Diseases/bacteria/parasites/risks from *overly* dirty/unscooped/unchecked litter boxes?

Hello everyone : )

This is my first post and this is mainly fueled by the events of today. I'm taking care of my friends 3 cats while she is away on holiday. Today was my first day going over there.

[If you are squeemish or don't like reading about poo skip past this bit]

In the past when I'd do this service I'd notice the litter boxes were filled pretty high with (brace yourself) urine clumps and feces.

Now today I was expecting it to be about the same, but when I decided to... /gross... dig a little deeper to my horrible dismay I noticed that the issue *WAS NOT* just the surface. Out of the 3 - one box was completely solid from what is presumably days/weeks (i hope not months) worth of urine/feces seeping down into the litter down to the bottom of the pan. (And these are short and very deep boxes... not the standard wide and very shallow ones) The second was about midway but the litter on the bottom was still dark gray and wet. Then the last one was just a mixture of wet litter with god knows how many weeks worth of waste. Every box had to be scraped on all sides to remove everything. yuck. 

I can only presume that my friend feels that taking care of the litter box is just dumping fresh, new litter on top of whatever mess is already in there... I guess this because she had two boxes of freshstep that were empty in the same room, and you could tell it was just poured on the top. The ironic thing is she has one of those kitty gene disposal devices, yet it looks as if it is hardly ever used. As you can imagine the smell is horrific, and something you smell immediately upon entering her one bedroom one bath condo. The boxes are so terrible that the plastic tarp that my friend keeps under the boxes had a puddle of urine in the middle (god knows if they're going somewhere else??? and who can blame them?!) And she has 4-5 bottles of air freshner sitting on a table outside the closet where the boxes are kept, along with cat box deodorizer and odor eliminator crystals.

Mind you - I wondered (and being cynical... expected) if it would be this bad, so I brought a costco sized bag of freshstep and had to empty/dig/carveout every bit of clumped stuck litter. Had to wash the three pans top and bottom, clean the tarp (in the shower no less), etc etc etc. Mind you this took at least a hour and a half. I'm not sure how long it takes for cat poop in a litter box to turn light brown/pastel but there was some in that state hidden away in the miasma of each box... 

Just to give perspective on the cat owner, she does suffer with mental health issues (such as bipolar/psychosis/etc) yet is financially well off enough to not have to work and she also quit college b/c she wants to try spending a year writing a novel and has 30+ resin ball-jointed-dolls (for those unaware, those things are usually 200-500 a piece...) She has no real responsibilities apart from taking care of the condo and/or playing D&D with her friends online.

I'm a cat owner (my cat is 19 y/o black shorthair that I've had since I was 10) and I care deeply about the duty you owe your pet when you chose to adopt them, they have no say in where they end up, so if you're responsible you do a &)%&(* good job of taking care of them! so maybe because of that I become extremely disgusted and infuriated by the poor care these cats are getting considering how little real responsibility my friend actually has. I can assume they are fed regularly (two tabbies that are extremely fat, a white cat that is normal stocky size), I can't attest to the state of how often their water is changed (when they're under my care its every day scoop litter/cleanwater/food/etc). But I really wonder if the water bowl situation has the same treatment as the litter boxes.... : (

(btw if this makes you furious, I'm right there with you)

tl;dr [my real question starts here!]

So my question is what kind of specific diseases or bacteria/parasites can cats get from a extremely overfilled/poorly kept/unsanitary cat boxes? Since this is not just an issue that has happened one out of the 4-5 times I've watched her cats, I'm driven now to finally say something once she returns because this is not fair to the animals (or me!) and if she does not have the energy/drive/etc to take care of them they deserve a better home.

