Outside Cat Litter

[EvianBaby]

My cat always used to do his business outside, hardly ever used his tray but the garden in my new house is half decking and half gravel so there's nowhere for him to go really and so I'm getting through a ridiculous amount of cat litter.

I was thinking of getting some shallow planters to put around the edge of the garden and hide them in between pot plants but can anyone suggest someone I could use to fill them with that he would want to use to poo in? I don't think oridinary litter would last too well in rain.

On a similar note - if I sprinkled some of his used (just wee) litter around the edge of the garden, would that deter other cats from coming in?

[woofgang]

thinking of my garden and where the cats used to go, ordinary sandy garden soil seems to be a favourite.

[rowanwitch]

oh cats love to poo in gravel it will become one big litter tray if you are not careful

[ummmm]

How's he settled in?

How fine is the gravel? I'm surprised if he wouldn't use that. Once he's used to his area he'll just do it in someone else's garden...

[ladybirder]

Don't worry, he'll soon find another garden to do it in:-(

How much cat litter are you getting through then EB?

[EvianBaby]

Oh sorry, I meant to say I don't really want to use soil or it'll just end up trampled around the house.

He doesn't even like walking on the gravel Rowan. Woos.

[EvianBaby]

He's getting on pretty well thanks Ummmm. Spent the past two nights just lounging around in the garden so he seems pretty happy.

The gravel is quite large so that's probably why he doesn't want to use it.

I'm getting trough a couple of bags of littler a week. He has a habit of not being able to poo in one neat little pile that I can just get rid of so it goes all over the place and stinks, which means I have to replace the whole tray.

[EvianBaby]

Ha, just realised I asked for someone I could fill them with. I'm not after corpses, honestly!

[rowanwitch]

try a different litter... and go back to scooping the wood based ones are good for odour control

[EvianBaby]

It's not the litter, it's just him. I do use a de-odorising powder but somtimes what he creates is just gross.

[ladybirder]

But what size bags are you using? I make a special trip to buy my cat litter from Asda, a 20litre bag costs about £5.60 for Bob Martins Stay Fresh Clumping cat litter. With one almost always indoors cat it lasts 6-8 weeks or more. When Maggie does a poo I just get toilet paper and lift it out immediately and flush it down the loo. I know this doesn't answer your question but it might be a solution while you find a permanent answer.

[woofgang]

I wouldn't use clumping outdoors, one shower of rain will set the whole tray.

[EvianBaby]

Couldn't say what size they are without looking. Not huge ones mind. The other problem is he often gets it on the lining bag which I try to wipe off so I don't need to get rid of the entire lot.

What about wood chippings outside?

[Kiki-frog]

I'm glad moggie's settling in so well, Evian. Re the litter, I don't think any of them will last long in rain to be honest. I'm wondering if you could construct some sort of covering to go over the tray. (You can get enclosed litter trays but they are very expensive.) Alternatively, perhaps you could mix your usual litter with some of the gravel, so it doesn't feel too weird for him

I've heard other people use cat litter to mark the edge of the garden successfully. I tried it with Basil when we moved house, but the local cats seemed to see it as a challenge and there were a few punch-ups before they sorted out their territory. I guess it all depends on the cats personalities.

[THEMOTLEY1]

"Outside cat litter"

surely they call that Flowerbeds?

[ladybirder]

Woof I wasn't suggesting it should be used outside. Might get his bum stuck in it.

[EvianBaby]

Yeah, I looked at the enclosed ones in Pets at Home this morning and I just can't afford to spend that much money on that sort of thing at the moment, especially when I'm not sure he'd actually use it. Maybe I'll give your suggestion of mixing a bit of gravel and litter together a try.

Thanks for answering about spreading the used littler too. After I discovered the other cat in my kitchen eating my cats food yesterday morning. I don't want to be feeding the rest of the neighbours cats too.