Many cat owners experience trouble with kitty not using the cat litter box they’ve chosen for her. With a little bit of understanding about their cat, the proper cat litter box type can be found quickly for good cat litter box habits.
For starters, evaluate the way your cat eliminates her waste. Does she stand up, or squat down low? Does she do something in between? Does she only stick her hind parts in the box, and keep her front paws outside?
By carefully observing exactly how your kitty does her business, you can make a good guess at the right type of cat litter box for her needs. And if your cat thinks the box suits her, she’s going to use it every time.
For cats who stand straight up, there are a few options. One is the covered, or hooded cat litter box. In theory these are perfect, because the enclosure captures urine that would normally fly off into space. The one drawback is that your cat may feel too confined with an enclosed cat litter box. This could be if she’s just plain scared of that hole, or she may be too large to comfortably move around inside the space.
The alternative is to purchase a large plastic storage container tub – the kind with a removable lid. Take a saw or other cutting tool, and hack a “U” shaped opening into one end of the tub. The bottom of the “U” should be at least 3 – 4″ up to hold in your cat litter. This is easy for kitty to enter and exit, and the really large ones are quite roomy for the biggest cat to move around in. You can either snap the lid in place, or simply put it aside, and leave it as a high-sided open cat litter box.
Some cats really enjoy the automatic, motorized cat litter boxes. They think it’s the greatest thing to watch that motor move the rakes across the cat litter field. But other cats are terrified of the noise and movement. Since these are rather pricey, consider your cat’s mental health and curiosity factor if you’re thinking about purchasing one of these cat litter boxes for her.
And finally, there’s the good old-fashioned open cat litter box of varying sizes and colors. If your cat squats properly to void, and doesn’t miss, this is your best option as the preferred cat litter box.
And here’s a tip if you’re raising a litter of kittens: buy disposable aluminum baking pans for the little ones. They’re shallow enough for the kittens to easily get in and out of. This encourages good cat litter box habits forever. These can be discarded as the youngsters grow big enough to use a “big kitty” litter box!
