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Transition from litter box to doing business outdoors (slrpnk.net)

submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) by Sunny@slrpnk.net to c/cat@lemmy.world

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We've got one cat 6months and the other 3months old, currently both using the litterbox. However we're going to move to a new house soon, and eventually try to transition them to getting used to doing their business outdoors instead of the litterbox. Does anyone have any tips or best practices for this transition?

Edit: I dont live in the US, I live in Scandinavia - huge garden and away from traffic. The cats are fine being outside - most cats here are in fact outside. We have norwegian forest cats and they're meant to be both indoors and outdoors - even during winter!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Forest_cat

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[-] Lemmeenym@lemm.ee 36 points 4 weeks ago

Pet cats that are allowed to roam outdoors are extremely destructive to local wildlife and live shorter lives. Cat should only be kept as indoor pets.

https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/indoor-cats-vs-outdoor-cats/

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 weeks ago

People too. Lemmeenym should be kept inside at all times. That way they can't destroy their environment and will live a longer life. I'm sure confinement will have no deleterious mental effects.

[-] lud@lemm.ee 0 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

I agree that cats should probably be inside for environmental reasons, but I don't care if cats live somewhat shorter lives if they are outside, because they are obviously very happy when they can go outside.

Our cat is pretty depressed during the winter months because she can't go outside (well, she can if she wants but she rarely is because it's very cold and often snowy), so she just goes around meowing at shit because she is bored. During summer she is outside a lot and is noticeably happier.

The same applies to humans.

And it's not like we live next to a highway like seemingly all Americans are, we have lots of outside cats in the neighborhood and they have been doing absolutely fine for many many years.

[-] somethingsomethingidk@lemmy.world -1 points 4 weeks ago

I'm just gonna leave this here

https://piped.video/watch?v=b93IBwJ_Yow

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[-] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 21 points 4 weeks ago

ITT - tons of evidence that letting cats outside is harmful in many ways.

OP - shrug

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[-] Lexam@lemmy.ca 15 points 4 weeks ago

Please don't do this. You are seriously endangering them by letting them outside. I see too many that have been hit by cars.

[-] Sunny@slrpnk.net -4 points 4 weeks ago

I dont live near any trafficed road, and my house is at the end of a one-way-driven road. The only car getting my house is my own. In Scandinavia most cats live outdoors regardless of this, they are usually just fine.

[-] Hello_there@fedia.io 15 points 4 weeks ago

They're going to shit in your neighbors vegetable garden.
Source: neighbors cats shit all over my yard

[-] KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.world 9 points 4 weeks ago

In my experience, cats that can go outside will stop using the litterbox pretty quickly by themselves.
Just keep it around somewhere out of the way, as an emergency option.

[-] kikutwo@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

No cause we don't want our cats dead.

[-] Sunny@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 weeks ago

what...? Cats dont die by being outdoors..?

[-] kikutwo@lemmy.world 11 points 4 weeks ago

That's true, they die from getting run over by trucks and cars and from predators.

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[-] sxan@midwest.social 8 points 4 weeks ago

They die more if they're let outdoors. Statistically, outdoor cats have half a life expectancy of 2-5 years, vs 12-20 of indoor-only cats.

We've owned rural homes a couple of times. One time, we owned a house on 5 acres at the end of a dirt-and-gravel road a half mile from the nearest paved road. On the other side of our neighbor's house was a culvert, with an easement - a dirt "road" - that the irrigation company inspectors would use about once a month or so to check the state of the culvert. We were one of three houses at the end of that dead-end gravel road. At the time, (in the late 90's) we had cats we'd let out during the day and bring in at night. During the four years we lived there, we had one cat that was killed by being hit by one of the irrigation inspectors. That easement was used by one truck, once a month, and it killed our cat. We lost a second cat to coyotes; at least the cat hit by the truck didn't have the terrifying death of being torn apart by coyotes.

Maybe you'll be lucky, and your cats won't go into the roads. Maybe where you live you don't have coyotes, or neighbors with dogs, or large owls. Maybe you'll be lucky and your cats won't meet any other cats and get infected with one of the exceedingly common diseases of feline leukemia, feline aids, or distemper. Maybe you don't have neighbors who poison their pest mice and rats that your cats might find and eat and themselves die in agony from indirectly ingesting rat poison. Maybe you live somewhere without rabies (although I think it's even gotten to the UK, now).

