Thursday, January 30, 2014

Back on the Litter Box Track with #PreciousCat



Hi everyone, Katie here.

We all know there are far too many cats in shelters, just hoping for chance at a true forever home. It’s particularly heartbreaking to hear about cats who’ve been surrendered to shelters by their owners. We always want to ask ourselves, “Why?” One of the most common reasons cats are turned over to a shelter, or worse yet abandoned, can be traced back to the litter box.

Dr. Bruce Elsey, the veterinarian behind Precious Cat and their line of revolutionary litter products, understands and empathizes with cats and guardians facing this dilemma and has created solutions to help overcome these behavioral challenges. 



Abused, Abandoned & Shelter Bound
Wow. Just that headline is chilling. According to Dr. Elsey, “Over nine million cats suffer from Litter Box Aversion. In fact, it’s the #1 behavioral reason cats are abused, abandoned and placed in shelters.” 

Because of this, Dr. Elsey knew he just had to come up with a litter formulation that would be more acceptable to cats, especially those with litter box problems. Working with local shelters and using his own clinic for testing, he created and fine tuned a litter formulation called Cat Attract that's been incredibly successful and well received.  His goal and the company’s mission is to provide products that help cats live happier, healthier lives in a home, not a shelter. 



Stress & Change
Waffles and I are no strangers to stress. A change in environment, including a NEW HOUSEMATE (i.e. Waffles,) can be a game changer for cats that have never strayed from their litter box before. 

As with any problem or concern, it's important to first rule out underlying medical conditions that may be a contributing factor. The good news is that many litter box problems do not involve a medical condition at all, instead, it's all about behavior. This is exactly what the Precious Cat's products are intended to help with. Dr. Elsey has some super-smart tips for EVERYONE's litter box.




Seven Tips for Getting Cats Back on the Litter Box Track:
#1  Keep it Clean
This means daily scooping! Everyday. 

#2  Big is Beautiful
The litter box needs to be large enough, in fact it sould be 1.5X the lengh of the cat so he or she can easily turn around in it. 

#3  Do the Math: 1 + 1 = 3??? 
The magic number is one litter box per cat plus one extra. We’re a two cat townhouse here. That means one for me, one for Waffles,  plus one extra for good measure.

#4  Plastic Isn't Forever
A plastic litter box can eventually pick up an odor that cats may find objectionable and subsequently they can develop an aversion to it. If you use plastic, just remember it might have an expiration date.

#5  Location, Location, Location
Position litter boxes in quiet, safe places. Not next to noisy washing machines and rumbling furnace rooms. They should also be kept separate from eating and sleeping areas. It seems like common sense...after all, when's the last time you saw your human host a dinner party in the bathroom? Surely they wouldn't want to curl up in there with their pillow and blanket either. So why should we?

#6  Go Topless
Most cats prefer an open top litter box as opposed to closed styles.

#7  Food Matters
When it comes to health, Dr. Elsey promotes canned food. This will dramatically increase the amount of water a cat gets each day and in turn can cut back on the incidence of urinary issues. …which can also lead to trouble at the litter box.



About Dr. Elsey
Dr. Bruce Elsey has been a feline only veterinarian for over 30 years and his practice cares for over 8,000 cats. While attending a conference in college, he was inspired by a veterinarian who had a unique cat-only practice. At the time, there were only 13 cat practices in the entire country. In 1978, he opened his first cat-only practice in Denver, CO. He felt it was impotent to focus his skills on one species as a way to become truly knowledgeable. 

Dr. Elsey is a member of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, American Veterinary Medical Association and the Denver Veterinary Medical Association.





COMING SOON!
Waffles and I are going to have an opportunity to try out Precious Cat's Cat Attract litter formula over the course of the next month. We'll be sharing the results of our testing and hosting a cool giveaway, so stay tuned!

Find Dr. Elsey and #PreciousCat on the WEB.
Like them on FACEBOOK too!








This post is sponsored by Precious Cat on behalf of the BlogPaws Blogger Network. We are being compensated for helping spread the word about Precious Cat's Cat Attract formula, but GLOGIRLY only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Precious Cat is not responsible for the content of this article.


