If I raised Milo's litter box four or five inches off the ground to help my aching knees, would he notice? Or is this asking for trouble?

I wouldn’t think it would make a difference. I’m sure Milo would notice, but hopefully would not be bothered unless you were adding an incline. :-) its worth a shot if it gives you a little relief.

^^^ I know that trial and error is a reasonable suggestion, but I shudder to think about what the error might look like tomorrow morning. I have occasionally had to pick up a missed poop with a pair of grabbers, but wouldn’t want to do much of that.

Any cat owners here who have tried it? I’d prefer some real testimonies before I try this experiment.

I don’t think it’d be that much of an issue. WIthin a month I moved to a new house, changed litter box types and then changed the room the litter box was in and Itzamna didn’t have any issues with figuring out where it was.

What kind of litter box do you have by the way? I think if you went with something like this or this you would have less of an issue with missed poop. It also helps cut down on the smell.

@uberbatman: He misses only once every ten weeks or so. The little box is a plain thing similar to this. It works just fine in the scheme of things.

The ones you linked look awfully fancy and complicated when it comes to cleaning, but thanks for showing them to me, anyway.

I suppose I should simply try it.

Itzamna may be more intelligent than Milo.

MIlo here; I read that. Just you wait. Thinking of trying a new litter box arrangement, are you? Hehehe.

@gailcalled they really aren’t any more complicated to clean, I’ve owned both types. It’s just a simple little lid that snaps off revealing zee poop. Only real difference is that it keeps the smells/kitty litter in. Itzamna has a habit of kicking litter everywhere. With one of those normal ones I’d have litter from front-back of my house…

Itzamna may be smarter than Milo but that would make Milo practically retarded :P For a cat, Itzamna isn’t exactly the brightest….

I regularly move my cats litter box around I recently did this when I shampooed my carpets.

I then decided to try it in my bathroom, but after a week decided I didn’t want it there and moved it to a completely different place.

Absolutely no confusion. She didn’t even pause finding it. Then again… she comes home specifically for the purpose to use the litter box. Much to my chagrin. She has never gone out of her box. Except once when I left my roommate at the time in charge of cleaning her box while I was gone for a week. It didn’t get clean.

I also move quite frequently. Apartment life, and such there is always somewhere better to be. So she has become adaptable to different environments.

If your Milo is extremely resistent to change the situation might be different.

But it would be worth it in the long run for him to get used to it now because knees generally don’t just start feeling better.

I used to move mine all over the place; none of the cats ever had any trouble figuring out what was what. Definitely try it if it will save you from pain. I’m sure he’ll take to it just fine. The only thing I can think of that might bother him is if the box is somehow unstable in its raised position.

I also think it won’t be a problem. Just show Milo where the new box location is. If you can follow him the first few times he goes towards the old box location and make sure he finds where it is now. Even if you don’t get the opportunity to follow him I think it won’t be a big deal, since it will just be higher up and not completely moved out of the room. I know people who have moved the box to new locations and the cat adjusted fine.

Let us know how it goes.

Cats are far far more smell oriented than sight oriented. If he can smell it he will find it with no problems and that box is permeated with his smell. OUR goal (silly humans) is usually to have the cat box NOT smell. And we may even be convinced it doesn’t. But a cat can always find his own litter box.

As mentioned, it must be absolutely stable with no chance of even a slight wobble if the base you’re using isn’t large enough. If he ever feels any instability he won’t feel safe. That’s where a problem could possibly arise.

If you have any type of low dresser or large TV stand, that would be ideal since that would allow him plenty of area around the box for his approach and dismount. And something at waist height would be that much easier for you and your knees.

Many people have bought cheapo thrift store lowboy-type dressers and such specifically for the purpose of easing the bending over. And some have cut off the backs of regular dresser and cut out several of the top drawers but gluing the front side back so it looks like a dresser and effectively hides the cat box. Then whichever of the lower drawers is most convenient for you is where you put the box and then you can just slide out that drawer each time you need to clean the box.

I once saw some diagrams and photos from people who’ve done this and its in my links somewhere. I’ll try to find some of those links so you can see clearly what I’m talking about as its a little difficult to describe precisely. Once I find it I’ll post an update.

