Cats are very lovable creatures. They are tame, cuddly and are indeed beautiful. Most cat owners want them to be indoors, to keep them safe and clean always. However, keeping cats indoors poses the problem of dealing with their wastes. Thus it is necessary to toilet train the cat.

Toilet Training Essentials

1. Cats should be trained early on. It should start when the kitten is around 8 weeks old.

2. Before starting with the toilet training, make sure that the cat already responds to its name. This will be very helpful in responding to the behavior of the cat.

3. Cats generally are not difficult to toilet train. For one, they have the instinct already to bury their wastes. Thus all that is needed is to provide a litter tray.

This can be bought in pet shops. A litter tray usually is made of plastic or enamel. The container should be filled with soil, sand, sawdust or commercial cat litters.

4. Generally, a kitten that is raised together with a mother that uses the litter tray will learn to use the tray itself eventually.

5. For kittens or cats that still have to be trained, it is best to acquaint them with the litter tray. The cat should be placed inside the tray after being fed, after play or when it wakes up.

6. Make sure that the litter tray is placed in a quiet and secluded place. Cats would not like to be seen when they use the litter tray.

7. When the cat uses the litter tray, make sure that you praise it for the good behavior.

The best way to praise the cat is to pet it or pat it on its head. Food rewards are also good tools to praise the cat.

8. However, a cat or kitten being trained that failed to make use of the litter tray should be reprimanded. The cat must be corrected immediately. A loud and sharp “no” or squirting the cat with water are the usual ways to reprimand the cat. Never use physical punishment. It is not a good practice. It also affects the relationship of the cat to the owners.

The cat has to be constantly praised or reprimanded for its toilet behavior until it finally learns to go to the litter tray by itself.

Owning a toilet trained cat can be very rewarding. Attention and consistent effort will be greatly needed at the toilet training stage. Just be patient always.

Cats in general are loveable creatures. However, it is possible that some of them get on the bad side of the household. Thus, it is necessary to address the situation when the cats are the problem.

Stray cats are actually the problem. Cats that do not have owners to train them have made the whole neighborhood their home. They ruin the garden. They mess up the trash can. Thus, one should seek for solutions that will keep the cats away. Repel them.

At the same time, repelling cats should be done in the most ‘humane’ way possible. There are several options to consider in keeping those mean cats away, easily and safely.

Cat Powder
Easy to apply to the garden, these cat powders appeal to the instincts of the cats. These contain the scent of a predator, usually a coyote. Cats recognize the territoriality of animals, thus having such scent in the house would keep them away.

One only has to sprinkle this in the desired area. The ones available in the market are usually not harmful to children and to the plants in the garden.

Sound Repellent
This creates sounds that are extremely annoying to a cat but remains undetected to humans.

Cat Scatmats
Some use the scatmats for the more stubborn ones. These are thin mats that can be situated on the floor, garden furniture or window sills. They are battery-charged. Any animal that would walk on it will receive an unpleasant shock. Cats are found to be sensitive to the mild shock, enough to discourage them from returning.

Water Sprayer
The market offers this very helpful repellent. It is connected to the garden hose and has a sensor for movements. Any unwarranted movement of a stray cat will result to a blast of water to fright the cats.

Liquid Repellent
It can be sprayed on any surface that cats may or constantly claw on. It has a terrible taste that would be noticed by the cat when it grooms itself. The cat will automatically avoid such locations.

Air Repellent
Some repellents use a blast of air to keep cats away. Cats will find this scary. The tools come with a distinct sound that will be helpful in scaring cats away.

Odor neutralizer
Cats often leave lingering scent trail on the garden that only attract more cats The odor neutralizer will use enzymes that will rid of the odor and bacteria. Just make sure that this is applied directly to the scent trail.

With these aids and tools at hand, the cat problem is resolved. These defenses are sure way to secure the household and get rid of the headache.