How to save the house-soiling cat from abandonment or euthanasia

Abstract

Optimal litter box facilities encourage the cat to always use the litter box for elimination.

The Behavioural Impact on Cats during a Transition from a Clay-Based Litter to a Plant-Based Litter

“…Eliminations outside of the litter box were minimal in this study, but as the cats' history of litter box use was unknown, this group of subjects could have been more resilient to litter product changes [21,23]. Gradual changes allow cats to adapt to their surroundings [3,18], and because of minimal urination outside the litterbox, the 6-day transition period in the present study was deemed appropriate [3,9,18]. However, nervous or easily stressed cats may require a longer time to transition than more resilient cats.…”

“…The results of the present study support the notion that when a new litter substrate is offered for investigation prior to removal of an old litter and the old litter is removed over the recommended duration of time (6 days) that cats do not significantly change their behaviour related to litter box use, aside from sniffing behaviour. Current recommendations by litter companies as well as the AAFP and ISFM suggest transitioning cats from one litter to another litter product over 6 days to minimize the stress on the cat and limit neophobic behaviour [3,[15][16][17][18]. It may be also recommended to allow investigation of new litters prior to litter change, but this requires further investigation.…”

“…Prior experience of the cats with clay litter may have influenced their preferences when comparing CLAY litter to PLANT [18], which is primarily why this was not specifically examined in this study. As the cats were originally offered both PLANT and CLAY during acclimation to the environment, it is unlikely that they did interact with the PLANT litter as a result of novelty.…”

“…To assist cats coping with a change in litter product, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) recommend a transition period of 6 days from the old cat litter product to the new cat litter product [13][14][15][16]. However, this recommendation is based on anecdotal reports examining cat behaviour to determine the length of litter transition needed, and there remains a dearth of data-driven support for these recommendations [3,[15][16][17][18].…”