Since we battened down the hatches and blocked up the cat flap to deter the furry black marauder who was coming in at all hours and treating the place like a pop-in fast food parlour, and bashing up my ginger boy - anyway since then, the litter tray in the scullery has become a large presence in the house.

The old ginger boy, for whose safety and comfort we lowered the portcullis in the first place, tends to look a bit askance at it, and still totters outside. Well, I assume he does because I've never seen him use it, but that may not mean anything but that he has a developed sense of modesty.

Not so, the large black and white girlie. She adores it and has no sense of shame at all. She behaves as any smart and savvy girl knows to do, and makes sure she always spends a penny (or worse) - before she goes out. I wouldn't be half certain that she hasn't got a pocket somewhere with taxi fare home, either.

It also drags one consumer-wise into comparative litter shopping.
Lightweight litter is just fine to carry home from the supermarket, easy off the shelf and into the trolley, a breeze from the car to house. However - as a base for a large determined cat pretending to dig a hole in a plastic tray - it has a fall-out area of the length of the house. It makes walking around a really truly crunchy experience.

Clumping litter has a bad press, and they say it is damaging to the health of cats and kittens - but it is wonderfully easy on the dunny lady who is scooping up the neat and compact deposits.

Natural clay is quite healthy for the cats, but needs the muscles of a weight lifter to get from the shelf and into the trolley. And needs a porter to then get it into the house. It also spreads in a large area under the surface entailing in a lot of unpleasant rooting around.

Paper is nice and eco-friendly, but has the same fall-out tendencies as the lightweight stuff, but doesn't have the crunch after effect. But as anyone knows, wet newsprint is not very pleasant to be around.

So, the answer I have found is - mix and match. A layer of lightweight, a sprinkle of natural clay or paper, plastic gloves, old plastic fish slice, and away we go.

Or, actually, away they go. But at least they go in peace.

Thelma Mitchell 2005