Would like to get a cat - have questions about litter trays and outside access

[PeterPomegranate]

Hello all.

I would like to get a cat and I am a regular lurker on this section of Mumsnet.

My husband originally said no. This is ironic as at heart he’s more of a cat lover than me - he’ll always stop to stroke a cat and speaks fondly of a childhood cat (which sounds like it was feral and lived outside).

But I think he’s coming round. Some remaining sticking points are location of litter trays and outside access.

I have suggested we could have a litter tray in the utility room and in a bathroom. He says it’s horrible having a smelly litter tray where we dry our clothes and not nice in a bathroom either. I have said we could get a tray with a lid. But please tell me how much of an issue the smell and mess is and where you have your litter trays?

In terms of outdoor access, we don’t have a car flap. We have glass doors at the back of the house (installed at great expense last year) and I don’t know if cat flaps can be installed in double glazed glass. And husband would probably find the aesthetics distressing. Is it possible to have a cat that goes outside with no cat flap?

One other thing that occurs - we have a security alarm with room sensors. I did ask the security guy and he said the sensors can be set to avoid floor level for pet owners, but this doesn’t necessarily work for cats as the climb. Any advice or experience of cats and burglar alarms please?

Thank you.

Mine go in and out a window. They are seniors. One is still very athletic but the other is not. There's a chair on the inside by the window and little wooden steps outside it. The athletic one will go out any ground floor window though.

Security alarm - cats leap around, I do not see how you could continue to have that alarm when your cat is there. Maybe consider having cat in some rooms and alarm in others, as a burglar would go everywhere.

Catflap. You cannot install it in your current glass door, it weakens the glass, BUT you can have a single glass panel made by manufacturer with the catflap hole in it, and then get a glazier to swap one of your glass panels for the new panel. Glaziers are used to this request and can sort it all out. Think cost £200 when I did it. If that is a huge problem then the costs of cat ownership may not be for you. An alternative is a builder can put it in your wall, but this costs much more and is rarely a good idea.

Litter tray. Your husband is correct the smell is annoying. The lid helps a lot but does not eliminate it. Worse is that litter gets stuck in their paws and then they scatter it across the sofa when they walk. For this reason I only have litter trays when my cat is poorly. I’ve trained mine to use the garden. When I do have to use m a tray it stays in the least used room (our study). I would not want it in the bathroom.

Cats may also choose to scratch up your furniture. A scratching post helps but doesn’t stop this, it really depends on the cat’s personality. But if you are super houseproud a cat may not be for you (unless an elderly rescue cat, in which case allow £££ for medications as it ages).

Cats are a lot of hassle but SO AWESOME and SO LOVING and SO FUN that you will not care. When things got serious with DH many years ago, I explained that I was falling in love with him, but cats are the love of my life and if he couldn’t deal with having pet cats forever then I was not the right girl for him.

We have cat. DH does not see point of cat. Cat does not see point of DH. They ignore each other. I adore them both and they both love me. 🤷‍♀️

You don't need a cat flap - but cat might like a shelter outside incase her slaves are out when it starts raining.

Cat + burglar alarm - you need pressure sensors for windows and door, and not set the room sensors (or at least not in rooms the cat can get to).

Litter tray - we only have one but I wouldn't dry my clothes in the same space. They aren't messy, but there is an odor for 5-10 mins after a poo has been deposited. Ours is covered, but flap removed, in the utility.

Many cats if they have regular access to outside don’t use litter trays.

They do smell especially if the cat has just done a poo, or you leave urine soaked cat litter for any length of time, so you need to take out poo/clean daily.

It really depends how much you are at home, if lots then going outside and litter tray won’t be a problem. But agree they are good at using windows.

im sure there’re solutions in what type of litter you use and using a covered tray.

Your alarm may have adjustments Ref cat size versus human size settings, or it may be that you will need the alarm turned off for certain rooms.

I understand your concerns as I wanted to foster cats but my husband objected to the potential smell and I just gave up.

We have litter trays in the cupboard under the stairs, which due to the layout of the house we can leave slightly ajar without it being a problem. However if it needed to be shut we could put a catflap in that and close it, which would contain the smells. Agree that they do smell for 10 mins after a poo deposit, and a urine smell can develop if you don’t clean out the litter regularly - we use a clumping litter and declump daily whenever we detect a poo odour. Despite having free access to the outdoors they do use the trays every day.

We do have a catflap but cat sit for a friend who doesn’t, her cat gets let out in the morning and back in at night, but if he doesn’t turn up he sometimes stays out all night, they live a long way from main roads though, so not too much danger of getting run over in the dark. He has a litter tray but rarely uses it.

Our litter tray is in our downstairs utility. He doesn't use it very often though tbh usually only when it rains! We got a catflap last year. We had it installed in our double glazed conservatory door. They removed the panel and replaced it with a glass panel that had the right sized hole cut into it and installed the cat flap for us. Before that we just used to let him out the back door, in summer we let him out before work, in winter we just let him out in the evenings. We always make sure he's in at night x

We have a cat flap in a double glazed glass panel. We had to have the panel specially made but it is definitely doable.

Our burglar alarm has zones in the house so will go off if the front or back door were opened. The cats are too small to trigger it.

