please vote in my poll

Mine used a covered box, but will not use it if the door is on.

I don't know how they feel about it. They've never had anything different (since we got them at 10 weeks anyway) and we've never had a problem

oh my!! "windex cat"!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by KTLynn

I didn't like the idea of my cats breathing in the dust from the litter in such a contained space. It just didn't seem healthy.

They were also limited in how they could move around. With the "open" boxes, they hop in and out til they find the right spot, and can step outside of the box to get a better angle to cover up deposits

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Exactly my thoughts too.

I have never tried one, and don't intend on it either

I have a covered box and Genever likes it. Or at least doesn't appear to have a problem with it. I said we both love it, and also the 'complex opinion' thing, because she is a digger. Genever will be in the litter box for 10 minutes, digging and scratching. She also scratches the WALLS AND CEILING of the cover! It's quite loud, especially in the middle of the night (box is in the bedroom, small apartment..) So I tried taking the cover off, for about a month or 2 actually, and she still makes amost as much noise, so recently I put the lid back on. Never used the door flap though. I think BF and I are still in the deciding mode of if we should keep the lid on or off. Definitely keeps more litter in (yes, I know, and dust too), but man, I wish Genever would realise she doesn't have to cover her business from the walls!! hehe.

Overall short answer- covered litter box is a-ok with us.

Originally Posted by DarkMavis

I have a covered box and Genever likes it. Or at least doesn't appear to have a problem with it. I said we both love it, and also the 'complex opinion' thing, because she is a digger. Genever will be in the litter box for 10 minutes, digging and scratching. She also scratches the WALLS AND CEILING of the cover!

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Tee hee 10 minutes=quite awhile for idiosyncrasies

my kitty Penny paws at the wall* after burying. They don't understand the laws of physics. or perhaps something related to instinct genes in their little brains, like, something they do in the wild, IDK

Interesting name you chose for your kitty - Genever. I'm unfamiliar with it.

* regular wall. I don't have a covered litter box

Right now we have 2 covered litterboxes, 2 high sided Sterilite containers, and 1 regular Van Ness standard cat box.

The covered boxes: Tidy Cats litter box = all the cats like it.
Van Ness regular size covered box = Lola hates it, the guys will use it.

Sterilite tubs with no covers = all the cats like them

the standard cat box = all the cats like them; I had more out but someone peed over the edge and there was a pool of pee under it. I may replace it at some point with that high-sided Rubbermaid cat box or just remove it.

Trout is a "high pee-er"...this means she gets her butt up over the edge of any covered box and pees right over the edge causing the pee to soak into the crack where the bottom and the top of the litterbox meet (which is disgusting to clean). I have to have a deep tote litterbox so she can't reach up over the edge with her butt.

Honestly, she is a weirdo.

I used to have a Booda dome, which was nice for the cats until I added a fourth. I don't have room for 4 litterboxes around here, so I just bought another supersized sterilite tub to replace the Dome. Everyone was fine with the change; one of mine, Albert, is a consistent percher- he stands on the edge of the box, shimmies around until he's at just the right angle and then lets it rip. This is the same cat who would scratch every available surface (walls, ceiling, steps) when he used the dome.

I have another, Ramsey, who refuses to learn to cover his messes. He tries (legitimately tries) by scratching everything around him...everything but the litter. Fortunately Albert is a clean freak and comes right behind him to bury it for him.

What an enabler.

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

Trout is a "high pee-er"...this means she gets her butt up over the edge of any covered box and pees right over the edge causing the pee to soak into the crack where the bottom and the top of the litterbox meet (which is disgusting to clean). I have to have a deep tote litterbox so she can't reach up over the edge with her butt.

Honestly, she is a weirdo.

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Trout's Mom, can you sort of "jam" paper towels between the cover and the base? I'm thinking that might help. I never heard of a deep tote litterbox. Now I'm curious and will need to Google it

I, too, voted "complex".

With my first cat, Shasta, I had just a regular open box. It was fine.

Then, we added two six-year-old males to the household and they came with a covered LB. That was fine as long as they were segregated from Shasta, but once the intros were completed and the boys were coming upstairs, Nibs insisted on using Shasta's box - and christening the walls and floor. I tried putting the covered box upstairs, which was OK with Nibs, but then Shasta wouldn't use it.

