Expert: Norman Auspitz - 1/2/2011

Question
Hello
   I took in a young cat to save it from my neighbor who was going to kill it because it was stealing his cat's food.
  I was surprised how tame it became and although we are not cat people it is becoming a part of our family.  It took to a litter box real fast but I asked someone how often you change the gravel.  The person said "Never, just scoop out the poop".  I have been doing this but am concerned about all that urine underneath.  It doesn't smell bad (usually) but sometimes it does.  Should I change the gravel every so often and how often?
   Also I have made the mistake of having kitty upstairs when we were eating and it goes crazy wanting food even attacking me.  He or she attacked me two times when I had food in my hands and it was a real wild attack. It's been three weeks and I still have the wounds.  I don't think he did it on purpose, just saw that food as a wild mouse outside.  Now kitty is in the basement when I am handling food.  Will this behavior go away?

Answer
Don,

In time, the wild food grabbing behavior may stop.  This kitty was probably abused and never socialized, so, once the kitty is more used to your regimen and has had time to adjust to his new surroundings, he will, eventually gain more self assurance that he will have regular meals and that you are a good person.  However, this takes lots of time.  So, temporarily confining him  to the basement while you dole out food is, probably, a good idea until he calms down. I would expect it will take him a few months, not weeks, to totally settle in.

You should also see if he will let you begin to clip his claws which will make your life easier and create a trusting bond.  If you start with one paw and one claw on that one paw and see if you can get away with once a day, you may be able to get his claws clipped.  If not, there is always the vet.

As for litter pans, we have one litter pan per every 2 cats and we wash them totally once a week.  You will have to see.  If you are using clumping litter, the urine will clump and scooping will work.  If the litter pan begins to smell or if a week goes by, I would empty it totally, wash it and put new litter in.  Most people put too much litter in, so you can experiment with using less as you are going to change it more frequently.  Another idea is to have another litter pan of the same size, so when you are washing one litter pan, you have another one ready to go.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Best regards... Norm.