After six months of being away from the worst task in all of dad-dom, I'd forgotten that after the 1 year term of service with kitty litter, I had decided that I'd rather not have more kids than have to face the litter again. Well, that bargain failed utterly. My wife tried several times over the last four days (Duncan's birthday was yesterday) that the litter needed changed. I kept wondering why she didn't just do it. And then I wondered why she thought I might get upset if she got up early on Sunday to change the litter. And today it dawned on me that since she's preggo (Found out last week), it's back in my court.

I absolutely despise cat litter and all it's requirements. The smell, what the cats do when they want it cleaned, everything. But now it's once again up to me for one full year and I already feel like the cuffs have been locked. I just cleaned out the main box. We tried adding an auxiliary one a few months ago, but my wife decided it was too inconvenient for her to manage that one, so it hasn't been cleaned out since we got it.

Here are the details:

Cat 1: Shadow. 13 yo female Maine Coon. She's a little prissy and doesn't generally like people although after three years, she's tolerating me. She'd still kill me in my sleep if she knew she'd be fed by someone else.

Cat 2: Random. 2.5 yo male tiger. He's fun but bites. As a line in Duncan's song goes: "When he would purr he'd often bite; he'd almost always pick a fight."

I'm not really attached to either one of these cats, but kicking them to the curb is out of the question. So what's a guy to do? We tried the automatic system made by LitterMaid, but it died a quick death and made so much noise it wasn't worth much. I'm considering making it a green science project by building a cat litter digester in the back yard. I think that might make it a little more tolerable for a little while, but not for long enough.

Any suggestions or fun tales of bondage to the litter box?

I heard you can train cats to use the toilet.



I've never done it. But then again I'm not a fan of cats. I'm a dog person. But between emptying the diaper can and picking up the dog poo, I'm pretty much used to it.

Okay kitty litter...but she's pregnant?! Congrats, Bud! Way to go.

If your years of being a dad have taught you nothing, they have taught you how to face utterly disgusting tasks that would have completely freaked out your childless self.

Draw on your Dad Powers of keeping your gorge down, and in the name of all things pre-natal, CHANGE THAT KITTY LITTER!

Yea, I feel your pain. The wife came with a cat, adding to the 2 (and the dog) I already lived with. So changing 2 boxes weekly SUX! I'm vowing that the next house will have a kitty door into the garage and a cabinet in there that holds the box. I think I'll be able to handle it much better if I can change the litter 'outside' rather than IN the house. I've changed boxes that were really no big deal. Normal poop, all in the box, pull the liner, easy. But I haven't changed a simple box in YEARS. It'd really be nice if the cats could all hit the box everytime. I don't understand why that is so difficult. Just get yourself some rubber gloves and change it OFTEN. 'Tis the only chance of it ever being simple.

When these cats are gone (they are all at least 14)... only ONE cat and ONE dog will ever be in our family again. More is just too much additional hassle.

Yep, we're expecting. This time on New Year's Eve!

I think I found a nice compromise. It's a litter box that you roll over and screen inside filters out the clean litter and the rest rolls into a tray on the way back. It takes about 2 minutes and doesn't raise the dust that scooping did. I'm about four weeks into doing the chore, and it seems to be going well.

It probably wouldn't be such a problem if it didn't put all of the cleanup in my hands. I think the only things I'm not expected to clean are my son's clothes, her car, and picking up his toys. That's a Mommy Game. It's not that I mind it. The cats are just not my thing.

We've got 3 cats, and my wife is pregant with our first... she's 11 weeks along now, so I've got a lot of litter to look forward to.

However, I've already learned several things:

1. Get Everclean cat litter. It's more expensive, but a helluva lot better. You can get it at places like Petco and Petsmart. The stink is MUCH reduced with this brand, and believe me, I've tried to be cheap. This stuff is worth the money. (And no, I don't work for them.)

2. If you already bought that expensive cat litter box, well, use it until it stinks so bad you want to throw it out even after changing the litter. Then trash it. Get yourself a big plastic tub... the kind you can get just about anywhere. I found a clear one, about 2 feet high, 2 feet wide, and 3 feet long. Makes a big, big litter box. High enough that the cats can jump into, but can't really kick the sand out. Also keeps small dogs (like our Boston Terrier and French Bulldog) from helping themselves to tootsie rolls. These big tubs cost about 8 bucks as opposed to an outrageous $40 or so for a cat litter box.

3. Get yourself a REAL pooper scooper. I found a big metal one for serious jobs. I can scoop that tub in under 2 minutes... and I'm building up my lungs to be able to hold my breath for about that long. Which means breathing in the fumes only once or twice.

Overall, I'm scooping about every 2 to 3 days. Not bad.

One last thing, if anyone wants a free cat, let me know. I'll overnight them to you.

I had to take over the cat litter duties when my wife got pregnant. We have two cats, one of them is toxic. Still, I survived. The only thing is, since I have taken over this chore, and it is now tied to taking out the garbage, it has become my chore for life. I think I'm stuck with it.

Oh well. I think I'll survive. Since I'm a stay-at-home dad, I do all the other chores anyway, so it doesn't really make a difference to keep doing it.