One of the cats, the white short hair, always has horrific smelling soft stool (not diarrhea mind you, but not normal tootsie roll) . I am wondering now if perhaps he has some kind of parasite or internal problem due *specifically* to the poor cat box. They are strictly indoor cats. They are only fed Iams adult dry cat food - there is no wet food anywhere. From the time I've known my friend she's always complained about the white kitty having really fowl smelling poos, and now because of how poor of a track record I've noticed from her care, I'm wondering if her inactivity is mainly to blame. The cats have been taken to the vet by her for checkups, but one time during my sitting one tabby got a cold/chills and had to have medication.. i only wonder if the litter box state might have played a part in that illness too???

Three cats in a one bedroom one bath condo is the max her apartment allows (thank god), and while they are all rather pudgy and fat and seemingly happy, this is *NOT ACCEPTABLE* in my book and when she returns I want to at least research all possible risks she's posing to them by not taking proper care of them. I need specific names and diseases because she can be a bit dismissive of anything that questions her knowledge - and if it is scientific names it will be better so she can look them up herself.

I'm on the fence about taking a stool sample to the vet for testing since she will be gone for two weeks...

Sorry for the super long post... I love cats and while I can call a vet tomorrow, the situation has me so rilled up I felt I had to do *something/anything* about it this evening.

Thanks in advance,

-meowington

Start by speaking sympathetically to her - you say she has mental health issues, so she might well be rather 'sensitive'.  Don't bother with stool tests etc., and the food might be the cause of the smell.

I don't know of any specific illnesses that they could get from the dirty litter box, but I'm totally surprised that they use the boxes at all   Gross, gross, gross.  Those poor kitties. 

Oh, and on the water, when you cleaned out that bowl, was it slimy?  That's a pretty good indication that it isn't cleaned periodically.   And I'm guessing since she feeds dry, and the food dishes are also never, ever washed either.  Oh dear

Just bottom line, she sounds very messy but unless her kitties already have parasites I don't think they can get new ones from their own feces. 

If she let the boxes go without putting new litter on top, they could get urine burns. But otherwise she just has very dirty smell litter boxes. 

I think it sounds gruesome but unrelated to the illnesses. 

If the cats are safe and otherwise healthy, this is kinda like those homes you go into where people are really messy and their own bathrooms aren't clean and their dirty clothes are everywhere and their children's rooms are messy. But so long as there aren't lice or mice or rodents, it is not a health department matter and I would not consider this a punishable situation.

Keep in mind where I am coming from, in the world of animal rescue I would place a cat in this home if it was between her home and death. I would check on the kitty from time to time but a filthy dirty litter box would not be a dealbreaker for me so long as the existing cats look healthy, friendly, and well fed. 

I do think you should chat with her. . .just some basic info on how she should fully empty the boxes once a week (or however often; make something up), clean the boxes and fully replace with fresh litter. She may not know how to properly maintain litterboxes, it's surprising how many people don't. It may not have occurred to her at all. Keep it light, just say that you found a pee puddle somewhere not a litterbox, and you know YOUR cat will pee outside the box unless it's fresh and clean (whether this is true or not, doesn't matter :tongue2 so maybe that's something she could try. Tell her it'll help the odor, and ammonia fumes aren't good for dolls (hey, why not? :lol3.

But I don't think this is something the authorities will (or should) concern themselves with. I honestly think a very large percentage of the cat owning public do not keep the litterboxes properly cleaned.

Some cats will hold their urine too long when the litterbox if filthy.  This can cause UTI's or blockages that can be fatal. If they hold their bowel movements trying to avoid the dirty litterbox this can lead to megacolon.

If she is mentally well enough to play DD online and go to college she certainly has the ability to scoop a litter box. There is no excuse for this.

smitten4kittens said:

If she is mentally well enough to play DD online and go to college she certainly has the ability to scoop a litter box. There is no excuse for this.

Click to expand...

Unless she just doesn't KNOW. I've met the most ridiculous number of perfectly normal (seeming) people who simply don't know what they should do with the litterbox. I'd approach this first as an educational thing. If she doesn't improve after that, I might find a few horrible consequences to scare her with.

