Conference misery::feline_v1

    I do the same thing only I wash the box out with very hot water
    and Pursue Disinfectant (Amway).  You're right, it is disgusting.
    I also dry it off with paper towels.  I figure using a disinfectant
    and very hot water leaves both the box and the sink clean and
    disinfected.
    
    The thing that I hate most is the dust from the cat litter.  I trie
    to use litter that's advertised as 95%(whatever) dust free.
    
    Kathy

    Do you use litterbox plastic liners?  They really do help alot
    as far as cleaning up is concerned.  I just close it up like a 
    regular trash bag, tie it shut, and then put it in with the rest
    of the trash to be tied up again.  No smell, even if it sits
    around for a couple of weeks.   Then I clean the box by first
    rinsing it, then a few squirts of a disinfectant cleaner like
    pine sol, etc., wipe with paper towels, rinse and then dry with
    more paper towels.  I don't have to contend with any "dried-on"
    stuff with the plastic liners, just a little bit of urine that
    may leak through.  A bonus; I get to dump the rinsing water outside
    as the litterbox is in the cellar, near the cellar door and I have
    a hose attached to my furnace for water.
    
    If you aren't using the plastic liners, please do yourself a favor,
    TRY THEM, YOU'LL LIKE THEM!  
    
    Pam

    I tried the litterbox plastic liners.  I liked them; cats hated them! 
    One of the cats would scratch and scratch until he tore the bottom of
    the liner, and then go.  Or, he would drag the liner, litter and all,
    out of the box, climb into the box, and go.
    
    In nice weather, you could take the box outside and rinse it out with a
    hose and let it dry in the sun (provided you have another box that can
    be used meantime).
    
    Ande

    I tried various liners too, all unsuccessful.  Kiwi is just
    too compulsive about his 'covering-up', so all the liners
    ended up being torn.
    
    My routine is similar to yours.  I dump the litter out and
    rinse and wash in the bathtub.  I don't find washing it out in
    the bathtub to be disgusting though.  I have a spare box so
    that I can let the dirty box soak for an hour or so.  I just
    use regular dish-washing detergent and vinegar and the hottest
    water from the tap.  The vinegar seems to cut the urine odor
    pretty well.
    
    Since the spare box has now become the 'in-use' box, I just
    let the cleaned box air dry and put it away till the next
    changing.
    
    Liners would definitely make the job less cumbersome.
    
    Donna

    I've tried the plastic liners too and didn't like them very much.
    The cats tore right through them or they leaked.  The liners I use
    now I like *very* much (Feliners I believe they are called).  They
    are absorbent like a diaper, attach to the box via sticky stuff
    so they can't drag it away and the cats don't/can't scratch through
    them (and these cats have claws, believe me!).  I just wrap it up
    once a week, lift it out and the box is clean as a whistle.  Drop
    in a new liner, and away they go (and they usually do ;-).  I clean
    the box every second week anyway in the shower with baking soda
    (totally natural and safe for your cat) and it isn't disgusting
    at all.
    
    I highly recommend the liners.  They're great!
    
    Mary-Michael

    I remove the cover from the box and slip the bottom 
    into a large-size plastic trash bag and just upend it inside
    the bag.  I use paper towels to wipe any wet litter remaining into
    the bag, then remove the litter box and wipe it down thoroughly
    with wet paper towels, then dry.  The paper towels go into the trash
    bag and it goes outside into the garbage.  This works very well
    since I got a little box with non-porous sides.  The boxes I used
    to have were much harder to clean.
                                                        

    This is what I do:
    
    1) Use Tidy Cat 3 litterbox liners (they're thicker than most and
       look like a trash bag.  At cleaning time, turn the bag inside
        out and throw it away.  No litterbox mess!)
    
    2) Keep enough litter in the litterbox so even if cat's do scratch,
       it's hard to go deep enough to rip the liner.
    
    3) Trim cat's claws weekly.

    When we lived in our apartment, I used to clean my 2 litterboxes in
    the bathtub with really hot water and Amway ZOOM.  It was a pain and
    there was always sludge left in the bathtub.

    When we moved to our lovely detached condo last fall, I washed the
    litterboxes in the kitchen sink because (1) we have a double sink
    [yay!], and (2) we have a sprayer [double yay!] (neither of those
    amenities were available in our old apartment).  That made it much
    easier.  However, recently I've been using the Tidy Cat 3 litterbox
    liners, and now cleanup is a breeze!  My cats are both declawed, so
    I don't have any problems with them tearing the liners.

    I tried the Feliners for a while, but they didn't stick very well to
    the outside of the boxes (except of course when I went to remove them;
    there are still little stuck-on pieces on one of my litterboxes).
    I found them more trouble than they were worth.

							-- Nina

    My method is to let my son do it!!
    
    

    RE .9 - I used to let my son do it.  However, he's away at college and
    only comes home twice a year.  Can you imagine the litter box if I
    waited for him to do it???!! :-)
    
    

My solution to the litter box problem is to sift and turn sand everyday, and
to change out the litter 3 times a week.  It is never really cruddy and
noone complains about dealing with it.

