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Cat Friendly Air Freshener Spray!
Siska
ShortyRegistered User regular
ShortyRegistered User regular
We found an outdoor kitten and brought her home. After almost 2 weeks of gentle coaxing she finally figured out what a litter box is for. The litter box is now in our bathroom where we tend to use citrus scented air freshener a lot. I'm worried that the smell is going to act as a repellent and encourage her to find somewhere else to do her business. I'm hoping there is an alternative cat friendly air freshener out there. But when I try to google it all that comes up is pee stain remover and cat repellents. Anyone got any recommendations for air freshner that should not scare away cats?
This is Boot de Doink
This is Boot de Doink
We think she is about 10 weeks old. We found her on July 5th, digging through some 4th of July backyard party garbage. We asked the home owner if she was theirs and they said no and that she had been showing up begging for food and attention for about a week. She was very lethargic and sneezed a lot so we took her with us to decide what to do with later. By the next day we had decided to keep her instead of turning her in to a shelter and booked an appointment with a vet but couldn't schedule a time until next Wednesday. That wait felt like forever. She was a lot less active then what's normal for a kitten and sneezed all the time. Because of not being certain of her age and health we did not dare to deworm or do anything medical to her before her check up. But she would play a bit now and then and her appetite was ok but not great. Many many small meals. And she didn't seem to be getting worse.
Wednesday came around and she got her (first) check up. My husband found it even more scary then the kitten. They dewormed her, ran some tests (She does not have FIV, yay) and gave us some meds for upper respiratory and ear infections. She was not well enough to be vaccinated right away. So we got another visit scheduled for next week. The meds made a noticeable difference. The sneezing mostly stopped and she now runs around playing like a normal kitten.
Litterbox training was a hassle. She did not seem to understand the concept. Which was not surprising since when we first found her she peed the middle of a lawn, right in front of us. So that was what she was used to. She just leaped out of the box right away when we put her in it. So we bought puppy pee pads and placed them on spots were she favored going to the bathroom. And put a tiny amount of kitty litter in chinese food take out lid trays on top pf the pads so that she would learn to associate the activity with kitty litter. Then we put her intended litter box in a spot where she would walk by a lot and put some of her pee in it and just hoped she would figure out the puzzle. This Sunday she finally used the litter box for the first time and seems to have been consistently using it since. Even after we moved it to the bathroom, yesterday. So yaaay!
Wednesday came around and she got her (first) check up. My husband found it even more scary then the kitten. They dewormed her, ran some tests (She does not have FIV, yay) and gave us some meds for upper respiratory and ear infections. She was not well enough to be vaccinated right away. So we got another visit scheduled for next week. The meds made a noticeable difference. The sneezing mostly stopped and she now runs around playing like a normal kitten.
Litterbox training was a hassle. She did not seem to understand the concept. Which was not surprising since when we first found her she peed the middle of a lawn, right in front of us. So that was what she was used to. She just leaped out of the box right away when we put her in it. So we bought puppy pee pads and placed them on spots were she favored going to the bathroom. And put a tiny amount of kitty litter in chinese food take out lid trays on top pf the pads so that she would learn to associate the activity with kitty litter. Then we put her intended litter box in a spot where she would walk by a lot and put some of her pee in it and just hoped she would figure out the puzzle. This Sunday she finally used the litter box for the first time and seems to have been consistently using it since. Even after we moved it to the bathroom, yesterday. So yaaay!
Siska on
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Use clay so they're encouraged to dig / bury and avoid stuff with scents or crystals at least initially. I found that just about anything that isn't citrus or citronella works really well as long as it doesn't have an overpowering scent... cats like having their stink on things so they know it's theirs, if the box is cleaned and sanitized too often they'll give up on it being their spot and start pooping under your couch or something.
Edit: I suppose I should note that my cats are fuckin weird... One of them absolutely loves the smell of bleach. I have to stand watch after washing the tile floor because the dummy will run in there and roll all over the tiles if I dont.
However there are two things that can help with smells:
1. Baking soda. Put baking soda in a jar with a perforated lid and it will neutralize smells.
2. An air purifier (you know, the type you might have in your house if you're an asthmatic) will definitely reduce smell if the previous step isn't enough. Pick one with a low noise level.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
That might work
I'll check the store for lavender and and vanilla. Right now we are using some apple pie scented spray that we had available.