If your family has cats, here’s how to save money on both cat food and cat litter: keep hunting until you find a food they don’t like (but make sure it’s still nutritious). They’ll eat less, and thus they’ll also poop less. Hey! They’ll also not get fat! It’s a win-win.
Thank me in comments.
I had a cat when I was growing up that hated cat food. He always preferred to go outdoors to rustle up his own food. Even better, he also refused to use a litter box. He’d wait until he could go outside.
Aside from not being able to open and close a door on his own he was practically maintenance-free.
We “had” a cat like that when I was in high school. Ted weighed in (whenever he dropped by for a visit) at around 25 pounds. My brother and I would often see him out in the desert stalking the same small game we were stalking. We got a call one time from a neighbor down the street complaining about Ted mauling his German Shepherds. Yes, plural (Ted was unhurt; the shepherds were a mess). Raised that cat from a kitten and he pretty much decided to live on his own with just the occasional, offhand visit “home”.
Might not be a bad idea…I am becoming convinced by how often I have to clean the boxes that all mine do all day is eat and poop.
Nicole–*heh* I’m pretty sure that’s the case for most cats who own people…
I had a cat like that once. She, her mother, and her sibling were living in the shed behind the house my parents bought in Virginia. Before we moved there, my parents were going to buy a dog for me and my brother. I took one look at that calico cat and the notion of buying a dog went out of my head completely.
That cat never needed a litter box, and lived for another 19 years from the time she allowed us to adopt her. The local dogs were afraid of her too, including a few rather large German Shepherds, just as you described with Ted.
I’ll never have one of those pampered “house-only” cats. Too much maintenance altogether if you ask me. I’d much rather open and close a door than worry about whether “fluffy” had escaped and could defend herself without claws.
Well, Perri, given the prevalence of coyotes and other predators in the area, we went ahead and MADE our current cats (2 of ’em) house-only cats. *sigh* Some days I wonder about that decision, but it’s pretty much settled, now.