Maybe you don't care if your cats get killed. But it you do care, keep your cats indoors. If you live somewhere rural, there are predators that can and will take a cat. If you live somewhere urban, it's even more likely your cat will get killed by a car. And even if you have a perfect barrier that your cats won't find a way over or under, it won't stop poisoned rodents from getting into your yard where your cats can get at them, and your cats will get fleas and ticks and bring them into the house. Fleas are only a minor nuisance, sure; not a horrific, lingering death from rabies, and maybe you think you'll use a flea dip - although keep in mind flea dips can give cats neurological diseases: it's a poison that's spread through their systems, and some cats react poorly to it.

But, again maybe you'll get lucky. Maybe for you the inconvenience of cleaning a litter box is worth the risk of your cat being killed. If being inconvenienced is your motivation, may I recommend a Litter Robot. They're pricey, but worth every penny, and they last for years. And you'll almost certainly enjoy your cat's company for many more years.

[-] Sunny@slrpnk.net 0 points 4 weeks ago

Mate, it sounds like you're living on a different planet.. I've had cats my whole life, all of them have lived out their full expected lifetime. I'm well aware of the possible dangers and sicknesses cats can get.

Based on the comments in this post I imagine pet culture being vastly different between Norway and the US.

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Pet culture in the US was the same as Norway 40 years ago. Cats were primarily outdoor pets allowed to come and go as they pleased. The 1960's cartoon the Flintstones showed Fred Flintstone throwing the cat outside at night in every episode during the end credits.

However the modern environmental science has proven the damage domestic cats have on the environment. As such there has been a cultural shift in the younger generations, without any government intervention, to keep cats indoors.

[-] sxan@midwest.social 4 points 4 weeks ago

I'm not even talking about the controversy about cat impact on wildlife; I'm referring to the statistical life expectancy of outdoor cats in the US. If anyone isn't satisfied with the one link I provided, I can find more: outdoor feline life expectancy is statistically drastically shorter than strictly indoor life expectancy. All I did was list the risks - the truth is in the statistics. But everyone who has that one outdoor cat that lived to 27 thinks their anecdotal experience trumps science 🙄.

I can't speak to Norway. Maybe the feline diseases aren't rampant there yet. Maybe the Norwegians have long ago exterminated all of their mid-range predators in populated areas. I doubt grandparent up there lives in a place where wolves are roaming around freely. You have coyotes or something similar there in your rural communities, my Norwegian friend from a couple comments up? Maybe the fact that few, if any, European countries have anything like the US car culture keeps streets safer for loose pets.

But in the US, letting cats outdoors statistically reduces their life expectancies. That's not my opinion; it's in the data.

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

I think you replied to the wrong person. I argued that pet cats should be kept indoors.

[-] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I do that occasionally; maybe it's me, maybe it's my client. But I also prefer to continue a thread, so I may have done it on purpose. In this case, though, I probably misunderstood you, and thought you were suggesting that the cultural shift was for silly activist reasons, and that it was better back in the good old days. Or that the only reason to keep cats indoors is because of the damage they do to wildlife.

Mea culpa

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works -3 points 4 weeks ago

Yes, nature causes instant death for mammals. You didn't know?

[-] Daveyborn@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

Always comes back to not wanting to clean a litter box. Laziness outweighs health hazards and ecological issues every time.

[-] Donebrach@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Cats are an invasive and detrimental species and should not be allowed to roam freely outside. Just because there’s some breed that originated from your country doesn’t negate the fact they are a non native species nearly everywhere and wreak havoc on the local population of small animals.

[-] addie@feddit.uk 1 points 4 weeks ago

We've a few rescue cats - we got them all when they were about three / four years old. We kept them inside initially for six weeks or so, made sure that they'd got used to living in a new house before we let them outside.

The one which had been abandoned and had been living outside for a few weeks (a boy) stopped using his litter tray completely, as soon as he was allowed outside again.

The other two, both girls but a 'smooth' changeover, took a bit more time to get used to being outside. One transitioned off of her litter tray after a couple of months by herself; the other took more like four months, and she was a bit of a fair-weather pooper for a while as well.

My take-home message would be that cats generally prefer to do their business as far away from where they live as possible. Only possible bit of advice would be to wait until the weather's getting better in case your cats dislike the wind and the rain. I believe forest cats love the frosty weather anyway, though?