We have a litter tray which they very rarely use as they prefer to go outdoors, but we use flushable paper-based litter in any case and it lives in the downstairs loo (I wouldn’t use this litter if the tray was in daily use as I don’t think that would be good for the drains even though it is flushable, but as I literally scoop one wee every few months I’m happy to use it).

If you were thinking of indoor cats… You can keep a pedigree cat as an indoor cat, but moggies generally want to go out and will escape eventually if they are determined to, so that would influence your choice. Plus indoor cats need a lot more stimulation and playtime. My cats are so easy - they get all their fun and games outside and when they come in they just want food, a cuddle and a sleep! You do have to be prepared to clean up rodent entrails though.

My cats go in and out the window, I leave the bedroom window open and they jump on to the porch below from a fence to get in when I'm out.

Once my cats started going outside the litter tray is reserved for poor weather and fire work night and similar events. I have an old raised bed behind the shed in my garden which I dumped their compostable used litter from indoors to make it like an outdoor litter tray that they are fairly good at using.

I have a cat flap fitted in a double glazed floor length window, a specialist came and sorted the whole thing for about £300. No litter tray here since the cats were old enough to go outside.

Mine never had a cat flap or a litre tray after they could go outside. Small window left open and that's that.

If the ct can easily access the tray in your utility room then just have one there kr in the kitchen, again as long as cat has access at all times to it. If you are going to let your cat outside then they will probably do most of their toileting out there. They will go in/out of any access point they fancy and in hot weather this will be easy for you. In winter your cat will make it clear they want to go out by standing by the nearest route outside to where you are and stare at you or meow until you open window/door.

I have a cat flap installed in the safety glass of my back door. I have also had cats without cat flaps. You just need to let them in when they want to come in. Or leave a window open.
litter trays are disgusting in my view and none of my cats would use them anyway once they started going outside. Even the covered ones smell unless emptied very regularly.

2 indoor cats, 3 litter trays. One in downstairs loo, one in utility room (loo is off utility room so basically 2 in there) and one in upstairs bathroom. Poo stinks but is less obnoxious if on a dry food only diet (previous pair of house cats) Occasionally take these 2 into back garden on harnesses but they aren’t bothered.cats have free reign of the house at night (no alarm but as they rarely leave my bed (or barely leave room for me in my own bed!) I doubt it would be an issue if I did have an alarm. I use a clumping litter (Cats Best) from Pets at Home, best one I’ve found so far and other than litter tracking in the rooms the tray is based in, I’ve not had any issues.

Big cat is not using the tray in the photo, he’s waiting for me to finish sweeping the floor so I’ll feed him! Photos are purely to make you all jealous of me 😻

I would 100% recommend a cat flap, as you can then train the cat to go outside and not have a litter box at all. This wouldn't work if the cat had to wait for you to let them in and out.

PP advice on how to get a catflap in the glass door sounds good, but I also have a friend who got a cat flap right through a brick wall so there are plenty of options!

We have 3 cats, DH had never had pets before meeting me and I've never been without a cat. They are the best (despite my ruined stair carpet and sofa arms)

sorry if I’m repeating

Alarm - we have vibration sensors on windows and doors rather than motion sensors. We have one motion sensor on the landing where there’s nothing the cat can jump on

Catflap - You can bore a hole through a wall to put a catflap in (they sell plastic “tunnels” to line the hole so the cat’s not climbing through cut brick!). We did this rather than put a hole in our new glass doors.

Litter tray - Our cat hasn’t used a litter tray since she was allowed outdoors. We’ve put it away now. But you would definitely need a litter tray if no cat flap.

My cat doesn’t go outside yet, so always uses a litter tray. It’s in a quiet corner of the hallway where there isn’t great ventilation, thinking about it.I’ve honestly never noticed a smell from it - her food is far stronger! The tray doesn’t have a lid, and I use the hypoallergenic clumping litter from Pets at Home which has been great. I also got an odor removing spray that I use occasionally on it and it’s fine. Scoop out everything once a day at the moment - trying to make sure she’s ok with it being cleaned less regularly for when I’m out for longer. But honestly no smell at all, and I’ve asked visitors if I’m just immune and they don’t smell it either! She does trot some of the litter around, I got a hand held vacuum which sorts it out in five minutes every couple of days.

My litter tray is in the lichen as I have no space for it anywhere else. As long as you use good quality litter and scoop regularly it's not an issue. Mine is a covered tray.

I’ve had several cats without a flap. I stopped after one brought a live pigeon in the house. Current cat goes in and out the front door at regular times by negotiation. She ignores her litter tray but I have on just in case.

A lot depends on the personality of the cat, TBH. Adopt from a shelter and go for one who is friendly and cool about being handled is my advice.

Thank you so much to everyone for your replies. It sounds like we have some thinking to do.

I haven't got a cat flap - choice. I've got bifold doors (no back door) and don't want the aesthetic of having a catflap in them. So the cat is either in or out, he has got a cat den thing though and loves it.

Litter tray - smell depends a lot on the food you give them and the litter you use. I've got one of these litter trays and use cats best smart pellets. I feed Canegan. Yes, a poo smells until you've removed it but the litter tray doesn't smell.

I've disabled the sensor in the kitchen diner which is the cat's territory when I'm not at home.