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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

The litter tray

One litter tray?

19 replies

PopGoesThePimple · 26/03/2019 21:03

This is just a hypothetical question as we don't have a cat yet, but we are preparing in advance and planning to look around in a few months time.
Growing up we always had outdoor cats but this will be my first cat as an adult, and my first experience of having an indoor cat.
So my question is, would one litter tray be enough for an indoor cat? I've bought a hooded tray and was thinking of putting it in the upstairs bathroom. Space downstairs is limited so I was hoping one upstairs would be ok so long as it's always accessible to the cat? Thanks in advance for anyone who answers, I am hugely excited about future kitty and I love cats so I want to make sure I'm prepared!!

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Toddlerteaplease · 26/03/2019 21:15

My two indoor cats have always shared. Extra trays went unused. My two aren't related. It's no issue

dementedpixie · 26/03/2019 21:16

We have a 1 extra large tray for 2 cats. Have had a 2nd but they never used it. They mostly go outside now though

sirmione16 · 26/03/2019 21:34

General rule is one tray per cat, and it should be big enough for cat to lie down in. Be aware where some cats don't mind, some cats won't like a hooded tray as it feels like they're cornered - they like to know there's an escape route when at their most vulnerable. So if your new cat doesn't use it, first thing to try is removing the hood :)

dementedpixie · 26/03/2019 21:37

I don't have a lidded tray but my tray has high sides

PopGoesThePimple · 26/03/2019 22:21

Thank you so much for the replies!! That is good to hear, so we might get away with only having one tray upstairs after all!
I will keep that in mind about the hood too!

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Wolfiefan · 26/03/2019 22:23

Why an indoor cat? Out of interest that’s all.
Our first two always shared a tray.
Our current two hate each other. We need multiple trays.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 27/03/2019 10:02

I have one (very) large tray for four cats. They all use it - no complaints.

JockMcGraw · 27/03/2019 10:46

We have three trays for two indoor cats. I'm sure one tray will be fine, but might be good to have a spare in case? I've noticed that while they'll use the same tray as each other they prefer to wee in a different tray to the one they poo in.

viccat · 27/03/2019 10:54

The only issue would be it being in the bathroom - then it won't be accessible when someone is having a bath or using the bathroom with the door closed? Or if someone accidentally closes the door and goes out for the day etc.

In general though I would always say it's best to have more trays just in case because inappropriate urination/defecation (i.e. not using the litter tray) is one of the hardest cat behavioural problems to tackle if they start, so prevention is so much better if you can make their litter tray experience as stress-free as possible.

PopGoesThePimple · 27/03/2019 10:56

Hi, my main reasons for wanting an indoor cat is peace of mind. Growing up we always had cats and we had 2 go missing/taken. One of them was a beautiful cream kitty with seal point colouring, and our neighbour saw somebody put her in their car and drive off her brother was a black cat and he went missing about a year later . We also had one who was run over by a car and had to be put to sleep. So I was thinking of searching maybe for a rescue ragdoll, who will be happy to be indoors!!

My main worry regarding the litter tray being upstairs was whether I needed one on each floor. So if you have only one tray at your house, does your cat mind going upstairs to the loo?

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SpoonBlender · 27/03/2019 11:03

Kittens will need a tray close to hand (one per floor!) but adults won't have any trouble with navigating to a single location.

As we discovered (to our carpet's cost!) it can be problematic going down in tray count - our rescue was used to peeing there and carried on doing so until we found out some days later. Echh. If you do do that, put a new large object in the old location for a few weeks, a trunk or something.

PopGoesThePimple · 27/03/2019 11:21

Ok, so I guess it would depend on the individual cat? So if I can get advice Ina specific cat from staff at the recue place that might be the way to go. I'd rather make space for a second tray downstairs than have to deal with toilet accidents.
I wonder if I can train future kitty to use the toilet like mr jinxy in 'meet the parents' 😂

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SpoonBlender · 27/03/2019 11:42

To be fair, I'm pretty sure that particular cat has been mildly brain damaged - she has a number of little oddities and several broken teeth that we had to have out after getting her which the vet said are probably from a car hit. Poor thing. She's happy now though as a 95% indoor cat and has with one tray right up in the attic.

claragolightly · 27/03/2019 11:48

I always had one tray for my one cat, Tomas.

My girls (sisters, who don't go outside) have three trays. Two upstairs - they pee in one, poo in the other, and they have a third downstairs, which they use occasionally.

They didn't like the hoods, so I took them off the two trays in "their" room, but kept it on the one downstairs - perhaps that's why they use it less frequently.

See how it goes! But definitely keep it somewhere accessible at all times.

Wolfiefan · 27/03/2019 12:10

As long as they know where it is our cats don’t mind if it’s upstairs or downstairs. A rescue cat that’s used to indoors only is a great idea. My two wouldn’t cope as indoor only cats. If I was worried I would have to cat proof the garden.

PopGoesThePimple · 27/03/2019 15:27

Oh that's another thing I was going to look into, catproofing the back garden!! I was just thinking of those long summer days when we spend lots of time out the back, I can imagine feeling guilty sitting out there as a family whilst little kitty watches longingly through the patio doors!! It would be nice to be able to have the back doors open on hot days and know that all family members are safe!!

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PopGoesThePimple · 27/03/2019 15:29

I need to take it easy with the exclamation marks don't I !!!

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viccat · 27/03/2019 15:32

Cat proofing your garden would be the best of both worlds yes! Ours is cat proofed and it's great; the cats get to enjoy the garden but are safe. It also makes life easy for me being able to go in and out without worrying about escapes, and also being able to get the cats in when needed as I know they are in the contained garden. Ours was done by Sanctuary SOS but if your garden is fairly straightforward in shape (and doesn't have lots of trees etc.) then you can do it yourself or get a handyman to fit the brackets etc. for cheaper.

bullyingadvice2017 · 27/03/2019 15:41

I have two sharing one tray. No problems they seem to prefer it with the good on. They are very determined about the playing out tho. Unless I never open a door or window there's no chance of them staying in.
They do come running back in very fast to the sound of the dreamie box tho!

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