Why doen't men get it?

[E!!]

Since I am pregnant the litter scooping duties have fallen to the husband guy. I am grateful that I don't have to deal with it, but I am also getting frustrated with hubby because he doesn't scoop as often or as thouroughly as I would. I always scooped at least twice a day, sometimes more. And I scooped every last little clump, all the way down to the bottom. Hubby scoops once a day and sometimes forgets, then i come home and can't hang out living room because it stinks so bad and he won't be home for a couple of hours. Not only that when he does scoop he just gets what is on top, so there is always an unpleasant aroma in the area of the litter box.

Are there any tips on getting him to be a little more thourough about the job? I don't want to be the nagging, nitpicking wife, but it really is starting to gross me out!

[nancycccslp]

You're pregnant.
You have free license to bitch up a storm.
Whine away.

Sincerely;
Someone who had 2 kids.
And who also found that smells made her WAAAY queasy.

[Pumpkinseed]

I think i should adopt a maid ..
since i dont have a husband to bow to my every wish and command (which makes me sad. Darnit im pregnant I should be a flipping princess)

[strangeduck]

A little litter deodorizer might help...or even some baking soda in the bottom of the pan.

With your husband...play up the nausea, and that smells make the nausea so much worse.  Tell him that you need him to be as thorough as you are in cleaning to keep the smell down.  And if all else fails...tears usually work..lol

[NutKitty]

Maybe you can get him to compromise?  Ask him to scoop a minimum of once a day, and to make sure he gets it all in one go - and not just the top layer. 

I'm surprised it stinks so much though...  I have three cats and two litterboxes that get scooped about every other day, and I never smell them.  It isn't a matter of not smelling them because I'm used to it - they're generally just kept clean.

Ironically, I rarely scoop them myself.  My boyfriend handles all of it.  He also does all of the laundry (washes and folds), and helps with dishes often.  And vacuums.   I plan on keeping him!   

[sawyer_gota_gun]

i have 8 indorr cats and my mom scoops one of the litterpans that (six of them use) nearly everytime she sees anything in it. the other litterpan sometimes forgets to be done everyday and stinks really bad (with only one cat using it, he has smellier poops/pees than my other cats  ).
Then the one in my room for 1 cat gets done everyday -unless I forget which i do often- and it doesnt smell much.

As for tips- I'd do what strangeduck said 

[E!!]

I'm surprised it stinks so much though...  I have three cats and two litterboxes that get scooped about every other day, and I never smell them.  It isn't a matter of not smelling them because I'm used to it - they're generally just kept clean.

We have four cats using one (BIG) litter box and for some reason our big guy who has the stinkers doesn't cover his poop. 

[Leonakitty]

Hrm, I'm surprised at how few boxes some of you have.

The rule of thumb I've always heard is a box per cat, plus one.
My one cat has two boxes. When I was fostering for the rescue and my hubby's cat still lived here we had three boxes for three cats.  The top we ever did was 3 boxes and four cats. 

Mine very rarely smell -  mostly if I just brainfart and forget to clean them or Mollycat has just gone number 2 and didn't cover well.  I tend to clean her boxes every 3 days or so.  With only one cat and two boxes, they stay pretty unfull and not smelly. 

A lazy friend of mine swears by this gizmo, E!!
http://www.omegapaw.com/RollnCleanLrg.html

Maybe that would help your hubby be more thorough with the cleaning, at least.
If it's easier/faster, he'll likely do it more often.  With four cats, you'd be best getting at least two, though.
Pretty big cats can fit in these guys, my other friend also has one and her fiancee's chubby cat has no issues.
She also thinks it's pretty rockin'.  She uses Swheat Scoop in it and says it's not as perfect a system as it would be with harder clumping litter, but it's really good.  She's like me and won't use clay due to health issues. With your pregnancy, I'd suggest avoiding silica containing clay litters, too. 

Melissa

[E!!]

Hrm, I'm surprised at how few boxes some of you have.

The rule of thumb I've always heard is a box per cat, plus one.
My one cat has two boxes. When I was fostering for the rescue and my hubby's cat still lived here we had three boxes for three cats.  The top we ever did was 3 boxes and four cats. 

Mine very rarely smell -  mostly if I just brainfart and forget to clean them or Mollycat has just gone number 2 and didn't cover well.  I tend to clean her boxes every 3 days or so.  With only one cat and two boxes, they stay pretty unfull and not smelly. 

A lazy friend of mine swears by this gizmo, E!!
http://www.omegapaw.com/RollnCleanLrg.html

Maybe that would help your hubby be more thorough with the cleaning, at least.
If it's easier/faster, he'll likely do it more often.  With four cats, you'd be best getting at least two, though.
Pretty big cats can fit in these guys, my other friend also has one and her fiancee's chubby cat has no issues.
She also thinks it's pretty rockin'.  She uses Swheat Scoop in it and says it's not as perfect a system as it would be with harder clumping litter, but it's really good.  She's like me and won't use clay due to health issues. With your pregnancy, I'd suggest avoiding silica containing clay litters, too. 

Melissa

That looks pretty neat! I wonder if our two almost 20 pounders would fit in there?

We really only have room for one box, unless we put the other in the middle of the living room or in the kitchen (which I refuse to do). Our house is pretty teeny. The one box we have is actually a rubbermaid storage container that is about 2.5 feet long and 2 feet wide. We have an old one that we stopped using because it had a crack in it and I think we may make that into a cover. The cats would still have plenty of room and the smell wouldn't be so bad...

