Litter tracking mats?

I was hoping to get some product recommendations for litter tracking mats. I have two litter boxes for my two girls (one covered for Tattoo and one uncovered for Rae) and they both manage to track litter out of the box for several feet no matter what kind of litter I use. I've tried putting a towel and an area rug down to catch the litter so that I can just dump it outside/in the trash, but they like to pull them up when they are burying and they don't work anyway. I would like to buy a special mat designed specifically for this problem, but I have no idea which type to buy. Several I've seen look like they would bother my kitties paws. Any suggestions or stories you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

I will be looking back here to see what others have to say....I presently have a small, low napped, rubber backed ,rug just outside the litter box..and it catches some , but not all. I also keep a whisk broom with dust pan beside the box so that I can sweep up what gets tracked off the rug....and that works pretty good..but I do have to do it a few times a day.

Actually, we put a rubber boot tray (like what you'd use to put your winter boots on after they've been covered in wet snow, so you don't splash water around the house) under the litterboxes at my old house, because one of the cats was tracking litter (and other things ...) out of the litterbox. The benefit of the tray is that the edges are raised a little bit, like a lip, so it helps keep the mess in (plus, it's rubber, so it's super easy to clean!). Also, a boot tray shouldn't be terribly expensive, so if it doesn't work for you you're not out a lot of money.

I bought one of those cute cat trays with little points sticking up to allow the litter to fall off. The cats jump over it, allowing more litter to be scattered around the room!

Then I got a blue plastic one, very soft, it almost looks like a brillo pad in the middle. It seems to work ok, but I got a small one and should have gotten the larger one!

Originally Posted by Beckiboo

I bought one of those cute cat trays with little points sticking up to allow the litter to fall off. The cats jump over it, allowing more litter to be scattered around the room!

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Several years ago I went out and bought that same type of mat. It does catch some of the litter, but not all of it. Also, sometimes Snowball jumps out from the side of the litterbox causing litter to scatter. I've never tried any other type of mat, but like I said earlier, it does help a little (at least at my house).

I think they do bother the cats' paws, because when I've tried using different types of tracking mats, my cats would just jump over them.

The only one they didn't really seem to mind was an Astroturf-type mat, but one of the cats peed on it, so I just gave up.

Now I keep a little whiskbroom & mini dustpan set next to each litterbox & sweep every time I scoop.

I've never found anything that works. I've resorted to just sweeping the area (master 1/2 bath) a couple of times a day and vacuuming the rug in the bedroom more often. At least the World's Best KL isn't as bad as stepping on the clay stuff, and doesn't seem to get ground in as badly.

we have a different mat for each litter pan actually. On the big litterpan where sam "goes" and started peeing on the mat we have a bootmat so that it catches all the urine. In the small one downstairs we have a mat that we've had quite good luck with. It's hard plastic, has ridges on it and the end is slanted to slide under the litterpan. The cats do step on it, and while it doesn't collect everything it does some.
I had one that looked like giant fake grass on my one upstairs but Chester was jumping over it and making an even bigger mess so now I don't have one there. The rug catches the litter ok and I just vaccume it up. Kind of messy solution, but it works well. What about using a scrap of carpet infront of the box???

We just use an old large bath towel under each pan and keep a broom/brush and dustpan handy.

We have a litter buster mat from Petsmart that we just got, and it seems to be helping. We still have to sweep the floor in the litterbox room every day, though.

i bought one of the small cute litter mats shaped like a paw when Clinton first came home with me. the mat doesn't bother him, but it just doesn't do much since he jumps out of the box toward whatever catches his interest next, ha! but i recently bought one of those new swiffer carpet flick things, it says on the box that it picks up cat litter out of the carpet so we'll see if that works between vacuumings.

Originally Posted by Beckiboo

I bought one of those cute cat trays with little points sticking up to allow the litter to fall off. The cats jump over it, allowing more litter to be scattered around the room!

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what happens with my tracking mat.

The "outdoor carpet" that you put on decks, etc., that looks green...I've never tried it but I figured it might work. You would have to vacuum or shake it up, but it comes in 6' widths, so you could put the cat box in the middle. It's soft enough for people to walk on so I would think it would be ok. At least it would contain it.

I have a piece of shag carpet for in front of one box (and I'm going to buy a second piece for in front of the second). I got it from a carpet store that was going out of business... it's just one of the rectangle sample thingies.

They have very similar actual rugs at Walmart right now, but I need to find one that will match in the bathroom. I wash the current rug every couple of weeks (in its own load), and it seems to be working well enough. It's better than a towel, because everything sticks to shag.

Originally Posted by danalee2682

i bought one of the small cute litter mats shaped like a paw when Clinton first came home with me. the mat doesn't bother him, but it just doesn't do much since he jumps out of the box toward whatever catches his interest next, ha! but i recently bought one of those new swiffer carpet flick things, it says on the box that it picks up cat litter out of the carpet so we'll see if that works between vacuumings.

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Let me know if it works - I was thinking about using one of those too! The vacuum scares the boys so much, and its small so it has to be cleaned too often for daily vacuuming to be worth it.

I've found nothing that works consistently. I finally bought a carpet sweeper that I use to clean up the kitten room ($20 at Linens 'N Things), and it works great. It cleans litter off a floor, and it helps the carpet passably, but that way I don't have to run the vacuum daily.

I'd also love to know if the Carpet-flick works. Right now I have a cheap woven place mat from the kitchen section of wal-mart. It works pretty well at catching the litter, b/c of the woven pattern, but it really needs to be bigger. So I have a big bath towel folded in half, and the place mat in the middle on the side she usually comes out of. But I'm not sure how long this will work, b/c right now she is very little!

I found a litter mat that works great, especially for covered boxes. Read about it in this post.

So, I tried the carpet-flick this morning. I give it a "B." It does pick up the litter, but Clinton sheds a lot, so the sticky sheet filled up fast with cat hair. It rolled across the carpet well, but I have berber carpet, so that probably helps. I think it will probably be worth it in the long run, for picking up excess litter daily, but i'll definitely still need to vacuum weekly. The carpet-flick itself was pretty affordable, I think I paid $15 at Costco and it came with 6x more refills. A small hand-held vacuum would probably still be quicker and easier though...but, at least the carpet-flick is quieter for Clinton.

I use a mat that is like a grate on top, and the litter falls down through to a catch basin. It works great! It is made of hard plastic, and has rubber feet that can be attached on the bottom to keep it from sliding. Also, being hard plastic, it is super easy to clean! If anything sticks, I used the sprayer at the kitchen sink, or you could even put it through the dishwasher! And there is a funnel type corner, so you can just pick it up and dump the litter right out of the corner, no spillage like with most of the carpet like mats. And my kitten doesn't mind walking on it, either.