Domesticated animals, especially cats, need to be properly trained to poop or pee. The reason for this is mainly to maintain the cleanliness of the house you’re both living in. One of the most common practices for cat owners is to have a litter box at home.
The placement of this is usually at the corner of the living room or the kitchen. This is to make sure that the cats will do their business at the right place. Unlike other pets like dogs, cats will never tell their owners when they want to poop or pee. Litter boxes are created to ensure that cats will have their territory inside your house.
The same will ensure that they feel safe and danger-free when doing their business. However, what will happen if you remove these boxes? How long can cats go without a litter box?
What Will Happen if Your Cat Does Not Have Litter Box?
Let’s drill down further to understand more what if your cat does not have a litter box around.
They Will Not Poop
Cats are animals that will endure holding their pee or poop as long as they can. They do this when litter boxes are not offered to them or when they do not want to go outside. They will not poop and continue to do so.
Cat Litters All Over Your Place
Sometimes, when cats can’t hold it anymore, they will randomly do their business on random spots in your house. This will give you major stress of cleaning and making sure that the smell is gone. If they are not properly trained, you might live with this situation for a very long time.
Medical Conditions May Arise
If your cat does not have a litter box at home and if they are not trained to poop outside, medical conditions may arise. One of the things that you should look for is Urinary Tract Infection caused by the non-peeing of your furry friend. Do not let this happen and train your cat to poop or pee whenever necessary in the right locations.
They Will Forcefully Go Outside
Even if you don’t train cats to go outside and do their business, they will find ways to do it when nature is calling. To prevent this from happening, you can install a DIY cat door (or hire a professional as well) for your cats to use to go to your backyard.
Smelly Indoors
On top of cleaning the visible cat litters and pee scattered all over your house, the smell is the one that will get to your nerves. Buy cleaning agents that neutralize the odor and kill the germs of your cat’s wastes.
Grumpy Cat
When cats do not get to relieve what they are holding on to for a very long time, expect a grumpy feline roaming around your house. They will not want to eat or drink because of the discomfort they are experiencing. Make them feel better by providing the best way to do their business.
Will Your Cat Still Go to the Bathroom Without a Litter Box?
Cats will only go to the bathroom without a litter box when they are properly trained to do so. However, if they are not, they will be forced to poop or pee anywhere in the house or outside when there is a door or window open.
Also Read Here: Can You Mix Cat Litter?
Can Cats Go Overnight Without Litter Box?
Yes! According to experts, cats will be able to go overnight without a litter box for about 48 hours. This is true even though they ate lots of food and drank water the whole day. However, it is not recommended to let your feline friend endure this so make sure that you have at least 1 litter box at home.
Should You Go Litter Box-Free?
It depends on your living situation on whether you should go litter box-free or not. It will feel less stressful when you already trained your cat to go outside the house to poop or pee. However, there are major drawbacks. The following are the pros and cons of going litter box-free:
Pros
Less Poop Smell
One of the biggest pros of going litter box-free at home is that there will be less poop smell. Even though felines are very adorable creatures, their poop still smells as bad as garbage disposal. By having your cat do its business outside, you can maintain the freshness of the air inside.
No More Cleaning Litters
When you do not have a litter box anymore inside your home, you don’t need to clean every single day. Sometimes, cleaning litter boxes is so awful because of the smell. When you properly train your cat to go outside, their feces can become fertilizers for your outdoor plants.
Cat Can Explore the Outdoors
Cats love the indoors but you can’t disregard the fact that they still have animal instincts. This is the reason why bringing them outside or letting them go outside the house to poop is a great idea. They can breathe fresh air and look at a different surroundings than the four corners of your living room.
Bigger Space
Let’s face it, having cat litter boxes at home eat up a lot of space. When your cat goes litter box-free, you will now have the opportunity to clean up that space and make room for home decorations. Replace them with big plants and or drawers for organization.
Cons
Uninvited Guests
A con that you should worry about is that having trained your cats of going outside to do their business, you need to install small cat doors. This being said, uninvited guests like wild cats and other animals may use the doors and go inside your house. This is especially true with houses near the forests and suburbs.
Infrequent Bathroom Time
And because cats do not have a specific time of the day to take bathroom breaks, you will either wake up to open up the house for them or install a door for them. Unlike litter boxes where it is available for your cats 24/7, the outdoors are only safe for them in the morning.
Less Safer
As above-mentioned, the outside of your house, even if fenced, is not safe for your cats. You don’t know how many times do cats poop or pee at night and having them go outside to do their business is not a good idea. It is so much better to let them go out only when the sun is out.
Not Good for Plants
If you have edible plants in your backyard, getting the cats to do their business there is bad. However, what you can do is to adjust and put your plants at a higher level or in pots. This is not necessary when you only have non-edible plants at home. The wastes of cats can act as fertilizer to further nourish your plants.
Conclusion
As much as it sounds amazing in the ears to go litter box-free with your cats, there are a lot of drawbacks or cons that you might want to consider. There is another way of removing litter boxes through toilet training but experts and seasoned pet owners do not recommend this.
The best way to ensure the comfort of your feline friends is to train them to go outside to do their business in the morning and stay at the litter box when they need to do it at night. Cleaning cat litters are not that bad to clean. And if you don’t feel safe about your cats going out, stick to litter boxes.
