The Behavioural Impact on Cats during a Transition from a Clay-Based Litter to a Plant-Based Litter.

Abstract

Simple SummaryEnvironmental changes in the home, specifically around litter box management, can be stressful for cats, and resulting behavioural changes, such as house soiling, are one of the leading causes of owner frustration. Current guidelines recommend a 6-day litter transition; however, these recommendations are based largely on anecdotal reports. Our objectives were therefore to determine whether any behavioural changes occurred during a litter transition from clay-based to plant-based litter when following current transition guidelines and to identify behaviours that might signify a successful transition. Results presented in this study suggest that transitioning an adult cat from one litter product to another over 6 days is sufficient for maintaining normal litter box behaviours, but exposure to the new litter prior to replacement of the old litter should be recognized as a potential transition aid and warrants further investigation. Cats generally demonstrated increased interest and exhibited investigative behaviour (e.g., sniffing) towards the new litter during transition without showing behaviours that would indicate fear or aversion to the new litter product. The authors do want to recognize, though, that individual cat behaviour and potential stressors in the home environment must be taken into account when considering how to approach a litter substrate change.Current guidelines recommend transitioning cats from one litter product to another over 6 days to minimize stress. The study objective was therefore to test these guidelines using 16 adult domestic cats (2 cohorts of 8) by observing behavioural changes associated with elimination throughout the litter transition. Cats were transitioned from a clay-based litter (CLAY) to a plant-based litter product (PLANT) over 6 days (period 1) via an incremental replacement of CLAY with PLANT. All cats then remained on PLANT for 8 days (period 2). This same transition process was executed for both cohorts, and litter box behaviours were observed via remote recording. Urination, defecation, cover, and dig behaviours were not different between periods 1 and 2 (p > 0.05). Sniffing frequency was greater in period 2 than period 1 (p < 0.05); however, during the litter transition (period 1), cats sniffed the litter boxes being transitioned from CLAY to PLANT more often and for longer than they did for the boxes consisting of only PLANT (p < 0.05). These data suggest that 6 days may be an adequate amount of time to transition a cat to a new litter, although successful transition may also be specific to the types of litters investigated.