If you have an indoor cat like us, or even a “hybrid” cat (indoor/outdoor), there is this one accessory that you cannot live without: the kitty litter box! As convenient as it is, it’s also a pain for the eye (and in the arse to clean). That’s why it’s pretty difficult to choose where to keep the kitty litter box in your home. You need to take into consideration both your cat’s needs and your visual aspirations. Let me tell you, that’s tough, especially if you live in a small space. Brittany and I had to ask ourselves this question many times as we moved across the globe! It taught us many things and fortunately for you guys, we love to share 🙂 Let’s see where you can put your cat’s small litter box. Find the best place to put kitty litter box!
Essential criteria for the best place to put kitty litter box
Here are the essential rules you have to respect for your cat’s well being. Forget one of those and you might find yourself with a hidden smelly present somewhere in the house!
- Private (Safe and quiet)
- Accessible
- Clean
- Away from food/water
Now those are some pretty basic rules, knowing them is the key to a happy kitty and a happy home. If you are as curious as we suspect you to be and want to know why, keep on reading. Also we’ll give you several real life examples and ideas at the end of this article so you can really find the best place to put big litter box.
Where to keep the litter box: a closer look
Private
The reason why you should avoid high traffic area of your home is simply because of your cat’s primal fear of being ambushed. It’s not so much about privacy in the sense we as humans think about it. From his perspective, it’s important that the area where he goes for business is safe. It’s a place where he feels secure and can easily access.
Like any other animal, cats have an instinct. It’s in their genes and there is nothing you can do about it! Respect it and learn to fear his wrath 🙂
It’s also the reason why the place where you keep the litter should be pretty quiet, with no unexpected loud noises. If he often feels scared when going potty, he might decide to go somewhere else!
Accessible
Wherever you decide to put the cat litter box, one thing is of tremendous importance. It needs to be accessible/convenient for your cat. If you hide it in a closet and forget to keep the door open you might be in for some cleaning in the house.
Not being that extreme, if you place the litter box somewhere open to your cat but not convenient, you might face the exact same problem. If your cat is old, for example, and he needs to climb up before reaching the litter box, chances are he might not make it in time or have difficulty reaching it (arthritis).
Finally, if you decide to change the litter box place without warning your cat, you will also risk to expose yourself to another dirty job: if you change the spot, please try to show your cat where the safe place is. Help him out if you feel that he is struggling to find it. Be patient and understanding.
Clean
Have you noticed that your little beast is one of the cleanest creatures that nature has made? Hours of grooming a day for a perfect look in any circumstances. Yep, your cat is sexy and he knows it. This implies that it’s in his character to love clean stuff (some cats are pickier/cleaner than others!) The litter area is one of them. If you put the litter in a smelly garage corner or if you simply forget to clean the litter daily (or at least very regularly), kitty might go elsewhere in refusal to go in a dirty litter box. Show some respect and make sure the area you choose is neat and clean.
Away from food and water
Do your best to take this one seriously as well. You might think that putting his food/water not too far is a good idea as it creates a trusting space for your cat, but it’s not always the case. Try to put some space between his bowls and his litter.
Real life example: our experience with Yoda
For the past few years, we have been moving around quite a lot for Brittany’s studies and job. Twice in the US, once in Nepal, and soon to France and the Netherlands… And yes our Yoda follows us everywhere and has to adapt, so we always have to get ready with travel cat litter boxes when we move to new environments. We did our very best to ease the transition and I think it worked out great since we never had any litter problems with our beast.
When we first adopted Yoda, I built an enclosed litter box that we put in the living room. This designer cat litter box served as a multipurpose box with a comfy area on top (with a fluffy carpet) and room for his food and water bowls. Brittany who had more experience than me reminded me of the “away from food rule” so I had to come up with a solution to isolate his dinner area from his potty area, using a double wooden reinforcement. We also used natural cat litter as well and cleaned urine/poop out daily which really helped. Although it might not work for every cat, our Yoda loved his box and kept on using it until we had to move out.
Then we moved to Nepal, a “not so cat friendly” country. Dogs are far more popular there so finding appropriate supplies was a struggle. We still managed to create a comfortable environment for our beast. We placed the litter box for small spaces in a separate compartment at the bottom of our wardrobe that was hidden by a simple curtain. Yoda adopted it just like that! It respected all the rules and was well hidden. Couldn’t find a better spot.
We are now in Johnson City, Tennessee, spending summer with the family. Yoda’s best litter box for small apartment is in our room’s corner in a big carton box that I designed as a little house for our beast. (Feel free to check out this post on how to make a cat litter box.) It’s really simple as I did not want to make anything too crazy since we are not staying that long but it does the job. Yoda loves it!
Best place to put large cat box: Final thoughts
We know, it’s not that easy to find the perfect place to put the litter box in the house! However, there are many ways to do it as long as you can respect the simple rules mentioned here above. One good way to provide him with the best place for his litter box is a hidden cat litter box designed just for that purpose. They are amazing because they combine the cat litter box with a classy piece of furniture. It’s human-cat win win! You can check them out in our article on the best hidden litter box furniture.
Hope you enjoyed this article! What about you? Where does your kitty’s litter box go?