. . . The Uncle Buck household has nearly always had cats. At present the feline occupants are Maggie Mae ( a Siamese cat named for the Rod Stewart song) and Nickie ( a black former barn cat named for Stevie Nicks ) Yes I know I've just dated myself with my cat's names but I figure you folks already had a pretty goood idea I was no kid !!
. . . Anyway when we had our first cats, some 20 years ago, I wracked my brain to come up with a way to handle the cat litter box waste and odor. First I invested in one of those covered cat litter boxes to control the litter from going everywhere. But the bigger problem was the waste I cleaned out of the litter. I didn't want to have to put it in the garbage every day. After all, summer was coming and I was pretty sure that neither the neighbors or myself would be too thrilled with the rather vile odor that would be coming from the garbage can after a couple of days. Plus, call me lazy, but I just didn't want to make a trip out to the garbage everyday ! Then I came up with the idea that would REVOLUTIONIZE cat rearing in the U.S.A.. Ok maybe not revolutionize cat rearing but I have had a couple people say I should have filed for a patent or copyright !! Honest !
. . .Ok, Here's all you need. (1) Cats ! Otherwise this whole explanation is kind of uselesss, don't you think ? (2) A litter box. Covered really does work best and the cats get used to it in no time. (3) A small covered garbage can that uses a tight lid not a swing lid. We found that a small 8 gal. size works best. (4) Plastic shopping bags that you get in any store. The standard size most stores use works great and you'll be recycling something you probably throw away anyhow !! (5) Newspaper circulars. The slick ones that come in the Sunday paper are perfect. Plus you'll be turning into quite an environmentalist because you'll be recycling again ! (6) Powdered cleanser. We use Comet because we like the smell but any brand will do.
. . . Now you're all set and here's how simple it is ! Put your new garbage can beside you litter box. Now insert the shopping bag as a liner. It'll stretch a little but it will fit. Make sure the bag doesn't have any big holes or rips. Now put in a layer of newspaper circular. A couple of pages is plenty. Now you get to have your daily, cat litter box, treaure hunt ! Scoop out the clumps and the other "goodies" and drop them into the can onto the circulars. Now here's the "genius" part ( in my humble opinion ) but you've probaly already figured it out ! Sprinkle all your cat's litter box waste, that's in the can, with a coating of powdered cleanser. Be careful not to get any of the cleanser in the litter box !!!!! Add another layer of newspaper circulars, put on the lid and you're finished. The can will hold a weeks worth of waste for TWO cats !
. . . Here's why this works so great ! The newspaper circulars use a heavy, slick paper that absorbs any excess liquid and the layers let the air circulate. The cleanser does two things, it dries out the clumps and "goodies" and it deodorizes the cat's waste and urine. If you do this properly I guarantee you'll never smell even the vilest cat urine that you deposit in the can. Matter of fact my brother, who has no pets at all, stayed with us for a week and said he couldn't believe we even had cats ! There just wasn't any smell !! Of course you do have to clean out the cat's litter box daily but you're probably doing that anyhow.
. . . Well that's all there is to it. Oh, and here's another little tip that will save you some of a cat's mess. Invest in a "boot tray", you know, the plastic kind you use for snow boots or muddy shoes ? Put it in front of the cat's litter box with the edge of the tray just under the edge of the litter box. Even with a coverd litter box, cat's still scatter litter out the front door. The boot tray will catch a lot of the stray cat litter they scatter.
. . . Well I hope these hints help you. I KNOW they've helped us a bunch and cut down on the work that's involved when you have cats. If you have any comments about all this we would love to hear from you. Just go to the "Contact Us" page and drop us a line ! Oh, and I do hope you'll do a little window shopping while you're here ! After all, everthing here is "From the best craftsmen in the world for the best home in the world . . . Yours !"
Sincerely,
Your Uncle Buck
