You set out to just put out something definitive
about litter boxes and sort of Litter Box Etiquette 101.
And it's just like the Alice in Wonderland
rabbit hole just like filled with poop instead,
because you're just constantly digging and digging
and digging.
There's more stuff.
OK.
Well, we're going to continue, because there is never
a last word on litter boxes.
Let's catify the world.
Come on.
So the last time we were talking about really Litter Box
101, things you may not have known about the way
your cat sees their territory vis-a-vis their litter boxes
and what you can do to help secure their territory,
make it more appropriate for them to use a litter box,
and at the end of the day make you happy.
Let's have some general rules on board here.
Number one, that old adage is actually right.
If you have two cats, you want two boxes, plus one, three
boxes.
Three cats, four boxes.
One cat, two boxes.
That makes sure that the cats can territorially
identify the entire home, so put those boxes out.
That leads me to the next thing.
Put them out.
I don't want to see you saying to me,
I have three litter boxes, Jackson, just like you said.
And all three of those boxes are side
by side in a corner in the garage.
You have to put them in places that
are-- don't kill me-- socially important places.
How many people have said this, cats want privacy?
Hmm.
So you're saying that your cat wants
to go into a cabinet that's disguised as a litter box.
That's ridiculous.
If your cat had it her way, she would
be outside pooping and peeing in a bush right
outside your door to mark that territory.
She doesn't need privacy.
You do.
You don't want to be taking a look at your cat pee
and pooping around the house.
And what happens then, you'll put them in the mud room.
You'll put them behind the washing machine.
You'll put them under the car in the garage.
You'll put them where you don't have to look at them.
And folks, I am telling you, if you want to solve litter box
problems in your home, make the opposite choice
that your aesthetic it is telling you to make.
If cat is insecure and marking certain areas because they
don't feel secure about that area, putting a litter box
there is really important, because at the very least
you can praise them for doing something right,
as opposed to damning them for doing something wrong.
And the next thing is, I put a little box in the dining
room or the living room or my bedroom,
just like you asked me to do.
I resent the hell out of it.
But I did it.
What's the next thing you do?
You plug in air fresheners around the thing.
You deodorize the hell out of that litter box.
That drives cats away.
So no plug-in deodorizers, no sprinkle-on deodorizers.
I don't really believe in scented litter at all.
If you consistently scoop your cat's stuff out of the litter
box, you're not going to have to worry about that smell.
Now I want to bring up one more thing
about preventing litter box problems.
Catification is a big thing.
What is catification?
We've talked about this one before.
It is environmental enrichment for cats,
but also environmental enrichment
that doesn't preclude your aesthetic sense.
Yes, you can have things that work for your cats
and work for you the same time.
So let's take for instance, the litter box
that everybody seems to have.
It's a litter box where you've got a big hood on it.
And then what you do is you take the opening to the hood
and you face it to the wall, because for some reason
humans do not like looking at litter.
Wherever they go in, they got to know they can get out again.
There has got to be an escape route.
So if they are in that litter box with that hole facing
the wall and another cat or a dog or a child
comes up behind them, they're surely
not going to go back to a box where
they get ambushed and cornered.
So when you're looking at litter boxes
and how you place them around the house,
you've got to make sure your cats have exit routes
everywhere.
A lot of cats have almost a post-traumatic stress reaction
to the litter box where either they
were ambushed by another cat or it used to hurt to pee there.
And what you're going to need to do
is start collecting litter boxes that look and feel
and nothing like the litter box that you've
been using, just because we can build a new association.
Does that mean get rid of the old one?
No.
It means add another one.
If you have a big, square, deep box,
you go for something very shallow, something round,
a different type of litter altogether.
And you put it around the house, let
them choose where I want to go, what kind of litter I prefer,
what's the depth I like.
And then you can slowly start replacing the boxes that
were offensive to your cat to begin with.
There's so much more to talk about.
But here's the exciting part.
I don't think there's any way we can encapsulate this all
and me just talking to a camera and talking
to you through my camera.
I think it's time to bring you into it.
So the next time we have a Google Hangout,
which is coming up really soon, we're
going to take the questions that most are asking.
And I know I'm missing something.
And you're going to fill me in on what I'm missing.
So down in the comments section below,
start writing your questions for me.
I want them to be in general.
I don't want to hear, I have cat who dot, dot, dot,
because the question is going to be this long.
And I've got to tell you, folks, it's not going to read.
I want to have questions that everybody can relate to.
And I will try to answer them all.
And then, if you actually watch the description below,
it'll give you instructions on how
to get involved with the Hangout, how you and me can go
a little mano a mano live in front of everybody
through the magic of Google and hanging out.
You can find me on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube.
Obviously, you found me there.
My website, jacksongalaxy.com.
You can find me just about in any of the social media
nooks and crannies and find out when that Hangout is happening,
and also when we've got new "My Cat From Hell,"
which, by the way, August 23rd, new episodes
of "My Cat From Hell," season five.
Until the next time we talk, just
keep your head in the litter box and keep your hands out
of the litter box.
Think inside the box.
Think outside the box.
Just get more boxes.
How about that?
All light.
All love.
All mojo to you.
I'll talk to you soon.
Love you.
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