So I uncovered it, and got corrugated plastic to make walls for the sides and back, held in place by the litter. All cats used it without any problem, and the walls and floor were saved.

Since the boys crossed the Bridge, we've had only females, and are back to open boxes, which they approve of -- well, they do prefer the big one Mother Nature provides outdoors, but when it's too wet or too cold or too hot to do their business there, they do deign to use the indoor ones and seem to find the boxes provided to their satisfaction.

Ku Ku uses covered one. When I first got her, she was still small & pin-skinny. She(we) didn't have any problem with a tiny uncovered litter tray/pan.
After she got spayed, within few months she started "gaining weight" & grew bigger( ), tiny tray was no longer a perfect size for her.
She also started making so much mess whenever she used it - digging, scratching around...sometimes she completely knocked it over because of her weight

I decided to upgrade it to a bigger & deeper kind with a cover to accommodate her new size. Seemed she did not have any problem with it. I also switched the litter to Swheatscoop & feline pine, so, dust is not an issue here.

One more thing - Ku Ku is really good at demanding meowmy to clean her bathroom. She'd first put her head in before she actually steps into a litter box then put it out as if she was sniffing around for cleanliness.
Then she turns around & looks at me(or toward my direction if I wasn't there or looking) as if saying "hey, this is not clean!". If I wasn't looking or not there, then she'd just come to me, and walks back & forth between the litter & meowmy...

Ku Ku has a bathroom attendant/servant. Her litter box is always maintained clean.
Covered litter box is not a problem to her at all..

Originally Posted by KKH

is really good at demanding meowmy to clean her bathroom. She'd first put her head in before she actually steps into a litter box then put it out as if she was sniffing around for cleanliness.
Then she turns around & looks at me(or toward my direction if I wasn't there or looking) as if saying "hey, this is not clean!". If I wasn't looking or not there, then she'd just come to me, and walks back & forth between the litter & meowmy...

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i can imagine this! how cute! a girl who knows what she wants!

Originally Posted by rapunzel47

and got corrugated plastic to make walls for the sides and back, held in place by the litter. All cats used it without any problem, and the walls and floor were saved.

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Hey that's "thinking outside the box" , litter-ally! (Seriously, you've just given me an idea

Originally Posted by c1atsite

please vote in my poll about covered litter boxes

you can pick more than 1 answer

thanks

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My cats have always had a covered litter box but I just recently got them a Booda Dome (the one with stairs) and everybody is happy.

I have enough cats, therefore enough boxes that I've done a lot of side by side trials over the years. Given the choice, mine will pick an uncovered box over a covered one about 99% of the time. I do have a few open boxes that are tucked inside wooden boxes (I use these in our sun room as window perches for the cats). When I scoop litter, the majority of the waste is in the open boxes and there are days on end where the box inside the box ones are untouched.

Give a cat a choice and they will tell you what they like.

And if you ever wonder what litter your cats likes the best - do a side by side test for those also. The winner in my house by a landslide? Cat Attract.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Cat Attract.

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Good to know! I've seen their ads in cat magazines and have always wondered

Thanks for sharing

perhaps kittens that start off young with the covered type keep the preference as they age. i dont know

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

I have to have a deep tote litterbox

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Would this be an example?
http://www.catclaws.com/products/luc...litter-pan.php

Originally Posted by c1atsite

Would this be an example?

http://www.catclaws.com/products/luc...litter-pan.php

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There are a lot of people on this site that use tall sided sterilite or rubbermaid bins. The ones I use are bigger than the one you posted and cost less than half the price. Cats also seem to like really big boxes.

They're ok in single cat households as long as the cat likes them, but in my experience, they have always lead to bullying behavior with my multi-cat lifestyle, so I do not bother with them.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

They're ok in single cat households as long as the cat likes them, but in my experience, they have always lead to bullying behavior with my multi-cat lifestyle, so I do not bother with them.

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yes, even before you said so i had the thought in my head. like, it's an enclosed space that a kitty with a "mean streak" could view as "i have my enemy cornered" and then a whole can of worms opens up so to speak