Here’s one
http://www.homejelly.com/weekend-diy-project-turn-an-old-cabinet-into-a-kitty-loo/

This is all the details of exactly what was done
http://www.recapturedcharm.com/2010/05/contest-answer-what-in-world-will-this.html?m=1

I didn’t want to run out of edit time

http://m.pinterest.com/pin/300122762637825090/

.
http://m.pinterest.com/pin/147211481540258463/

http://m.pinterest.com/pin/215891375857092487/

Unfortunately all the ones pictured are quite low to the ground. But it doesn’t have to be. I’ve also seen ones with taller dressers and you pick whichever drawer level suits you.

http://m.pinterest.com/pin/215891375857092478/

@Buttonstc: That is all really helpful. I may have my handy guy build me something about 6 inches off the ground. That is all the help I need for the moment. In spite of the charming pictures you enclosed, we don’t need elegance. And I certainly don’t want his commode more attractive than mine.

Second thought;I have a wooden pallet left over from something. It is about 3.5 ” high and perfect for the experiment. My handy guy can fiddle with it and perhaps nail a piece of plywood on top to eliminate the two inch spaces between the boards on the horizontal surface.

It is true that Milo bounds easily up and down on tables, counters, (thence leaping to top of the refrigerator and into a cupboard very high off the ground.)

@Everyone; I am not relocating the box but elevating it. It remains in situ.

And I certainly don’t want his commode more attractive than mine.
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Ha ha. Cute. That gave me a good chuckle with which to start my day.

But after all, Milo is such an elegant cat and I had no idea which kind of old unused furniture you might already have hanging around or could find in a thrift shop for around $10–20. I have one sitting in my storage unit that literally cost me nothing.

Someone was discarding it and it was on the curb awaiting garbage pickup. It’s a medium sized dresser (likely from a child’s bedroom) and the perfect height. I don’t even have to repaint it if I don’t want. (Northeast Philly has some nice neighborhoods for trash picking) There’s a lot of upwardly mobile people discarding the old when they can afford to update.
But there’s rarely anything really wrong with their discards.

But I like the idea of affixing a comfy cushion for the top for a nice napping place as shown in some of those pics.

And you’ve noticed how jumping to various heights is not a deterrent for cats in the slightest. As a matter of fact they prefer it. Even tho domesticated, their instinctual behaviors in the wild still remain. And the hunter/predator likes to be up high to surveil his “territory” whether outdoors or indoors. I’m sure it didn’t take you too long after he came to live with you that it’s no longer your house. It’s his.

But since looks don’t matter in your situation, I think the pallet is a far better idea than merely a stool. Most pallets are really extremely sturdy since they’re designed to hold hundreds or thousands of pounds as well as stand up to the strain of being moved around by forklift (or whatever those machines are called). So that sounds like a perfect solution for you. And I don’t think it will adversely affect his use of the litterbox.

BTW: I noticed that you mentioned that occasionally he leaves a deposit elsewhere. I’m assuming its poop and not pee. If that’s the case, I doubt that it has much to do with his not knowing where the box is or being displeased with something or other.

Cats normally instinctively cover their poop. Uncovered poop is usually regarded as a dominance signal. Out in the wild, it shows who is top cat there to any others trying to encroach upon their territory. So, now we know who really “owns” your house (at least in his mind) Cats have total disregard for the intricacies of real estate paperwork. After all, who needs a lease or deed when they can give an unmistakable signal to any and all?

:D

Milo will adjust, I’m sure. I’ve changed the height, type and location of my cat’s litter box many times over the years and he never seems to mind.

@Buttonstc: On more careful consideration the stuff that Milo occasionally leaves defiantly around isn’t poop but hairball/puke material. I try not to examine it too closely.

How high have you taken it? We are starting at 4”. My bro-in-law suggests a custom-built ramp with red velvet handles.

Elevating it is relocating it. Isn’t it? A vertical relocation.

@Buttonstc: A “mini-version” of one of these, perhaps?

What do you think?

Oh well, puke is a whole different story altogether and has zero to do with the litterbox (or for that matter, defiance) youre anthropomorphizing.

