Does anyone have advice about changing the type of litter after an illness? My 19 month old male furball was sick in July and refused to use his tray. He would either litter outside in my garden or walk straight past the litterbox to my shower - Yuk! I tried all types of other litter to no avail, until finally in desperation I put my garden soil in the tray and presto! he used the tray again. The issue is that the soil smells after one use and is very messy. Any ideas about how to get him back to use proper litter?

Melanie

You might try adding cat litter to the garden soil in increasing amts over several days to a week. That might help him get used to using cat litter again.

Janis

Thanks Janis. I have already tried adding a handful of his old litter to the garden soil but he used my shower again, so I'm back to the garden soil. I wonder if there's a litter brand on the market that feels soft like soil? I might have to do some more searching in specialist pet stores - the things we do for our furbabies!

Hi have you ever tried the cat attract litter, it mostlyl used to train cat to a litter box I think, but it's worth a try.

I haven't heard of cat attract litter. Do you know if its available in Australia?

Hi I've been searching for cat attract litter, but can't find an Australian supplier. I will keep trying though. Thanks my fellow furball lovers for your thoughts :)

You might also try to find diatomaceous earth. Looks like cat litter but not made of clay. It is siliceous diatom remains. You may remain diatoms from biology class. It's a type of alga impregnated with silica.

I am able to buy this litter at my local Dollar Tree store in the U.S. but there are probably companies in Australia that sell it. Might also look under horse stall supplies, cuz I think it is used to keep stalls clean.

You might also try putting the litter box in the shower and gradually moving it to its usual location.

Hi again,
Just thought I would update with the solution to my litterbox issue! I ended up buying a small bag of cleaned sand (the type you use for a childs sandpit). After a day or two my furball started using it and there hasn't been a problem since! Its clean, around the same price as cat litter and is always available from my local hardware store. Thanks everyone for your suggestions :)