When my boys and their two roommates temporarily had a cat residing with them in their college apartment last Fall, I knew the biggest problem for everyone involved would be the litter box issue. One of my sons is quite fastidious and was not especially fond of having a feline taking up residence in the place. (He’s more of a dog person, so cut him some slack!) One of the first things he mentioned was the amount of cat litter that seemed to get everywhere. “There is more of it on the floor and on the furniture than in the litter box,” he would lament.
No, college kids are not notorious for keeping their places spotless, and I knew that introducing a cat into the equation would spell trouble for my out-of-the-ordinary neat-freak kiddo. And it did, and not even a broom, vacuum or even a Roomba could cure what ailed him. Fortunately, the cat made its way to a forever home within a few weeks, and the litter problem became a thing of the past. However, if litter remains a problem in your home, here are a few tips from petfinder.com to reduce the tracking of it throughout your abode:
**Opt for a bulkier or heavier litter. Those clay litters or litters that have larger pieces don’t seem to get stuck in cats’ paws as often as the lighter counterparts. However, you may have a cat that doesn’t take too kindly to switching up his litter. You may have to go through a trial and error phase initially to see what type of litter your cat prefers.
**Purchase one of those litter boxes that have a built-in track pad that traps the litter as soon as your cat walks away from the box. You will just have to remember to clean the track pad when you scoop the box every day, or the excess litter will eventually find its way out onto your floor.
**You can place a mat just outside the box to make clean-up a bit easier. Just dump the mat over the trash can. Yes, we know. Some cats don’t like certain textures, so, again, this will require a bit of trial and error.
**Trim the hair between your cat’s toes regularly. This will help to keep those tiny litter granules from finding a home in there and eventually being tracked around your house. You don’t necessarily have to cut the hair really short; just trimmed enough to be next to the paw pads.
Short of that, you can try potty training your cat like a dog. I know…that is really a joke, but it is something my son seriously considered when temporarily living with that cat! However, I think that would have taken more time and effort than consistently cleaning up the cat litter.
Written by Ann Butenas
An internationally-recognized author and writer, Ann began her professional writing career at age 12 and began speaking while in college. She has been published thousands of times over the past three decades in all media forms, was former editor and publisher of KC Metro Woman magazine, and has also hosted three talk radio shows in the Kansas City area.
