Picture of Litterbox MaintenanceHere are a list of steps to thoroughly clean the kitty litter box and keep things sanitized.

I’ve also included several links at the bottom pointing to some neat ideas to hide the box in some manner.

Cleaning A Litter Box

  • Wear rubber gloves used just for cleaning the cat litter.
  • Dump all the used litter into a garbage bag, tie off and toss immediately.
  • Using very hot, soapy water scrub the litter box with old clean cloths (rags) saved just for this purpose. When done with the cloths, wash separately from the rest of your laundry. Use bleach in the wash.
  • After scrubbing, rinse the litter box well to remove all traces of soap. Fill the box with hot water and 1/4 cup of bleach. Let soak for 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Rinse thoroughly with hot water to remove all traces of bleach.
  • You can either air dry the litter box or wipe it dry with a clean rag used just for this purpose (you can launder with the above scrub cloths).
  • Fill the box with fresh kitty litter and it’s ready to serve its purpose again. You can also line the box with newspaper or a plastic bag first before filling with fresh cat litter, it makes the next cleanup job a little easier.

Clean the litterbox as frequently as needed. Before washings, you can use a scooper to scoop out waste daily, that will keep things fresher longer. If you wait too long between washings though, you may have to implement something like this because the ammonia smell can be overwhelming: litter box ventilation system, lol!

You can keep a “Cat Litter Maintenance Kit” so you have everything ready and in one place. Have a pail or box to hold your rubber gloves and a fresh, clean stack of rags used for cleaning.

Here are a few ideas and products posted on flickr for hiding litter boxes or at least making them fit into your decor nicely:

If possible, keep the litter box out of the kitchen. Good choices are the laundry room, attached garage (if the cat has easy access), mud room, porch or any area of your house that isn’t typically used as a family seating area or gathering place.

If you have a dog in the family that likes to raid the litter box and munch away (gross!), keep the litter box in a spot that the dog can’t get at. Using a covered box is ideal for this, just point the entrance into a corner close enough that the dog can’t get into it. The cat will find her way in no problem.

I prefer the litter boxes that have a cover, they do a good job of containing the smell and do a pretty decent job of keeping all the litter in the box. If you don’t have one and just use a regular box, try one with a cover and see what a difference it makes. Although this might just be the most ideal option of all ;).

If you have problems with your cat “missing” the litter box, check out these cleaning tips.

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