One of the most daunting tasks that you have as a cat owner is litter-training them. You would not want them to soil your bed sheet or wet your favorite furniture.

In litter-training your pet cat, make sure that you start while they are young kittens and they will surely carry this habit as they grow.

Here are the basics on how you can successfully litter-train your cat:

1. Familiarize your cat with the "safe" areas within your house.

You may use crate-training while the cat is young. This is so that they will not roam around the house freely when they are not properly trained yet.

By giving them free rein on every area or room in your house, you will let your pet think that they can litter everywhere.

For starters, familiarize you cat with the areas around the house where they can roam around. Then start introducing the area where the litter box is located.

As a pet owner, you would basically have an idea of when your cat will eliminate.

The most likely times are after feeding, when they wake up and after going outside and walking.

2. Feed them on a regular basis.

Feeding your cat on a regular basis would help maintain a schedule of some sort within their system. After feeding, try to entice them to go to the area where the litter box is located.

Play with them for some time and once they are about to eliminate, the litter box is easily within reach.

Doing this on a regular basis would more or less train your cat of the proper place to soil or urinate.

When your cat takes a catnap, place her near a litter box after waking. Make sure that you muster encouraging words and stroke the coat to soothe her.

This is also your way of showing your cat that you are pleased about what she is doing.

3. Clean the litter box.

Cats are very tidy creatures. If they see or feel that the litter box is dirty, they will not want to go there.

These are some ways to keep the litter box clean and train your cat to use it:

-Your cat would not use a litter box that smells bad. After your cat has used the litter box, make sure that it is cleaned for the next time that your pet needs to use it.

-Discard the old litter immediately after use. Rinse the litter box with water.

You can add some lemon juice or vinegar to remove the smell of urine. This would make the litter box clean and pleasant smelling to your cat.

-Place the litter box in an area that is easily accessible to your cat. If you assign one room for them, you may place the litter box at the opposite end of their sleeping area.

Always supply your cat with clean water to drink; this may also be placed near the litter box so that they can urinate there after drinking.

-If you have more than one cat, place several litter boxes in strategic areas.

4. If your cat suddenly stops using the litter box, it may be caused by stress.

Cats will react to stress by urinating or soiling your favorite piece of furniture.

There are also physical reasons why your cat will soil your carpet or wet your bed sheet. Your cat may have urinary tract problems that you would not know about.

It is best to consult your veterinarian if your cat suddenly urinates a lot or soils your furniture.

A sudden change in your cats' behavior means that you should consult with a professional.

5. Do not associate the litter box with punishment.

You may also use psychology for litter training your cat.

If they litter on your carpet, do not lead them to the litter box after the fact.

If you do this, the litter box would serve as their punishment and it will be very hard for you to get them to use it again.

Do not scold your pet because they cannot help it if they have not been suitably house-broken yet.

Praise your cat and shower them with a lot of affection for each time that they use the litter box.

With enough time and patience, you can learn to litter-train your pet cat and succeed while doing so.

Litter boxes are important to cats and are considered to be the next in importance to their food. Like people who love their toilets clean, cats don't really love messy and smelly litter boxes. They want some place where they can move around and do their stuff. Litter boxes are available on the market and come in different size and shapes.

Be sure to buy something your cat won't outgrow easily. Most cats, especially those below 5-6 months old can easily outgrow their litter boxes. Make sure to buy something that your cat will not out-grow or you'll end up buying more litter boxes in a short time.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some cats don't want to poop in the same box they pee in. Peeing is an animal's way of marking her territory and she may not want to poop because it will erase her scent. So if your cat is like this, just buy another litter box and put it some place far away from the first one so she will not look at it as another box to pee in.

Automatic litter boxes are for people who don't cherish the chore of cleaning litter boxes each day. These boxes are not cheap but a great idea when time is of importance.

These self-cleaning boxes use robotic trays where your cat's waste is automatically raked into a sealable container shortly after your cat uses the litter box. These will not operate until your cat leaves the box since it uses motion detectors and a safety bar to stop the cleaning rake from harming your cat.

The best thing about these automatic litter boxes is that you'll find that the odor is greatly reduced. Once the cat's waste is in the container, it will automatically seal itself and cause the odor to be trapped inside. However, you must remember to empty this container once it is full or close to being full or its odor will become unbearable. Simply empty the storage container and reinsert it or purchase a replacement container.

One thing about automatic litter boxes is that they generally need electricity to run so you should place it close to a power outlet. There are some automatic litter boxes that can be operated with batteries so it is advisable to keep extra batteries on hand.

Another thing to remember is that the automatic litter box should be one-half to three-fourths full of litter. Use premium litter with it because some litter clumps will break up and cause the box not to be properly cleaned.

Most of the cat owners who have tried automatic litter boxes are happy with them and would prefer them to scooping up a mess. Other cat owners though have a hard time adjusting to it. Automatic litter boxes, especially when the rake is in motion are not that quiet and the noise is something that needs to take time to get used to.

One good reason for using automatic litter boxes is health considerations. There are certain flu-like diseases that are caused by cat's waste and can cause a person to have swollen glands, muscle pain, fever and headache. In some cases it can also cause brain damage and damage to your eyes and internal organs. For newly born children, this could cause mental retardation and/or hearing and sight loss. This is often caused by coming in contact with a cat's waste and accidentally swallowing the virus in it. This can happen by touching your face after cleaning your cat's litter box so wash your hands thoroughly after contact.

Cats will have certain problems when using non-automatic litter boxes also. Cats can have UTI (urinary tract infection) after using a dirty litter box. After using litter boxes, cats usually clean themselves up by licking their paws causing them to ingest the virus and cause them to get sick. Although not really fatal, this will cause discomfort for your pet and can only be cured by consulting a veterinarian.