I will be pitiful tonight and mention to hubby that he really has to scoop thouroughly at least once a day. I do feel really bad giving him too hard of a time though since he has been working 55+ hours a week.

edit to add: I looked at the deminsions on that Omega litter box at it is just a little smaller that what we have now, so it might work. I am going to see if I can find one!

[ShadowDancer60]

As a male, I do get it... and the main issue, other than smell, concerning pregnant women and litter, has been toxoplasmosis. Which would have been my best advice to use to get hubby to clean more often or more efficiently.

http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/humanpregnancy.htm

http://www.pa.msu.edu/sciencet/ask_st/041697.html

If you must do it yourself, be sure to wear disposable gloves and a face covering, and wash hands thoroughly afterwards.

(Off to go clean pans and cages)

[forkyfork]

The roll n clean will create a fair amount of dust when cleaning.

Ive had an electric catbox for the past 8yrs or so it doesnt really generate any dust when it runs. The only thing I have to be careful of is what kind of litter.

I tried the feline pine clumping and it worked ok but it was so light that the scooper part pushed a fair amount of the clean litter out with the bad.

I have been trying petsmarts non scented clumping litter because it seemed to have less additives but the boy kittys pee has that strong musky smell and the litter makes it horribly smelly. 
So I will go back to fresh step for now at least it doesnt have any silica.  The stuff with the silica crystals is bad for their health.

[NutKitty]

Hrm, I'm surprised at how few boxes some of you have.

The rule of thumb I've always heard is a box per cat, plus one.

Yikes...  I couldn't deal with more than two boxes.  My home is 1120 sq. ft, so there isn't really room for more than that.

[Popcorn]

4 cats, 5 boxes?   In my house??



Ya, and Satan will be shopping at National Sports for a pair of ice skates!



As for you E!! you'll have to keep nagging until he understands that pregnant women can be very sensitive to all kinds of things, especially odors!  Take him with you to your next doctor's visit if you have to and have the Doc explain the reality to him if you have to!

[Dearpie]

SO has your hubby "gotten it" yet?   It always amazes me that other people can't see and figure things out the way we can ...

As for number of boxes, I have 5 cats and one litter box.  I clean it at least once a day, and more often if I see any thing in it.  It takes 30 seconds!

[E!!]

He at least is trying to be better. He will clean it any time I mention noticing a smell (without complaining one bit too!), but he still falls short on cleaning it on his own initiative sometimes. I have to thank the kitties for helping me out though. We tried using a covered cat box that was a bit smaller that what we had been using.(So I wouldn't notice the smell so much.) Well when he would forget to scoop that, the cats started peeing in the bathroom sink and pooping in the bath tub. I think he finally realised it wasn't just me being overly picky, but it was also him not scooping enough. 

[andrea1970]

SO has your hubby "gotten it" yet?   It always amazes me that other people can't see and figure things out the way we can ...

As for number of boxes, I have 5 cats and one litter box.  I clean it at least once a day, and more often if I see any thing in it.  It takes 30 seconds!

ok - really stupid, stupid question.  How do you do it so fast??  It takes me several minutes to get the "dirty" bucket from the garage, scoop the solids, scrape the wet litter off the bottom, put the bucket back in the garage, get the refill litter, top off the box, put litter back in the garage.  And then I always have a ton of litter everywhere because it scatters when I try to knock it off the scoop into the bucket, or loose pieces drop everywhere between the litter box and the disposal bucket.

ANd what does everyone do with what they scoop?  FOr a long time, I had a open bucket in that I'd put a grocery sack in and throw it out when it was full.  Lately, I used an empty tidy cats bucket and put a grocery sack in it and keep it closed.  But I'm beginning to think the open bucket was a better idea - everything would dry out and stop smelling while it sat in the garage between cleanings.

[E!!]

Our set up is pretty easy. Our litter box is in the laundry room and we have a stash of grocery bags right above it. We just use a grocery bag, scoop into that and toss it out the door next to the garbage can in the drive way until we walk by it and toss it in. The litter is in the same room with the box, so all in all it is a very short process. I think hubby makes it too short though because he doesn't really get down in there to get all the wet litter. I am a fanatic about it, so we have reached a compromise. He does it more than he use to and I pretend it doesn't bother me that he doesn't do it as thouroughly as me. 

[Dearpie]

Yep, I too keep a stash of plastic bags right near the litter box (tucked between the washer and wall, actuall) and I keep a small "bathroom vanity trashcan" right by the litter box, with the scoop sitting right in it.   I keep my litter box fairly full with about 3" or 4", so I only have to refill with litter about once every 7 - 10 days?   The little trash can gets tied up and tossed out when it's full, which is about every 3 or 4 days with 5 cats.  I scoop 1 - 3 times a day, so there's not that much to scoop at once. 

[Auntie Crazy]

Hrm, I'm surprised at how few boxes some of you have.

The rule of thumb I've always heard is a box per cat, plus one.

Yikes...  I couldn't deal with more than two boxes.  My home is 1120 sq. ft, so there isn't really room for more than that.

Funny, funny. I have just over 800 square feet in my apartment and four litter boxes (though two are very close together) for three cats. 

[JohariZ]

Hrm, I'm surprised at how few boxes some of you have.

The rule of thumb I've always heard is a box per cat, plus one.

Yikes...  I couldn't deal with more than two boxes.  My home is 1120 sq. ft, so there isn't really room for more than that.

Funny, funny. I have just over 800 square feet in my apartment and four litter boxes (though two are very close together) for three cats. 

I only have two boxes for three cats, and both are in the bathroom. I can't fit any more in my bathroom or put them anywhere else in the apartment because it's all carpeted and if litter spills on carpet and gets a little wet, it's a pain in the butt to get out of the carpet.....