Using Litter Boxes
In the wild,
cats naturally go to the toilet in soft or sandy soil for easy burial. To simulate this instinctive desire, a litter box’s bottom is filled typically with an inch or more of cat litter. Litter box filler is a loose, granular material that absorbs moisture and odors such as ammonia. Some litter brands contain baking soda, to absorb such odors. The litter material also satisfies a cat's instinctive desire to use an easily-dug material. The most common material is clay, although recycled paper "pellets" and silicon based "crystal" variants are also used.
A litter box is also sometimes called a sandbox, sand box, litter tray, litter pan, cat box, or cat box, is an indoor feces and urine disposal box for that are permitted free roam of a home but who cannot or do not always go outside to relieve themselves. Many owners of these animals prefer not to let them roam outside for fear that they might succumb to the elements or get hit by a car, so a cat litter box makes it possible to shelter pets from these risks. However, some people just use the litter trays during the kitten stage and then migrate the toilet to be outside once vaccinations have been completed.
Litter Box Maintenance
The main reasons that cats stop using the litter boxes is because the litter boxes are too dirty, on a daily basis scoop out droppings and wet litter and refresh the litter partially every other day. On a weekly basis completely replace the litter and wash the tray out. Some people chose to use litter bags, which is an easier way of collecting the litter and keeping any mess directly with the tray. However, sometimes the litter bags do split from the cats burying their mess. The litter needs to be at least two inches deep within the tray.
Where to place the litter box
Find a nice quiet place in the house, cats like to have a lot of privacy when they go to the toilet, they are very shy animals. If your cat is mostly going to the toliet in hidden places, like under furniture or in dark corners, it is because they don't feel secluded enough in their litter box. Make sure your cat's litter box is in a dark quiet place where they can have plenty of privacy. Also, cats especially don't like going to the toilet around dogs, if you are also a dog owner, you should definitely keep your cat's litter box as far away from your dog as possible.
Accidents
After your cat uses your carpet as their own personal toilet, make sure you completely and thoroughly clean the area of the rug that they have soiled. Cats are territorial animals and they like to remember where they have gone to the toilet. If you completely eliminate the odor left behind from where they went, they won't be able to find that spot again. Reversely leave their litter box nice and stinky, but remember as ammonia increases the odor of cat urine, so use something else to clean it.
Alternative Toilet Training
There is an alternative for toilet training and using customised cat toilet seats, whereby cat litter is placed in a toilet seat cover in the bathroom next to the toilet, then gradually the tray is then placed on top of the toilet and the tray replaced with a toilet tray with a hole in the middle of it, with litter surrounding the hole. This gives the cat the opportunity to go to the toilet in the litter or in through the hole. The toilet seat is then completely replaced and the cat just uses the toilet to do its business. This is a link to a product called Litter Kwitter, but there are many similar products on the market;
www.litterkwitter.com.