I am setting up an area in our unfinished basement for our 16 week old kitten to use for the litterbox (getting him in two weeks).

Since the floor is concrete, should I put a carpet remnent under it? I thought this would be a good idea so the litter that may be stuck to his feet would come off before he travels back upstairs. However, I have heard weird stories about cats peeing on the carpet under the LB.

I will also have a box in the large 2nd story bathroom (on tile) at least until he gets used to our house. Eventually, I'd like to discontinue this box and have him use the basement box only.

We put newspaper under the litterbox to catch any stray, er, droplets (Nedicks likes to pee right up against the back of the box, and even with a covered litterbox, some makes its way out onto the floor sometimes). Of course, the paper has to be changed periodically or it gets gross. We also have a little mat that goes right in front of the opening to the litterbox that is specially made for that purpose--it has little nobbly things on it that in theory get the litter off the kitty's paws before he or she tracks it through the house. (When I vacuum the apartment, I also vacuum the little mat). I'd suggest putting something under the box that you can change out pretty easily and inexpensively. If there is any leakage or kitty misses the box, you don't end up with the stuff right on the floor, where it could soak in and leave a permanent odor.

One other thing--I don't know how well things are going to go when you discontinue that second box. If he's gotten used to going there, you could have some issues.

I don't put carpets or rugs under litter boxes because my vacuum tool is too strong and would suck them up every time I cleaned. It's a pain to have to stop and unsuck it :)
Mine just sit on ceramic tile floors and are easy to vacuum around.

Yay Dyson!

I have plastic mats under mine, that have a rough ribbed texture. They can be vacuumed and put in the washing machine now and then.

You can buy a litter mat fron a pet supply store that will serve that function, without making the kitten think carpet=litterbox time.

I have plastic mats under mine, that have a rough ribbed texture. They can be vacuumed and put in the washing machine now and then.
:yeah:
I have a few of these too. I like to spread them around as my boys seem to like avoiding them if they can. :rolleyes:

I bought a nice big washable mat to put under mine. It catches all the "stuff" that can get tracked. Cleo likes it and so do I.

Right now I have my litterbox sitting on a regular bath mat. It works okay with trapping the litter, not great. I just ordered a Welcome Litter Mat and I've heard those are awesome. I can't wait to try it out!

This might sound stupid but for some reason it works well for me. I have one of those "privacy" litter boxes and since there's only one way in, I put a regular litter box in front of the entrance. When they come out, a lot of litter falls in the pan, so I just pick the pan up, tilt it, and put the litter back in the box. Hope that helped a litte :)

My whole house is hardwood floors so we just put old throw rugs under them. They're large rugs and are easy to wash and keep clean. But regardless of the rug, litter is still tracked through out the house, I think it's pretty much unavoidable. I've just gotten used to picking little bits of litter off my feet and socks, lol. good luck! =D