CLEANLINESS

The senses of cats are much finer than those of humans. Everything not smelling like cat will be declared as stinky. To rub on their human is the attempt to transfer some cat smell to the human and for taking on some human smell the cat will start to clean herself after to get rid of the human odor.

 Considering everything we already mentioned, it should be no surprise that the litter box has a special status. It should be cleaned at least once a day by removing clumps with a litter scoop, when using litter that clumps. At least once a week all the litter should be removed and the box should be washed thoroughly. Still, like magic, litter will spread throughout the apartment or house all by itself, over time.

Commonly people say the number of litter boxes should be equal to the number of cats, plus one. However, there is the possibility to train your cat to use the human toilet. This process will take several weeks during which the apartment or house will resemble a battlefield. Having your cat trained to use the human toilet does not guarantee that it will be 100% clean because things can always happen, even with a bunch of standard litter boxes. After your cat is trained using the human toilet you won’t need litter anymore but you should always have antibacterial wipes at hand or some antibacterial agent to clean the toilet seat.

 Regardless of which toilet is being used, hygiene is an important issue, due to the extremely high variety of bacteria in a cat’s intestines. The corona virus, for example, is measured in the feces and according to that, cats are categorized into excreter and non-excreter with the first ones posing a potential risk when it comes to distributing the virus. This alone would not be of any concern but in come cases the corona virus can mutate and the mutated version can cause FIP, meaning the cat will suffer horribly and die if not euthanized beforehand. Antibodies in the blood only show that the cat had contact with the corona virus but do not give any clue whatsoever whether the virus has mutated or the cat has contracted FIP.

 To clean themselves is not just to stay clean but to use their saliva to spread bacteria all over their bodies. What might sound gross is a totally natural and essential procedure. However, this has a positive effect for humans, since we are confronted with a high variety of bacteria, activating our immune system and therefore keeping us healthier.