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The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

charlesmingus.com

101–110 of 146 posts

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#104
post #79

Does toilet training your cat introduce a significant health hazard through toxoplasma gondii into the surrounding environment? It's so hard to tell if your local wastewater plant takes care of this...

I could have sworn I read something to this effect, that this is ill advised because waste treatment plants aren’t really equipped to handle animal parasites

Yeah this is my understanding. Sewage treatment cannot destroy toxoplasmosis

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#105
Funny story: I knew someone who trained their cat to do this. It was all going well, the cat had been using the toilet successfully for a number of weeks. That is, until the cat fell in the toilet one time. From then on it refused to use the toilet, but had become accustomed to going in the bathroom... So the cat started popping in the bath. And no matter what he tried he couldn't stop the cat from doing this. At least the story is funny from the outside perspective. Perhaps less so if it was your bath and your cat haha.

On a more serious note, I believe it is not advised to put cat poop down the toilet, since our sewage treatment systems are not capable of dealing with toxoplasmosis from cat faeces

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if you mean “no smell to a cat person” or if you mean no smell to everyone else. Because I’ve been in enough cat people’s places to know the former is a real thing.

I've done the air purifier thing as well, paired with some unscented litter like Dr. Elsey's Ultra Litter and it genuinely doesn't smell most of the time, unless they've recently used the box or its not cycling due to being full.

Would you mind sharing what air purifier model you use next to your Litter Robot?

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My extended family has always had a ton of cats, and I don’t remember the last one that was seriously ill without it being due to old age. Most of them were “outdoor cats” in a small country town. Is there something in modern cats’ diet / habits that makes them more susceptible to disease? These concerns read like hypochondria, coming from this background.

Doesn't a urinary infection cause that? For an indoor cat, I strongly suspect there's a problem with canned food sometimes. When I had a cat a long while back, every so often you'd open a can of cat food and it'd have worms, or the cat would (after being extremely excited as you were opening the can), sniff and propel himself away from the food. You'd look and notice it was off (like it had something crawling in it).

Wait, cat food is not pasteurised and sealed in the tin?

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#109
post #7

There are even special litter boxes sold that are intended to go on the toilet seat for this type of training. But as cool as this is, I believe it can be dangerous, especially for owners of male cats. Cats' urinary habits are important to keep an eye on. A change in urination volume or frequency can be the sign of a critical issue that requires veterinary attention. You just can't easily track urine volume if the ca…

My extended family has always had a ton of cats, and I don’t remember the last one that was seriously ill without it being due to old age. Most of them were “outdoor cats” in a small country town. Is there something in modern cats’ diet / habits that makes them more susceptible to disease? These concerns read like hypochondria, coming from this background.

>Is there something in modern cats’ diet / habits that makes them more susceptible to disease?

The cheap supermarket dog/cat food can hardly be called a food. It is an epitome of bottom line optimization. Grain and the "by-products" - frequently the 1st/2nd ingredients - which is hides/hooves/beaks/horns/etc. flooded with industrial chemicals back at the China's giga-meat-factories and powdered.

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've done the air purifier thing as well, paired with some unscented litter like Dr. Elsey's Ultra Litter and it genuinely doesn't smell most of the time, unless they've recently used the box or its not cycling due to being full.

Would you mind sharing what air purifier model you use next to your Litter Robot?

Sure, I use a Coway Airmega AP-1512HH set to low permanently. It doesn't move a ton of air on the low setting, but it is very quiet and the size fits pretty well next to the robot. I think getting something quiet is key as to not spook your cats, as one of mine hates the sound of loud white-noise-ish sounds.

I will say I think this one works well, but you could likely find something cheaper because you don't need to much air circulation for a litter box. I just happened to already have this one.

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