Big Hairy Feet
Posted by terrepruitt on June 24, 2016
Many of you that have cats probably know that each cat’s litter box habits are different. Well, I am convinced our first cat, Spot, was one of the tidiest cats ever. I mean she didn’t make a mess in the litter box or out. She kept her business off of the sides of the box. In regards to getting out, it was as if she stepped out of the litter box instead of flying out of it with a trail of litter behind her. She also had very tiny paws. They weren’t very hairy. One of our cats, I have written about her huge paws before, has long hair on her feet. The fur goes past the pads and her feet are just huge. I feel that her feet are litter trappers. She goes into the litter box and when she comes out she has a tablespoon of litter trapped in each foot! Ok, perhaps not that much, but a lot! It just comes right on out with her. I do not like stepping on litter. First of all it is grainy, second of all, it is litter. EWWWW! So I was wondering how to try to cut down on the litter that was being tracked all over. I came across this Cat Litter Trapper on Amazon.
Well, it might not be very pretty like the pretty flower carpet I have the litter box sitting on, but it really does cut down on the amount of litter tracked all over. It doesn’t stop it entirely because sometimes I see the cats LAUNCH themselves out of the litter box practically missing the mat entirely. But it does help a lot. As they jump out or even launch themselves, I hear the litter pelting the mat. Then, since it has the holes, it falls down into them and is trapped. Ha. Just like the name. It really is better than having it all over.
When I first got it, for some reason, they were enjoying chewing on it. Their litter box is in the room next to the bedroom so I would go to bed and hear this weird noise. I would get up and one of them would be digging and chewing on it. Again, many of you with cats, know that sometimes it is next to impossible to get a cat to stop doing whatever it is they have their mind set on doing. So, I spritzed it very little with pure citrus. Not enough to make them want to avoid the litter box, but enough to keep them from scratching and chewing on the mat. I think that was just a case of “this is new, I must chew” because after a few days they left it alone and as far as I know, they have not dug at it or chewed on it.
Having two cats makes for a lot more litter mess than one cat, but this litter trapper really helps. If you look at it, you will see that they say it is waterproof so if there are “accidents” it will keep the floor underneath from getting wet . . . I would imagine that is with a pad in between. We don’t have use for it in that capacity yet, but I thought I would mention that for others that might want something like that.
What do you use for your cats? Do your cats track as much litter around as mine do?
Update: July 05, 2016 – I have had to update one of my posts. I have replaced a picture with a pictures of my cats big hairy paw, click here for that!
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
dwoermann said
Terre, Try the pine litter called Feline Pine by Arm and Hammer. We love it. The pellets are bigger than clay litter and they don’t get all over the place.
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terrepruitt said
With the pellets, does it turn to dust when it gets wet? They use the pellets at the cat lounge. I am not sure I like that. Doesn’t seem like I would be able to get all that out (the dust/disingrated pellets). Although, yeah, that would solve the grainy litter problem entirely. I am going to be working at the lounge next month a couple of times. That will give me a better idea about the pellets. Thanks for reminding me of an alternative to examine!
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terrepruitt said
Oooohhhhhh, they have a sifter box. http://allpinelitterbox.com/instructions.htm
Hmmm . . . .something to ponder . . .
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dwoermann said
Yes it disintegrates but it doesn’t go all over. Worth a try anyhow and yes they have a sifter box which I had in China! it’s rad. but if you just use your regular box, once the stuff is broken down, you just throw out the whole thing out and the cat box is squeaky clean! no scraping or anything.
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terrepruitt said
I’ve been looking into it. I like the idea of the sifting litter box, but I like a cover. We have a few pounds of clay litter to get through and I might just try it.
I noticed they have clumping and non-clumping . . . interesting. Which do you use?
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dwoermann said
non clumping. And the sifter box I had did have a cover.
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terrepruitt said
Ok. Thanks. And I will have to look for a sifter box with a cover. The one linked from the Alpine Litter site is cool, but coverless. Still thinking about all this. I mean it is easy for me to switch back and forth if need be, but cats . . . .
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Sarah Ferguson and Choppy said
Oh, this looks excellent – I may have to invest in one for Schooner. He is quite clean, but still, some litter does get all over.
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terrepruitt said
Ya know, I really think our cats are quite clean in regards to their litter box habits, too, but our other cat was really oddly, clean. My friend that used to watch her while we were away said she was oddly clean. These two are GREAT. It is just that there are TWO, so it is twice as much everything. Ya know? And the one’s feet. BIG HAIRY FEET! And I think since there are two, they might tend to use their own corner of the litter box. Ha!
One of my friends commented about using Alpine Litter and I looked into that. Originally I didn’t like the idea because once the pellets get wet the turn to dust and it is impossible to scoop that out. So to me, the cats are walking on dust that is soiled. But with the sifter box that linked from the litter site, the screen is somewhat lifted up from the bottom of the pan and the dust just falls down through. And so the cats are actually walking on the soiled powder. Could eliminate the litter all over all together. I have to continue to think on it though because it would not only be a change for the cats, but my husband too. 🙂
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