.
Thanks,
-- the Lady.
16 comments:
I asked Bob what he thought and he said he would stick with 2 litter boxes. There are 5 cats in our family and we have 3 litter boxes. Comes in handy if more than one of us has to go.
I would move her litter box in with the other one. The hissing will probably stop soon. Whenever I get a new kitty, I usually put the new on in a seperate room for one day, then put all of the kitties in the same room for the next few days, after about the 3rd day, the hissing stops.
I'll agree with Bob and Frostin on the basis of the number of cats in the house.
And I remember when I was keeping my two separate because the little girl went into heat before I expected it... I set up a smaller pan in my room where she was being isolated. Every once in a while I find evidence that they've used that same corner again even though there hasn't been a pan there for about 6 months... blech... Thank goodness for Odoban.
And yes, the hissing will probably end soon. They'er probably just establishing their hierarchy and boundaries. And since Millie had such a rough start to her life to begin with, it would make sense for her to still be self-protective.
The "rule" is one box per cat plus one extra. I have a nice sized basement and I have the space to be able to do that. If you can only fit one box be sure to keep it super clean (I have no doubt in my mind that you do!!) and keep the extra box, or put another large one where her's is now. If you don't like it being out in the open you can camoflage it...a neighbor put one under a table and draped a pretty tablecloth over it with just the entrance showing near the wall. Also Drs. Foster & Smith has some box hiders at their website. I personally think you should have more than one box for three cats. sss's mom
I agree with Frostin and SS&S. The more cats you have, the more litter boxes you need. We only have one in this house for both Isis and I, and it works well since the human pet is pretty good about cleaning it regularly.
We have 2 large litter boxes for 4 cats but one of them gets used a lot more than the other one is. Sometimes it's not even touched while the other one is pretty full so I try to clean them at least 3 times a day. However I think you should keep the 2 boxes for your 3 cats for now. If nobody uses the small box after a week, THEN you can remove it.
Linda
Thanks so much! I knew you'd all come through. Great suggestions and things I'd never considered, like the number of cats and litterbox ratio. I think I'll move the little litter box into the bathroom. That way only one place in the house will be messy, but there will still be an adequate number of litterboxes.
Lynne
I would wait. She is a ladie and needs her own kitty box. :) ~Merlin, shadow, Ko KO
Hmmmm...while I am certainly not an expert, I have to wonder if maybe sharing a box will help Millie assimilate with the rest of the family. Right now, there is lots of hissing and carrying on, but I wonder if getting all of the cats accustomed to each others smells might help. Sharing a litterbox might help accomplish this. Not sure.
My cat magazine advocates one litter box for each cat, and one extra! I have to say that for one cat, I have two litter trays, next to each other, which means if I have to be out all day, the single tray doesn't get over-used. I think taking Millie's tray away could be a "backward step".
This doesn't have to do with your post, but I just caught Bob at www.kittenwar.com and I thought I would suggest telling your mommy to upload a pic of you there.
Tell her Bob said to be careful because the site is addictive.
Yea, I would certainly keep the 2 litter boxes. You don't want to disrupt things just when she is starting to feel at home. And 1 box is not enough for 3 cats.
We're going to stay with two litterboxes. Thanks for all the very helpful information.
For 3 cats, 2 litter boxes is a better idea. It's a good sign that they're sharing a bit, but there could be conflicts if all 3 were sharing only one box.
Sorry for the delay in answering the litterbox question. At this point I'd keep it, not only for Millie but with a multiple cat household, you should have more than 1 anyway. For the time being until she's more confident, I'd keep her box separate.
Crews' Mom
Let Millie keep her own litter box. If she's frightened of the big cats, she may need her own. If you take it away, who knows where she will go....
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