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The litter tray

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

Original poster

If the cats are not allowed outside at night do they need a litter tray

90 replies

MrsFogi · 05/10/2018 22:34

Our kittens are about 6 months old, I allow them to go in and out during the day but am keeping them in at night. How do people deal with this in relation to the litter try - do you end up having a litter tray overnight forever?

OP posts:
Honeyroar · 06/10/2018 13:18

I can't take anyone seriously who starts wittering on about new posters and it feeling like AIBU.

Catspyjamazzzz · 06/10/2018 13:20

Our cat hates them. We only get it out when it’s snowing or we’re away.
He’s used it once in the last year (snow) and next time he needed to go he begged to go out.
You can’t make them use them
If they go out.

abbsisspartacus · 06/10/2018 13:26

Why do people assume it's kept in the kitchen? Mine is in the utility room

wtffgs2 · 06/10/2018 13:33

Of course cats need trays - if you won't have a tray - don't have a cat.

DCat rarely uses hers (which is a covered one in the bathroom). She has a designated poo spot in the corner of our garden but occasionally needs to wee or poo inside (this morning it was very wet, for example)

She's young and healthy. Her geriatric, arthritic and IBS-prone predecessor would use his tray about 6 times a day, plus other little shits around the house in the last year of his life. Never an issue until he got old Sad

Spilledmycoffee · 06/10/2018 13:46

Mine comes in at night and used to have a litter tray, once I realised he hadn't used it for months I just got rid of it.

The downside of that though is that when I moved house and wanted to keep him in for a couple of weeks. I put a litter tray down for him but he had forgotten what it was and wee'd all over the floor. No problem since he's been allowed out again though.

Methe · 06/10/2018 14:01

I really hope that one day some people on this thread are locked inside with no access to a toilet until someone lets them out

You mean like every single pet dog in the country?

Domesticated pet animals have bladder and bowel control. Good owners let them out when they need to toilet, it really isn’t difficult.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 06/10/2018 14:10

I wasn't 'wittering', I was stating a fact. My point was that the Litter Tray is usually friendly and reasonable but all of a sudden there's idiots like a previous poster who think it's disgusting to have a litter tray full of 'adult shit and ammonia scented piss' as though they are never emptied! I would have thought that people like that would have been more at home on the cat hating posts of AIBU!

My cat is always in at night, sometimes from quite early (if we're away his curfew is 5.30) so it wouldn't be fair to make him hold on. We also have a tiny garden with cat proofing so he hasn't got a lot of room!

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 06/10/2018 14:13

Yes, my cat has but sometimes he needs to go during the night and I was much rather that was in a litter tray. I'd also rather he went than wake me up to let him out.

Good owners take care of their pet's needs.

buscaution · 06/10/2018 14:15

It's pretty basic stuff to provide a litter tray. I'm surprised so many people don't.

Spilledmycoffee · 06/10/2018 14:19

I think if the cat doesn't use the litter tray it'd be strange to keep one in the house.

It should be the cats preference though rather than the humans

Vinorosso74 · 06/10/2018 14:23

Pink I agree it has gone a bit AIBU!

Singlenotsingle · 06/10/2018 14:24

You get a cat flap installed.

Ollivander84 · 06/10/2018 14:24

Mine won't ever go outside, he comes back in for a wee so i have a tray and he often goes overnight too

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 06/10/2018 14:24

I agree. If Harry didn't use his I'd probably only have it down if he was ill but as he does use it we'll keep it. I'd feel a bit mean taking it away after 10 years! It's in the bathroom so it's out of the way and doesn't cause a problem.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 06/10/2018 14:26

@Singlenotsingle, I have a cat flap but it's locked at night.

I'm glad it's not just me @Vino!

Catnut · 06/10/2018 14:26

We have a covered up tray which stays in the garden, it might be worth buying one of those and putting it outside each day if you don't want it in the house. Bit of a faff, but just a thought.

EachandEveryone · 06/10/2018 15:56

Mine are locked in on a night. They definitely come inside to use their trays one goes at 2230 pm and the other at 6am just when I’m getting ready for work. I would hate them not to have trays it would be cruel.

RockyCove · 06/10/2018 16:58

Absolutely they need one - unkind not to

almondsareforevermore · 06/10/2018 20:06

Mine stopped using their litter tray within a few weeks of first going outside and have never once weed or pooed indoors since. I didn’t suppose anyone had a litter tray for cats with access to outside. They have a cat flap and I keep them in at night for safety.
Dogs can only go outside when someone opens the door and, like cats, don’t need to poo in the middle of the night.

Cindersdonegood · 06/10/2018 21:40

Reading through this thread I'm really wondering how many dogs must have dog flaps...

Wolfiefan · 06/10/2018 21:47

My cats have litter trays. They don’t go out when it’s dark. The dog? I can take her out late at night and first thing in the garden. She can wee and won’t jump over the fence like the cats.

bonzo77 · 06/10/2018 21:56

Depends on the cat. We’ve had 3 over the years. Always locked in at night. No tray. No accidents. We did have a tray available when they first started going out, but it quickly stopped being used. I think they prefer to go outside. Sometimes we go away for a night, and keep cat indoors for 24-72 hours. With trays obviously. If we are away for just 24 hrs often the tray hasn’t been used. Though I think she has a wee in the shower or bath occasionally.

CatchingBabies · 07/10/2018 12:57

For those of you that don’t have a litter tray at all and cats that toilet outside how would you know if your cat had a bout of diarrhoea, had picked up a parasite such as giardia or had blood in their urine from a UTI?

I had a cat with cystitis and a blocked bladder once, he would have died if I hadn’t have noticed that he was unable to wee, if your cat only weed outside how would you notice? Or would they simply die and you’d never know that you could have prevented it by noticing and taking them to the vet?

Broken11Girl · 07/10/2018 13:07

Of course they need litter trays.

fenneltea · 07/10/2018 13:14

My thoughts are the same as Catching Babies; for health reasons alone it is worth having a litter tray.
Add to that the fact that your cat will probably be toileting in a neighbours garden causing a nuisance without a litter tray and the discomfort caused if they are locked in and have no tray and need to go, then it's a no brainer not to have one.
It's true that my dogs don't have a tray or a dogflap, but they are quite capable of asking to be out if needed during the night.
Litter trays being minging usually means that they are filled with cheap littter that doesn't absorb odours well and/or not cleaned regularly enough.