Think of cats puking as quite similar to toddlers up chucking. It comes on suddenly and catches them totally by surprise so they do what comes naturally. No harm no foul. The only reason kids dont generally do that past toddler age is a combination of verbal skills and realizing how much of a mess it will be (oh yeah, the knowledge of how handy toilets are helps immensely. Human kids develop that knowledge; unfortunately cats dont :). You were relating it to fears of litterbox accidents so I naturally assumed poop.

So then Milo’s good bathrooming record is unblemished, basically.?

If you’re asking me how high you should put it, I would say as high as you need it to be to take the physical strain off of you. He’ll adjust. Most cats can leap up to the top of the refrigerator with no problem so around waist high for you isn’t even a hiccup for him (unless he’s an old cat with arthritis) but he looks pretty spry in the photos I’ve seen.

For crying out loud, he hops up to the top of the bannister railing perching precariously just to enjoy the wintertime view. I hardly think hopping up 2–4 feet onto a sturdy pallet is any problem at all.

But if you wanted to make it a little fun for him then put up a few graduated sturdy dshelves on the wall or a few graduated height wooden boxes so its like a little stairway. He’ll love it. Like his own custom playground.

But if youre still nervous, Leave a little treat out for him the first few times and that will do the trick for sure.

Cars are climbers by nature and doing a little climbing or jumping to get to the litterbox is a fun activity. We with our aging knees wouldn’t appreciate it but Milo will most likely love it.

So, put it as high as you need it for you. He will adapt.

And in the highly unlikely event that he doesn’t initially, just put it back on the floor and do it in smaller incremental steps each separated by a week or so. But I hardly think that will be needed.

@gailcalled Let us know how the “raising of the throne” works out.

I just saw your link. Yeah definitely get that. Milo will love ripping it to shreds. It will be such fun for him ha ha.

You could do a ramp but Milo would probably prefer hopping from one to another shelves, crates, sturdy boxes whatever. Doesn’t he typically hop from one piece of furniture to another in the rest of your house already? Most cats do.

How many cats has your BIL had in his lifetime?

@Buttonstc: My BIL (a dog person) was joking. He had built a very nice shallow ramp from his front door to the ground level for his very old dog last year. After the dog died, happy and ancient and well-fed and well-loved, he (BIL and not dog) left the ramp up for me so I didn’t have to do the steps.

MIlo’s bathroom behavior is unblemished, except for one missed poop the week he arrived, over five years ago. (And never a misplaced pee except for a flower pot mishap that was my fault for putting temptation in his way.) After that he has consistently gotten A+ in toilet etiquette.

At this time of year, he does regularly eat the tender green fresh grass. That shows up in the hairballs. And I have watched him when the urge comes on. I am first alerted by the sound of a bellows or the pump for a pipe organ. That is him heaving; his sides go in and out and…boop.

Re; agility;

1
2 Via top of refrigerator
3. Top of piano

Update; The elegant custom platform has arrived and been installed; I deliberately left a few aromatic sample in the litter box to make it really easy to locate.

Well, within two hours, Milo had discovered it, christened it and earned his Academy Award for best performance in a micro-short documentary.

Follow-up: Well, I may have started a trend.

Having been asked to keep an eye on Teddy, the old and fat cat who lives up the road, for five days while his owners are away, I have made the same arrangements for him for the same reasons.

I lent my neighbors a little stool to raise Teddy’s food and water and had my caretaker construct another raised platform for the litter box.

We sex things up yesterday in order to check whether Teddy would get the point before his owners left.

He was completely comfortable with the new arrangements and and peed in his elevated commode within two hours of the set-up. He didn’t even bother with the reading materiel we left close by.

The only issue is just how slow a learner I am.

Edit: We set (do not ask me how that came to be sex) things up.

I think you’re finally realizing that raising things up a few inches doesn’t phase cats who regularly leap up to the tops of refrigerators without a pause.

Your little platforms are meaningless to their superior abilities; barely noticeable. Silly humans :)

It’s the smell that counts. The nose knows.

^^^ As I said, I am a really slow learner.

(faze)

Refrigerator was launching pad for this staging area.