36 comments:

  1. We have three litter boxes for four Farm cats but then again there is the Farm so does that count as a fourth?

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  2. This is really good information. Here on the island, we're pretty good with our bathroom habits. So we haven't had a need for Cat Attract...yet. But we wanna say that we LOVE Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat litter. It's the only litter we use. :)

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  3. Is the litterbox pictured in the article a custom creation. I work for a vet with a feline only practice - Feline Behavior Housecalls. This the number one issue we deal with. (Tee hee, number one....get it?)

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  4. The litter box in our photo is made by NVR Miss. It's paws-down our fave. We wrote about it a couple of years ago -

    GLOGIRLY & the NVR Miss Litter Boxl

    : ) Thanks for visiting!

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  5. All this is SO much common sense... too bad so many humans don't have any common sense and need to be told!

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  6. This is a life saver for cats! I've heard it really works. So people can keep their cats and not send them to shelters

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  7. We are transitioning over to Dr. Elsey's as our current litter is too dusty.
    Question - did you buy that litterbox with the cut-out front or did you do that yourself?
    Thank you,
    sandy

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  8. We are transitioning over to Dr. Elsey's as our current litter is too dusty.
    Question - did you buy that litterbox with the cut-out front or did you do that yourself?
    Thank you,
    sandy

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  9. Been using Dr. Elsey's "Senior" litter for over a year now.. perfect for my 23 year old furbaby.. But even the litter box you showed in the article wouldn't work for her.. The opening is too high for her to step over..

    The box that I found that works best for a senior kitty is on amazon: Lucky Champ Litter Pan

    http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Champ-LCPM1S-Litter-Pan/dp/B001Q9EHM6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1391069784&sr=8-3&keywords=litter+box+senior+cat

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  10. Such good advice! So many litter issues could be resolved with a little extra knowledge on the part of peeps. Sounds like this litter is spreading the gospel!

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  11. I just bought some mostly..really really only because I am trying to get rid of the pernicious dust of the others.

    I also have used Precious Cat. However, though it is wonderful and I scoop every day, a urine order starts to sneak out after a few days or so it was in my experience.

    I love the box Waffles is in/on. It's big and unlikely to allow over-spray. Katie had to go to a closed box because of the spray going OVER the edge of the box as she doesn't squat as low as she should.

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  12. Whoops, sorry, Forgot to log out of my account first. This is Katie Isabella's mommy.

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  13. We'll be curious to hear your experience with this, I know we'd love to have something to suggest to people who contact the rescue sometimes.

    pee ess: Waffles, I'm with you on the NVR Miss Litter Box, it's a must for big ol' ginger boys like us!

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  14. some great tips here,Speedy has three one in the kitchen,one in the back bedroom and one in his upstairs den,xx Rachel

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  15. what a great post today!
    That is a chilling title...so sad, and i'm glad you touched on that!
    Love your tips for the litter box also! Thanks for sharing!
    I'm also anxious to find out what the litter is like you will be testing out :)
    ((husky hugz frum da pack))

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  16. Great advice! Sometimes you need to break it down for the humans so they can understand. We're pretty good with our bathroom habits (except for the occasional clinging poops on Chloe's fluffy tushie - MOL). We just don't understand how someone could give up their furbabies over litterbox issues. Guess it's a good thing that Dr. Elsey has made this terrific litter!

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  17. There's a lot of good advice here. I have met many cats who were brought to PAWS because their people weren't willing to explore every possibility in getting their cats back on track- litter box wise.
    I've also seen cats who were prevented from getting to the box by more aggressive cats. It can take some detective work and creativity to solve these problems.
    One cat who was prevented from using the box by another cat ended up peeing in the basement. The people put him in a cage in the basement for three months before surrendering him at the shelter. Fortunately this very sweet and gentle cat was adopted by a good family within a few months.

    Imagine if people brought children to orphanages because they wet their beds! They would be in serious legal difficulties.

    OK. I'm done preaching now.
    xxoo
    Maggie

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  18. We would like to add one more--use unscented litter! Cats have sensitive noses and don't need scents or perfumes in their boxes.

