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The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

charlesmingus.com

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Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#41

Post by yholio »

fhe wrote: post #24
drakonka wrote: 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…

I'd just want to add that, I in general don't think it's a good idea to train cats to learn behaviors that are unnatural for them. One could say that, eating processed cat food and living with humans are already unnatural, which is true. But to the extent that's possible, I want to provide my cats the freedom to act as naturally as possible. On this particular cat toilet training trick: cats are in fact quite particu…

The modern housecat is just about as natural as a naked human living wild in the forest. It has been selectively bred to perfection for cuteness and sociability with low aggression and diminished survival abilities. Some can't even tolerate the natural climate where their owners live.

I totally support "healthy", but natural, what is natural for a species that has evolved to use intelligence to prevail over the natural world (in this case, the intelligence of their owners, but still)?

No my friend, our purpose on this earth is to co-evolve the most unnatural cat to the point where they are ready to take over as the dominant inteligent species of this side of the galaxy.

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#43

Post by SV_BubbleTime »

jeromegv wrote: post #38
jakebasile wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the review. Would you say it cuts down on smell? That is my biggest issue with cat ownership and I've been looking for ways to further reduce it (beyond better litter, baking soda, etc.). Edit: Thanks for all the replies. I am still on the fence about it, and may try further options to reduce the smell (at least enough so that a cat-person like myself can live with it ;))

My air purifier is next to our cat litter and there’s no smell at all. I strongly recommend one (on top of helping with allergies, dust, covid, etc..)

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.

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#44

Post by causality0 »

fhe wrote: post #24
drakonka wrote: 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…

I'd just want to add that, I in general don't think it's a good idea to train cats to learn behaviors that are unnatural for them. One could say that, eating processed cat food and living with humans are already unnatural, which is true. But to the extent that's possible, I want to provide my cats the freedom to act as naturally as possible. On this particular cat toilet training trick: cats are in fact quite particu…

I think you're ignoring the ways the toilet is better than the litter box. For example, it's also unnatural for a cat to have to smell its old poop and also touch it while burying new poop. A toilet removes that source of stress and potential disease.

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#46

Post by AlbertCory »

iainctduncan wrote: post #42

For folks who are like "who is that guy again?".... Mingus was one of the most important jazz bass players in 20th century and a key figure in both bebop and free jazz. And quite a character. This is but one of his legendary achievements!

Indeed, and how could I resist reading an article with that title?

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#48

Post by Zircom »

jakebasile wrote: post #25
saluki wrote: post #20

Our neighbor when I was growing up had a cat that would use the toilet and flush. I was amazed as a kid. Not sure I want to share the bathroom with our cats. We just got a litter robot last week it's pretty amazing. We set it up in a hall closet to get the two litter boxes out of the laundry room. It should pay for itself in 3-4 months by using less litter than our two traditional litter boxes (yesterdays news litter…

I've been looking at getting an automatic cleaning litter box for a while now. Would you mind recommending the type that you bought if you are so happy with it?

Just make sure you're cats never see it turn itself on, two of my three cats refuse to use it after watching it cycle and I'm back to having a separate box for them that I clean everyday, honestly thinking it selling it if I can talk anybody into buying a used poopbox

For the one cat though it is definitely great, he's kinda fearless though so your cats may not quite be brave enough to face the beast everytime they go to the bathroom.

Edit - my name is Zircom, I have a litter robot 3 for the record, and I recommend it as long as you don't have scaredy cats.

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#49

Post by dotBen »

jakebasile wrote: post #33
drakonka wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a Litter Robot for nearly a year and also really like it (wrote a more detailed review here[0]), although it's definitely not perfect. Mine is the Litter Robot 3 with the WiFi functionality (lets me keep an eye on how often they go even when I'm not home). I do believe the price isn't worth it for _most_ people, but do not regret the purchase. [0] https://liza.io/litter-robot-3-review/

Thanks for the review. Would you say it cuts down on smell? That is my biggest issue with cat ownership and I've been looking for ways to further reduce it (beyond better litter, baking soda, etc.). Edit: Thanks for all the replies. I am still on the fence about it, and may try further options to reduce the smell (at least enough so that a cat-person like myself can live with it ;))

Another Litter Robot owner here (we are onto our second one) and I feel it does cut down on the smell.

The litter won't stay in the open part for more than 10-25 minutes and then it is cycled into the drawer which is relatively contained and has a charcoal filter on it.

We have two cats and end up changing the drawer every 2-3 days. I have a friend who manages not to change the drawer for a week and I do think it starts to smell then.

The main benefits are that we don't have to tend to the litter tray that often and when we do we only need to pull out the plastic trash bag, tie it up and replace with a new one. I also think it uses a lot less litter as we never have to fully change it out like you do with normal cat boxes.

It's an expensive item but I think it's definitely worth it. Get a reconditioned one for $50-100 less as they are perfectly clean and they will get messy pretty quickly anyway.

We pair ours with Nature's Miracle cat litter which has baking soda and other deodorizer in it.

Re: The Charles Mingus CAT-alog (1972)

#50

Post by garblegarble »

causality0 wrote: post #44
fhe wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd just want to add that, I in general don't think it's a good idea to train cats to learn behaviors that are unnatural for them. One could say that, eating processed cat food and living with humans are already unnatural, which is true. But to the extent that's possible, I want to provide my cats the freedom to act as naturally as possible. On this particular cat toilet training trick: cats are in fact quite particu…

I think you're ignoring the ways the toilet is better than the litter box. For example, it's also unnatural for a cat to have to smell its old poop and also touch it while burying new poop. A toilet removes that source of stress and potential disease.

Although it's worth noting that there are other non-toilet alternatives as a middle-ground that also let the cat perform natural burying behaviour without there being old poop in there - like a self-cleaning litter box.
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