17/12/2024
Want a better litter box experience without harming yourself or your cats? Read on for USEFUL tips that are easy to apply!
🙋🏻♀️ I have heard cat parents say that they want a better litter box experience.
😻 This is why I created The Holistic Litter Box, a free mini-guide to a system that helps keep litter tracking down to a minimum (DM me if you don't have it yet!).
.And there is more we can do to keep SMELLS down, in a way that doesn't upset our cats or damage everyone's health. And if you are dealing with inappropriate elimination and you are trying to cover your cats' markings with artificial products, DEFINITELY read this post!
❌ Desperate cat parents sometimes resort to burning candles and cleaning with scented disinfectants, washing cat beds very often with scented washing liquids and softeners, completely changing the litter box contents every few days, or even trying those plug-ins sold everywhere in supermarkets..
‼ ..BUT IF YOU WANT YOUR HOUSE TO SMELL BETTER WITHOUT HURTING YOUR OWN HEALTH OR YOUR CATS'..
👉🏻 Please do not burn candles.
👉🏻 Do not use harsh cleaning products.
👉🏻 Do not wash fabric with scented washing liquids or conditioners.
👉🏻 And definitely throw those artificial plug-ins in the bin.
All these products contain dangerous chemicals among which are phthalates, a really nasty group of chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors and carcinogenic compounds.. These chemicals can wreak havoc on your health, and your cats' health as well, especially if you live in a small place with no way for your cats to escape the scents you distribute in the environment. Studies have proven that some phthalates are considered toxic to reproduction and can have a negative effect on the ability to have children. Exposure to phthalates has been linked to a higher risk of breast cancer, infertility, and osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. Personally, I am not into having human children.. But if these chemicals can cause infertility and the big C.. What else can they cause???
👉🏻 If you light a commercial, mainstream candle and you can smell its scent, your cats will probably feel like they can't breathe.
Cats have 45 to 200 million scent receptors in their cute little noses, while a human's nose has about 5 million, no matter how big a nose that is!
👉🏻 When you burn a candle, its scent it's actually made of tiny particles which eventually fall back down and deposit onto your floor, furniture, and your cats' fur.
Cats tend to spend their time on the floor and on your furniture and they love to lick themselves clean several times a day. For this reason, they ingest copious amounts of all the chemicals you use inside your house.
✅ The fewer chemicals you use, the healthier your cats (and you) will be.
🎀 I know, I know, it's Xmas and we like to burn candles to make the house feel "cozy".. 🏡
✅ But I am a professional and work with cat parents on their cat care to help them with issues in a way that is non-toxic but also effective so I have much safer, better alternatives for you!
👉🏻 Please do not think I'm against these products because I'm overreacting: I have seen first-hand what artificial cleaning products and scents can do to people and their cats, and it's not pretty.
▶ HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO INSTEAD:
✅ 1 - Keep smells low by using natural absorbing substances (like sodium bicarbonate, but there are many others I talk about in The Holistic Cat Club).
✅ 2 - Use a natural clumping litter, scoop it twice a day, but only change it completely as little as possible (and when you do, keep aside a cup of the old litter and add it back on the top of the new batch, to help your cat feel less stressed when the new litter is added back in the box).. This tip alone has helped several cat guardians successfully deal with cat anxiety and inappropriate elimination behaviours.
✅ 3 - Use only natural fragrances like a few high-quality, cat-safe hydrosol drops in a spray bottle filled with 50% water and 50% isopropyl alcohol. If you want to know more about what fragrances are safe to use and at which concentration, comment below and feel fre to ask questions.
✅ 4 - Only diffuse the above mentioned hydrosols gently, and in areas your cats can exit at any time they want.
✅ 5 - Get baking! If you are not as bad at baking as I am, baking cinnamon cookies or pumpkin pie will make your house smell divine, and even just boiling some water and letting it cool with fresh lemon, lavender and mint added to it, will make a big difference.. You can use the cold mixture you obtain as an air freshener after it has cooled down, just fill an empty spray bottle and spray it lightly on curtains and furniture!
✅ 6 - Using natural cleaning products and washing liquids like marsilla soap (but I have many recipes inside The Holistic Cat Club to help my cat parents find their favourite combination of natural basic ingredients and make amazing, very safe claning products which clean great AND smell fantastic.. AND cost close to nothing by the way..).
✅ 7 - Use a good air purifier with hepa filtration. Not only your house will smell better, but your lungs will thank you!
✨ These things, I promise, will make a world of difference.
And if your cats have been suffering with allergies of any kind, all the above should be your very first step to healing. Start taking toxins OUT of your house to support your own health and your cats' health, too.
There is more you can do, but this should give you a tremendous head start.
And if you want a particular recipe to make an alternative natural product to what you normally use.. DM me and let me know what you need, I will pull it out of my membership portal and help you out!
