I think this fits. If you want outdoor cats, then you'd better put up with your garden being a cat litter box. It is, after all, used as a litter box by all the other outdoor creatures there. Yes, Toxoplasmosis is often carried by feral cats, but it's also carried by the majority of farm animals, and lots of rodents and birds. How much squirrel poop do you have in your garden? Cook your meat, and wash your hands and your veggies. Just because your cats aren't using your garden as a litter box doesn't mean that your garden is sterile.

Thanks, kim_okla, I'll do a search at that site. kashka_kat and bluesbarby, thanks for your posts. Unfortunately, we can't leave one wall of the closet as screen or metal mesh. We're building this in our unheated garage and there won't be a door, only an opening, between kitty closet and house - in essence, a flap-less pet door. It would be the same as if we left a window open all the time while running our heat or A/C. That won't do. We originally thought we'd do a regular pet door (with flap) but our kitty is old and I'm not sure he will figure that out, plus as he ages, it may become difficult for him to open the flap. He's used to accessing his litter through a smallish opening - we removed one of the sink cab doors - so we think he won't object to going through the opening into his litter closet. The opening will likely be a bit narrower than he's used to since it will be between the studs (generally 16" on center) but we can make it as tall as he's used to. kashka_kat, I didn't realize that some cats balk at going into closed off spaces with only one exit but I don't think our cat is one of them. About half of the time when we open our hall closet door - a 2 x 3 unlit space with only one exit - he dashes inside. No idea why, maybe he thinks it's some exotic place. ;-) He's even been shut inside the few times we didn't realize he was in there, only realizing it when he meowed to be let out hours later. I'm glad you brought this up because it makes me even more confident that he'll be okay with his new litter closet. As I type this, kitty is sleeping on the ottoman a few feet from me, snoring so cutely! I never knew cats snored but I've never had a kitty live to be as old as he is now (17). And still going strong, according to his vet.

So what if you go through the list, and are still having problems? Because our 3 year old cat was so playful, and we thought it would be nice for him to have a buddy, we adopted a 2 year old neutered, declawed male cat from an animal shelter. After their initial adjustment, they seemed to get along well. The new cat was never very affectionate with us (our first cat is), but I don't think that's all that unusual. All was well for a few months, then the new cat started pooping outside the litterbox. My vet said he had colitis, and gave him some prescription food to try, which worked well - I kept him on the prescription food, and he always pooped in the litterbox from then on. A few months later, though, he started occasionally peeing on our beds. Thinking it was another medical issue, I took him to the vet a couple more times. He didn't find any medical issues - said it was most likely behaviorial, and gave us some Feliaway and advice similar to the above article. We had two litterboxes, and both were in the laundry room (upstairs). I could imagine that the location and/or noise might be an issue, or maybe privacy (our bedrooms are all upstairs), so I bought two additional litterboxes - one for the main floor (covered), and one for the basement (uncovered). I scooped all litterboxes daily, changed litter, tried different brands, etc. He continued to pee on the beds, and then later started peeing on our leather furniture, and carpet. I ended up returning him to the animal shelter, but have always felt terrible about it. I know that being a good pet owner means that you are willing to spent a certain amount of time and money when necessary, but after paying for several trips to the vet, Feliaway, replacing mattress pads, carpet pad, sections of subfloor, pillows, and buying gallons and gallons of Nature's Miracle and Urine-Off, I just reached my limit. Thank goodness for our first cat, or my confidence as a cat owner would be completely gone. Still, I don't think I will ever get another cat - I feel horrible that our second cat's behavioral issues were just beyond my capacity. Every time I see an article like this, I read it and think, did I do all I could? One of the most frustrating experiences I have had.

I haven't read all the responses but having a multiple cat household I would like to mention that you should consider having multiple locations for cat boxes. Otherwise you may experience more out of box behaviors. There can be problems when you have multiple cats with some cats deciding to bully other cats. They may prevent some from coming into the room to use a box. The more cats you have in your home the more likely you will have out of box accidents or even spraying due to territorial issues. In addition, some cats like to pee in one place and poo in another. The good part is that you will be moving them all to a new home, so there is no cat that will feel his territory is threatened right away. In addition, you will need to separate food and water from their box locations. Cats tend to not to like to eat or drink where they go to the bathroom. I have three boxes for three cats. I would suggest that you at the minimum have three cat boxes located around your home. And clean them daily or twice daily. In order to keep them from scratching areas you don't want you can either block them from those areas or be sure to provide suitable scratching posts around your home... many cats scratch horizontally and vertically. So provide multiple surfaces particularly in areas where you don't want them to scratch other areas. Sprinkling cat nip on the perches helps to attract them there. DO THIS FIRST before you allow them in the home and show them where these are. And be sure to supply enough perches and/or beds around your home so each one of your cats will have its own place to call his own. If you really want to have a bedroom they can call their own consider installing cat climbing runs and tunnels all over the room. Places where they can curl up and hide or just to look out the window. And let the fun begin!