Litter Tray and Going! outside

[Ela]

As others have suggested a  litter tray irrespective of your cats age even if they are allowed out should always be available. If you keep an eye on what your cat is passing, you can spot many problems, e.g, cystitis is very common in cats and needs urgent Veterinary treatment. It is shown up if the cat uses the tray frequently and or, passes blood, something you would never know if you had no tray.
In May last year it was necessary to have Trudie a long term CP cat PTS due to bowel cancer,    I would like to think that Trudie's untimely death has not been in vain as a lesson can be learnt from it, and that is the reason why everyone MUST always provide a litter tray no matter how old the cat and irrespective of the fact that it may go out. So many times I am told oh! I have no need for a litter tray my cat goes out now. Had Trudie no access to a litter tray the cancer would have continued to get the better of her and she would have suffered, she looked purrfectly well and  it looked like there there was no reason to take her to the vets,  the only reason we took her was because I noticed she was going into the tray more frequently than usual and there was blood on most pooos and drops in the tray. None of this would have been noticed had we no tray we don't know what  our little ones are putting in the hole in the garden, do we?

[JackSpratt]

Sorry Claire, I know they're a huge downside to sharing your home with a cat, but they're definately necessary. If you don't have one you aren't giving her the option of toileting indoors during horrible weather and if she really hates how it looks outside, she WILL just pick somewhere to "go" at random!

My cats are indoor/outdoor cats too, but they have three cat litter trays that I clean out daily. (Two of them use them, two go outside. It's all down to choice!)

EDIT: Don't know what the decor of your house is like, but they do "funky" litter trays now, check these out:



[attachment deleted by admin]

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Our weather is really nice at the moment and the big cats are going outside but I always have 2 or 3 trays inside cos when its not nice they will used an inddor one..............I have 4 cats lol and all have access out all the time.

Grrrrrrrrrrr and as i write this Sasa is trying to bring up a fur ball !!

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Many cats who go outdoors prefer to go outside and will hold on until they can get outside, but I do agree with providing a litter tray indoors too just in case.  It then gives them the option of using the tray if the weather's bad or something happens outside (eg confrontation with another cat that makes them fearful of toileting outside).  If they don't use it then you just don't have to clean it much!

[Debbie]

A lot of cat owners keep their pets in overnight which is where TS was coming from.  If there is no litter tray because you had cleared it away, it would be v comfortable for the cat to have to wait until morning.  It was not clear in your first post that your cat has outdoor access 24/7.

My cat seems to hardly ever use his now he goes outside a lot more.  I do still keep one there for him, tucked away in a corner as he stays in overnight.  I think sometimes he holds out, as he prefers to go 'al fresco' than use it but he has the option 

[ClaireC]

Ok thanks for you help.  However we dont shut her in at all so she always has access to outside.  So my answer to your 'how would I like to be told I could go to the loo?' would be that we dont do that to her at all.

[Team Svartalfheims]

You should always have a litter tray inside. If the weather is bad she won't want to go outside, if she's poorly and needs the toilet quickly then she needs access to a tray and overnight when she is shut in if she needs to go to the toilet and there's no tray  then she can't, how would you like someone telling you you couldnt go to the loo between say 8pm and 7am?. Litter tray contents can be the first sign that something is wrong so please keep one in the house. Maybe have one of the special outdoor litter trays for in the garden for her as well.

[ClaireC]

Hi

Our nearly 1 year old (I can't believe it!) is now doing her business outside.  We still have the litter tray inside as it was but she never uses it now (we are almost certain as there is never anything in it not even wet).  Is there any good way of checking that she isnt still dependent on it or just a case of clearing it away and seeing if anything unusual happens?

Thanks in advance