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Original poster

Calling all cat owners. Where do you keep your litter tray?

20 replies

snowqueen · 09/10/2004 20:21

I (or rather the children) want to get a cat but everyone I know who has them keeps the tray in the kitchen. It seems sensible to keep the tray on a hard floor rather than a nice carpet but surely it's not hygienic keeping the tray somewhere you will be eating or preparing food. I would rwally want to keep it out of the kitchen altogether although this might not be possible cos to get outside would need to go through kitchen

OP posts:
Debbiethemum · 09/10/2004 20:29

Best of all if you have access to outside is a cat flap then no need for a litter tray

nikkim · 09/10/2004 20:53

we have just got a cat, eventually she will be going out to do her wees and poos but until then her litter tray is in the porch, keep the doorslightly ajar so she can come in and out. At night we put it in the hall near the door.

Unfortunately it means it is the first thing people see when they come to our house but at least it is out of the way and not in the kitchen . Can't stand the thought of a shit box near where I cook food.

edam · 09/10/2004 21:00

Our cat had been trained to a tray by her previous owner, so we couldn't rely on her going outside (in fact when she gets caught short she runs inside to the tray ? I swear I've seen that look on her face that people have when they are running to the loo!).
Her litter tray is under the stairs. Also couldn't stand the idea of having it in the kitchen. It does mean it is near the front door, but best compromise of hard floor/away from kitchen we could find. Some friends have theirs in their downstairs loo ? kind of logical!

Tommy · 09/10/2004 21:04

We keep ours in the utility room which is handy if you're lucky enough to have one. Mind you, we had cats when I was growing up and we never had a litter tray after they were kittens (kept by back door in the kitchen) so I guess some people manage without them. TBH I don't know how much our cat uses her litter tray - not my area of responsibility (we got our cat when I was pregnant so I couldn't touch the litter etc - DH did all that sort of thing then and, 3 years later, still does Sssh!

jenkel · 09/10/2004 21:29

We keep ours in a downstairs loo, the door is kept slightly ajar so she can get in and out. The downstairs loo is just by our front door dd can open the front door so we have a stair gate before the downstairs loo, quite handy as it keeps dd away from the litter tray and our cat can jump over the stair gate.

hmb · 09/10/2004 21:32

When we had a cat we kept the little tray in the Futility Room. Most times she 'went' outside tho.

cellulitequeen · 09/10/2004 22:01

You only need a litter tray when they are kittens (we have 3 cats, unless you live somewhere where they can't go outdoors of course). When we moved house last year we kept the litter down for about a month and it was a real pain cleaning it out every day. When we took the litter away they went outside no problems.

hatter · 09/10/2004 23:17

I'm afraid I disagree with those who say you don't need one - the cat poo doesn't just vanish - cats eitehr poo in your own garden or in someone elses and I think if you have cats they should use a tray. Ours is in our garage - with a cat flap in teh garage door, At our old house we didn;t have any form of out-house so dh built a cover thing (it looked like a small kennel) out of mdf and waterproof felt to put in teh garden

JanH · 09/10/2004 23:19

No, it doesn't just vanish, hatter - thanks for mentioning that! Most cats seem to prefer to poo in someone else's garden

hatter · 09/10/2004 23:20

We've long since found it socially unacceptable to allow dogs to poo wherever they want, as far as I'm concerned the same should go for cats

JanH · 09/10/2004 23:24

Me too. We only have small pets (2 gerbils, 1 snake) and that's one of the main reasons - my sons would love a dog but the thought of picking up after it puts me right off. We did have cats once but the litter tray (yes, in the kitchen)used to make me heave in the morning!

AussieSim · 10/10/2004 06:01

My cat and I lived in a lot of places together over a 15 year period, and in the places where she couldn't go outside the litter was in either the laundry, bathroom or on the balcony - but never in the kitchen.

hmb · 10/10/2004 07:52

Thing is though hatter, unless you keep a cat inside all the time you cannot 'train' it to poo in a little tray. The law recognises that unlike a dog, you cannot train a cat.

foxinsocks · 10/10/2004 10:04

the cats round here poo in my pot plants ggrrrr I mean they must be desperate to do that! Also, the squirrels/foxes/cats ripped apart the bin bags and pulled out the plastic bags with the cat poo in it and the binmen refused to take them!

Tanzie · 10/10/2004 12:16

Oh yuck, not in the kitchen! Old Furface's was in silly little room (full of bikes and wellies) by the back door, but have moved it to under the stairs, which is where she prefers to go. Have never had it in the kitchen - in previous homes it has been in the bathroom or the hall, under stairs or table. Lidded litter trays also contain cat pipi and caca smell quite effectively.

Lisa78 · 10/10/2004 12:57

Not in the kitchen, no way! Yuck!

We keep ours in the downstairs loo, at the old house when we didn't have a downstairs loo, it was at the bottom of the stairs as it curved round - so it was on the bigger triangular shaped step, IYSWIM

Timmy has a cat flap though and I can't say he uses the litter tray more than once a year - and then its only when he is desperate and its a force 10 gale, floods and a giant cat bullying him from outside!!! Once they are past kittenhood, it tends to be an outdoor thing but you can train them to use a particular spot in your own garden. Find a slightly sheltered spot - a hidey hole, then put a bit of cat litter on it to convince them its the same - much better than them going in someone elses! Ours goes under the christmas tree in winter and under the budhlia (sp?) bush in summer, though he occasionally uses the field behind the house I think

iota · 10/10/2004 17:19

Once my cat found the great outdoors he never used the litter tray again so we eventually removed it.

Cats will please themselves where they go - our entire garden is surrounded by a giant litter try - the bark chippings around the shrub borders - so he sometimes uses these, but I'm sure he really goes in the nearby field where he spends much of his time.

Some years ago I livied in a flat with no cat-flap, so always had a litter tray for my (different) cat. It was VERY rarely used - he obviously preferred the great outdoors as well.

carla · 10/10/2004 18:01

Well, get this one .. We've got two dogs, not cats, but same poo problem. We've had to erect an 'inner sanctuary' type of garden, in between our main one. So we've got a delightful looking garden, with bits the dds can go in, and wire fencing where the dogs cannot!Delightful, but practical

poppyseed · 10/10/2004 18:18

We don't have one - instead we have a cat flap! 'Encouraged' the cat to go outside when we found DS sitting in the tray

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Jess (kittykatt)

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