Cat using puppy doggy pads

Question
My cat has been with me for almost 6 years now. She has moved with me several times, apts to homes, citys to different state. She has also had different kitty roommates as well as different litterboxes.  A little over a year ago I tried her on the ScoopFree litter box which uses the crystal litter. She did fine with it for about a month. After a while though she would poop in the box and pee outside the box on the mat designed to catch litter as she exited the box.  A co-worker suggested I lay down a puppy pad over the mat so it would make for easy cleanup. Well after a week of that I just did away with the litter. Ever since she has been using just a pad in a shallow litter box. She even scratches all 4 corners so that it balls up.  I've searched all over the internet to find if there are others that have experienced the same thing and if it's okay to her health and mine. I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant. Thank you in advance!

Answer
Megan,

Congratulations on the baby!

The puppy pee pads are fine to use. There are no health problem as long as you, being pregnant, do not touch any cat feces directly, and immediately wash your hands after disposal of the pads.

I have had cats that would NOT use the litterbox no matter what and the pads worked for them too. Also they are very good for geriatric cats that have arthritis and have trouble getting in and out of the litterbox, if they have kitty Alzheimer's and tend to 'forget where the litterbox is, or if they have kidney problems and don't make it to the litter box.

You may want to check the prices of human 'pee pads' that they put under elderly people. It might be a cheaper way to go. They are the same thing but bigger and may be thicker.

I am including some links to informative articles about cats and introducing babies that you may find helpful:
(copy and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar)

http://www.sthuberts.org/petpouri/articles/catmeetsbaby.asp

http://westwoodanimalhospital.com/BhvArticles/Infants,%20Children,%20And%20Cats....

http://www.petplace.com/cats/helping-your-cat-and-new-baby-get-along/page1.aspx

and FYI: this article is from Europe, and I don't know how true it is, but it is good for trivia (smile):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/oct/12/uk.health

Tabbi