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  19. Bravo! This is the best one so far! I have a tough act to follow. HAH! That litter box looks like a bathtub! TW’s Aunt uses the Cat Attract with success.

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  20. @Rene
    That is a PAWSOME suggestion. You're absolutely right. In fact a cat's sense of smell is about 14X that of a humans. So just imagine what that scented litter smells like to us CATS!!!

    : ) Katie

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  21. @Maggie
    We are so glad you left your comment today. We know you see some heartbreaking situations first hand with the work you do for PAWS.

    We love your analogy. And if your comment helps just one person to save a cats life, that is an amazing and beautiful thing.

    xo

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  22. Love your litterbox. Now I gotta get mom's plastic card and order some of them. EK's one of those that aims high sometimes. Ewwwwwww. Life with an orange menace.

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  23. Great post today. We only have two litter boxes and Mom Paula needs to move one of them to another room because it's in the main room of the house. Wish us luck!

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  24. That is good information and we had not thought about plastic boxes having an expiration date. We will need to think about retiring the one we have for a new one.

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  25. The dust & the scents are the major reasons I've been litter hopping, trying to find something better - I'm cursed with Super Sniffer Disorder :-(
    We have 2 boxes, 1 they use only to pee in, 1 only to poop, and they came up with this arrangement themselves, so I'm wondering if adding a third would confuse the issue and actually *cause* problems?
    Sidenote: A few years back I asked MouseSpouse why he had quit drinking 15 years before we married. He said if I really wanted to know he would show me. I learned a lot that night. But the 1 thing I'll never forget is him using the cats' litterbox because, "I wanted to see what it's like to be a cat." So Gloman, it's ok if you have your own box.
    ~Vicat

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  26. We have two litter box that we used when we were kittens, and that we use now once a year, and a big field outside. Mum checks and cleans it regularly anyway. Purrs

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  27. Great tips! Unfortunately, a family member's cat had to go to the shelter for litter box issues just about a year ago. Very sad and wish there was more that I could have done.

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  28. I LOVE CAT ATTRACT!!!
    I hope you have a giveaway and I WIN! This is the litter that mommy can't afford all of the time!
    It is soo soft on your toesies!!!

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  29. Sounds like a great product. Back when I used to have cats, I noticed how easy it was for them to get stressed out from change. One of my cats stopped using the litter box and started using the toilet! I didn't mind, but it did freak me out a bit when I thought I was home alone and heard someone peeing in the bathroom. :D

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  30. We do OK, but mum sometimes skips a day with scooping.

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  31. Hi Katie and Waffles!!

    I actually know Dr. Elsey. The Mom used to take me to his practice before he went to a different one. He is a nice man and he used to wear ties with birds on them. It didn't make me like him any better though, MOL!

    Anyway, great tips! We hope you like the Cat Attract. We'll be interested to see what you think of it.

    Purrs,
    Milita

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  32. Great points. I hope that the people who really need to know will see this post.

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  33. Pawsome post! I once worked with a woman who had a young cat that was eliminating in the middle of the floor of her small apartment. She put him to sleep. Said there was nothing she could do to change his behavior. I locked myself in my office and cried, and never spoke to her again. I've never forgotten that I couldn't help save that kitty.
    Now with all the knowledge available to us, and great products developed by caring vets like Dr. Elsey, there are alternatives to discuss.
    The litter box you show in the photo is fantastic and I want to try one. With 5 Squeedunk cats, we need good litter box options!
    Thanks, Glogirly, Katie and Waffles. We hope this information is shared all over the internet!!

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  34. Shh, me has had occasional litter box problems, but now me is ok. Even with the extra stress of Jo-Jo me has not had any problems. This product sounds great, mes can't wait to has yous tell us more.
    Kisses
    Nellie

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  35. Mommy just ordered some of this as a couple of us have been having some stress incontinence. Really hoping it works. Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette

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  36. Love this post! I'm sad when I am at my shelter and a cat has a sticker for "house-soiling" but I am encouraged by more posts like this talking about the importance of the cat potty and all that goes with it. So many issues can be avoided or corrected! PS The photos in this post are beautiful too!!!

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