You might be right. Maybe she thinks the boxes are fine the way they are. When I said there is no excuse that was before I read your post. I meant her mental illness shouldn't be used as an excuse here, that if someone had the mental ability to go to college they should be able to run a scoop through a box.

Anyway, it just upsets me when animals aren't being well taken care of.

If I were you, I'd be furious.

BUT.. it may be a losing battle. The best method I'd say would be to start with 'Think about it. Every time they have to go poo, they have to jump in a giant sandbox filled with other people's poo and dig around. Just imagine having to do that every day.' If she has no sympathy, move to the UTI, megacolon side of the argument.


There may be no winning though. I've dealt with this before, with my at-the-time boyfriend's family. The best I could do was take care of the cat when I was around. :dk:

Just keep in mind that by calling animal control and considering these are adult cats, you might be sending three perfectly healthy and happy kitties straight to the death chamber.
Yes, they have a filthy litterbox. That is sad and nasty. But they are probably loved, they look healthy, they go to the vet, they are not sick, and above all, they are loved.
Depending where she lives a shelter situation will not be pretty - so act with caution.

I wouldn't call animal control either. They are better off in that home than being put to sleep in a shelter. I would just try to talk to her and convince her it's important to keep it clean.

I also agree that she may not know how to keep a litterbox clean or more to the point, how to do it easily. It is amazing, the number of people who do not have "life skills" and/or have been raised without structure. As much as you are an advocate for the cats, I think if you want to succeed, you cannot be judgmental about her, or her situation. Some people, no matter how much money or time they may have, can be lacking in the most fundamental ways. As you have said she has bipolar disorder, it may be difficult for her to adhere to structure.

If you help her in the right way, (I would go about it as Willowy has suggested above), and bring her things to make the job easier (a container with lots of bags in it, a metal scoop, large pan etc.) it may get her going in the right direction. 

In closing I used to be in social services way back when and this is one of those situations where you can make a big difference if you choose to be a mentor to your friend in an upbeat way. Look for all the good things in her (how her cats look well adjusted and loved) and not the bad, and tell her so. Positively mirror her. You will need to take an active interest in her house and life, be there for her, maybe suggest better litter box placement in a helpful way if it makes sense, give her lots of praise if/when she makes an effort. This kind of change may not happen overnight- after all, she is how old already without these life skills.

Good luck and be a true friend, don't call people in about it, at the very least you should discuss it directly with her.  

OMG! How horrible for these kitties. I'm appawled. Whate. ver you do, dont let your friend use mental illness as her excuse for this behavior. I have Bipolar 1 which is the worst type of bipolar. Even in the deepest, darkest (and it can be really bad) times I have had, I have always made sure my cats have been taken care of. Sometimes they have been the only reason I get out of bed. Thats why they are my companion cats, rx'ed by the dr. so they can live at my apartment. The owner of the place needs to be notified as well as the humane society. It would be great if you had pictures of the conditions to show them.

I hope that they get the help they need soon. Thankyou for taking care of them. I'm sure you are their angle!

After reading some of the posts, I understand the concerns of calling authorities. Where I live the Humane Society actually works with owners(education) to try to keep the animals in their home. It may not be like that everywhere. Check out all possibilities and do whats best for the kitties. Mentoring her might be the way to go. If that doesnt work do whats best for the kitties. A human would not be able to live in this or be allowed to. Dont let it go on and on after trying to do these suggestions if she doesnt correct her actions.

You said she had money why not suggest eitherof the 2 types of self cleaning litter boxes oe is like 150.00 and scoops all the poop and clumped urine so the kitties can always have a nice clean box to use and the bottom just gets pulled out in a bag and thrown out and the bag gets replaced with a new one very simple and alot cleaner and less icky to clean or the real self cleaning model which is like 300.00 which is basically a cat toilet with its own water filtration system and flushable litter im looking into either one of these options myself