those covered litter trays that are like little houses...

[GertrudePerkins]

is it easy to persuade a cat to use one when she's been used to an open tray?

the beast has always managed to kick loads of litter out of her tray after she uses it. She's getting worse though, and can now flick litter from one corner of the room all the way to the diagonally opposite corner. I need to hoover about three times a day to keep on top of the mess (not that I do hoover three times daily - I just should). I thought maybe one of those covered trays might help, but having had issues with a previous cat who pissed everywhere but the litter tray, I don;t want to do anything that would put her off. Any thoughts?

Both? I had 2 open trays, one is huge so they can't make too much mess in that, one was smaller and downstairs so I replaced that with a closed one. They're fine with it. Then if she seems okay with the closed one and you only want 1 in the long run, you can get rid of the open one then, when she's good and used to it

Remove the flappy door, then re-instate once she's used to the covered tray.

I think they quite like the privacy as well.

Ooh yes, love them.

I got a small one so he wouldn't go in there scratching about. I didn't want him getting comfy in it.

I can just imagine ASBOCat taking a newspaper in there, planning on a comfy, leisurely poo. But then getting pissed off because he didn't have enough space to read his paper. So then hurling all the litter out of the flappy door.

I've just been browsing, and they all seem to have a flappy door thing. She hates the cat flap, there's no way she'll use door. even if I take the door off, I can't imagine her squeezing her snooty arse through a small opening. are there any that are totally open on one side?

Just use a plastic tub. cheaper and easier, as the sides are high the litter doesn't fly out,
Even with covered litter trays the litter can just get shovelled out the entrance as they dig.
You may need a large one depending on the size of your cats and provided they arent elderly they can jump in no problem :)

I use these, the front lifts right up so it's easier for the cat to use if they are funny with going through small doors and it's a doddle to clean.
www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_litter_litter_boxes/hooded_litter_box/litter_boxes_filter/391824

There are ridged mats you can get which help get a bit of the litter off the paws before it spreads. Think the make is Canac.

The front of mine lifts up and bit of roof folds back so the door can be up and out the way. I did this for first few days until she got used to it. Then put the door down and haven't had a problem. There is no mess outside of the litter tray now. I think it is fab and I think cat likes having the privacy.

Cheap option is a cardboard box with sides higher than the tray - I find zooplus delivery boxes a perfect size! I didn't think it'd work, thought the cats would be too dim to figure out that was where the tray was or else the lamb would manage to kick litter over the sides in her quest to spread litter as far as possible with every movement. But no - a near 100% success, cheap as chips, and easy to lift the trays out for scooping.

Not aesthetically the best thing ever - though I have considered some sort of Blue Peter type action involving painting them to look like rocket ships or something.

I use plastic storage boxes, the sides are about 8-10 inches tall? No kicking out of that. Even our old cat can leap inside for a whiz.

You could get an open litter box with high sides. I got this one and it's brilliant:
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002BDU8EW/