    I pretty much do what .4 four does, except in the summer I give
    it a preliminary hosing outside, and after I dry it out with a paper
    towel, I put down a layer of baking soda, then I put in the litter.
    
    Deb

    I HATE changing the litter box.  Now that I finally got Chauncey
    to use it, he proceeds to kick litter all over the basement floor
    and stairs and buries his business all the way to China.  I have
    one of those giant size litter boxes that look like a bathtub because
    my cats are so huge they couldn't fit into the normal size ones,
    so cleaning it out is a real pain.
    
    I, too, have the same problem with the plastic liners.  They dig
    so many holes, I just quit using them altogether.  However, my sister
    gave me a great idea.  She bought her cats the big covered Buda
    (sp?) boxes and lines them with 2 of those large green lawn bags
    going in opposite directions to prevent spills when cleaning.  Her
    cats kick out minimal litter and the box rarely needs to be washed.
    Gotta try it, but knowing my boys, they'll figure out a way to make
    me work twice as hard as I do now.
    
    /Roberta
    

    My neph-cats have a BoodaBox, but I got a similar one made by Doskocil
    (the same people who make Kennel Cabs).  They also make plastic
    liners for this covered box and neither of my boys have yet to scratch
    thru it.  Mine is also giant sized, and I got it to keep Honey from
    scratching the walls, floors and rugs within paws reach of the box.
    I really like it alot, especially since the liners don't rip or
    tear, it makes clean up a breeze.  The only litter that comes out
    is the litter they track out with them.  The BoodaBox entryway is
    one that the cats must climb up into while the Doskocil box has
    less of a climb.  Both boys took to it right away.  I'm glad I got
    it!
    
    Mary

    
    We use litter boxes with snap on rims which hold the plastic liner
    down.  I use GLAD tall kitchen size garbage bags and they work great.
    
    No leaks with these guys as they are declawed but my old lady never
    tore up the liners as we kept her nails pretty well clipped.  She
    was a deep burier though.  In addition we scoop solids every morning
    and evening (onto a paper towel and flush they go and the paper
    towel into the trash can).
    
    No fuss, no muss.
    

    Sounds like you're all too neat! I just put the litter box inside a
    grocery bag, tip it over, tap the bottom and refill with litter. I
    always figured the cats would feel more at home if they had a little
    left over smell from last time. Then about every five years I buy a new
    litter box. My method only takes about thirty seconds and our last two
    cats lasted about 15 years. 
                                      
    Then again, we keep the litter box under the basement steps when
    few humans ever see it. I suppose if it were in plain view my wife
    would make me clean it more thoroughly.

    I find the boodaboxes MUCH better than any competitor because of
    the high entrance way.  Most of the scattered litter comes from
    the cat faithfully facing the back of the box and scratching to
    the center of the earth.  Because the BoodaBox has no lowered
    entrance, much less litter gets scattered.  None of the competitors
    that I have seen have this advantage.  There is still litter 
    tracked out, of course, but at least it is minimal!

    Re: .16
    
    I wish my litter box was out of sight.  Mine IS in plain view
    and when it starts to smell..........  PPPPPPEEEEEUUUUUUWWWW!!
    I have to scrub it out.  It doesn't gross me out to wash it
    in the bathtub, I just cordinate cleaning the bathroom and
    changing the litter - twice a week.
    
    Katie
    

    We just got a new litter scoop that is just great.  Actually, I
    bought it for Ken since litterboxes fall within his end of the cats.
    It has a hollow handle and little plastic bags that attach to the
    handle.  After you shake all the litter off, you just tip the thing
    back and the "solids" drop into the plastic bag.  Just tie it and
    toss it.
    
    We have 10 litterboxes for 7 cats and Ken cleans them (Thank God)
    thoroughly once a week.  We scoop them out twice a day and then
    for the once a week treatment, Ken cleans them with Roccal-D which
    is a disinfectant and germicide that is safe for cats.
    
    I have the front end of the cats (i.e. feeding, medicating, hairballs,
    and cleaning up any messes that come out of the front end. 8^) )
    
    Jo

    Re:  .19
    
         Where did you get it? 
    
    
    Bob

    Yeah!  I need one of each:  one poop scoop, and one guy to use it!
    
    Marion

    I got the poop scoop at a cat show here in California.  The vendor
    was called Pro Vet.  The thing is great.
    
    I got my husband out here in California.  Husbands are like scoops,
    when you find a great one, you gotta snatch it up quick.  That was
    a feeble attempt at humor in case anyone was wondering. 8^(.
    
    Jo

    Well, as a husband I have been compared to a lot of things
    but never a pooper scooper! ;-) (My wife has been known to talk
    about me using 2 words in the same sentence-What you scoop
    with the pooper scooper and the south end of a north bound cat!)
    ;^) ;-)  It's a good thing we're still in love after 19 years!!
     Oh by the way, she is reading this as we sit here watching T.V.