Ah yes, the cat litter box. As much as cat owners love their precious felines, the cat litter box along with the associated mess leaves much to be desired.

Even worse is ensuring that your cat uses the litter box and doesn’t urinate outside the box. As anyone will tell you, nothing gets out the smell of cat urine.

So below are three cat litter box training tips that you can use to ensure that your cat knows to use his litter box when the need arises.

1. Most mother cats have already trained their kittens to use the litter box before you bring them home. That’s why it’s important that you don’t get a kitten that was weaned too soon from its mother.

As soon as you bring your cat home, put him in the litter box, take his front paws and gently dig in the litter with them. Even if he doesn’t need to “go” at the moment, he’ll get the idea. Keep bringing him to the litter box until he actually either urinates or defecates. Then watch him throughout the day as he familiarizes himself with your home to make sure he knows where to find it.

If you find you have to move the litter box at some point, repeat this procedure until he finds it and uses it.

2. Keep the litter box clean at all times. Scoop it daily, if necessary. Cats hate smelly litter boxes and will go elsewhere if their litter box is too disgusting. Change the litter box weekly and disinfect the box every time.

3. Clumping litter is more costly but makes the job of scooping much easier. Some cats don’t like scented litter because they prefer to only smell their own scent. If you’re vigilant about keeping up with scooping and cleaning, the cat box shouldn’t really have a strong odor.

Cleaning out the cat litter box will always be an unpleasant part of owning a cat but the way I look at it, it’s better than what dog owners are faced with. Dog owners have to walk all over the backyard picking up huge pieces of dog feces, knowing that their whole backyard is their dog’s “litter box”. Yuck.