Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Vol. 37 No. 2 (2019)

Articles

Bed attractiveness in cat litter boxes

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24326/jasbb.2019.2.2
Submitted: August 2, 2019
Published: 2019-12-16

Abstract

An issue many owners have to face is the improper use of a litter box. Miction and defecation outside the litter box are among the ten most often quoted reasons for cats returning to shelters. The basic characteristics of a litter box are its size, construction, localization, availability, smell, cleanliness and bed. The zoological market offers many types of litter, but not all of them seem appropriate. The aim of this paper is to estimate cats’ preferences concerning two types of bed. The observations were carried out in an animal shelter on two groups of cats (neutered and non-neutereed) during two day sessions and two night sessions. The number of mictions and defecations was registered for boxes,wchich differed in the type of bed used. In both groups, the mean number of mictions and defecations in the boxes with bentonite litter was larger than that in boxes with wooden pellet.

References

  1. Barcelos A.M., McPeake K., Affenzeller N., Mills D.S., 2018. Common risk factory for urinary house soiling (periuria) in cats and its differentiation: The sensitivity and specificity of common diagnostics signs. Front. Vet. Sci. 5(108), 1–12.
  2. Bradshaw J., 2018. Normal feline behaviour... and why problem behaviours develop. J. Feline Med. Surg. 20, 411–421.
  3. Cottam N., Dodman N.H., 2007. Effect of anodor eliminator on feline litter box behaviour. J. Feline Med. Surg. 9, 44e50.
  4. Ellis J.J., McGowan R.T.S., Martin F., 2017. Does previous use affect litter box appeal in multi-cat households? Behav. Processes 141, 284–290.
  5. Heath S., 2019. Common feline problem behaviours. Unacceptable indor elimination. J. Feline Med. Surg. 21, 199–208.
  6. Herron M.E., 2010. Advances in Understanding and Treatment of Feline Inappropriate Elimination. Topics Companion Anim. Med. 25(4), 195–202.
  7. McGowan R.T.S., Ellis J.J., Bensky M.K., Martin F., 2017. The ins and outs of the litterbox: A detailed ethogram of cat elimination behavior in two kontrasting environments. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 194, 67–78.
  8. Neilson J., 2004. Thinking outside the box: feline elimination. J. Feline Med. Surg. 6, 5–11.
  9. Ramos D., Reche-Junior A., Mills D.S., Fragoso P.L., Daniel A.G.T., Freitas M.F., Cortopassi S.G., Patricio G., 2018. A closer look at the health of cats showing urinary house-soiling (peri-uria): a case-control study. J. Feline Med. Surg., https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X18801034

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >> 

Similar Articles

1 2 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.