Overcoming the Worst Household Chore - Cleaning the Litter Box

The cat box is, by far, the worst household chore. I'd rather wash dishes, fold laundry or scrub toilets any day of the week. The reason why it's the worst is because unless you just brought it home from the store, once your cat uses it - it's tainted forever! Over the years, I found a few easy ways to make this task a lot easier to deal with.

Tip 1 - Use a Pan Liner

A pan liner's primary purpose is to keep the litter box from becoming caked and stained with used cat litter. It makes it easier to unload nasty cat litter when it's time to switch out since you just gather the sides and pull it out. The tricky part is making sure your cat's claws don't catch on the liner, pulling it off and making a mess. One way to keep this from happening is to pull the slack tight and secure the excess liner to the outside of the box with blue painters tape.

Tip 2 - Litter Options

There are hundreds of different types of litters available. They all claim to do something different to make your cleaning experience easier. The best I've found so far is Fresh Step Crystals. It uses these crazy little plastic beads to absorb and lock in the cat's urine and petrifies the feces quickly so that you can scoop it without the gooey mess. There's a trick to using this litter optimally and it's outlined on the Fresh Step website.

Tip 3 - Scoop and Sweep on a Schedule

I've gotten a small hand broom and dust pan just for the cat box. I take the lid of the cat box every other day and scoop out the solid waste into a plastic grocery bag saved just for the occasion. Then I do a quick sweep off the surrounding areas. This method used with the cat litter instructions will keep odor non-existent. Then sometime during the weekend, usually when I'm cleaning the floors, I just lift the liner out of the box and replace it with a new one.

Tip 4 - Your Cat's Diet

If your cat's diet is on track, his litter box is going to show it. Typically, cat food specially formulated for indoor cats help reduce cat litter waste. Additionally, some of the higher quality cat foods like Science Diet are considered to be more nutritious. Since they use little to no fillers, they cause your cat to generate less waste. Less waste means less scooping and less offensive odor!