Anyone else plan a new kitchen around their cats?

[Toddlerteaplease]

The designer asked me my must haves. I said "room for the litter tray.!" I've also decided this morning that the oven needs to be under the job so there is a tall cupboard to store their food and litter.
Can't believe the girls are dictating a huge purchase.

I can believe it!!

(Although my cat litter 20l would fit into an under counter cupboard - so don't discount an eye level oven as they are great for checking on food and easier to get things in an out of).

When you start asking for a special tap that they can lick and it gives them a drink....then you need to start worrying.

Litter tray in the kitchen???

Not exactly the same but dh sawed the sides of our new kitchen to make more room for our 4 ddogs being in the kitchen!

Sawed the sides of your kitchen???

All seems sensible to me.

Oops table!!

@PerveenMistry

Litter tray in the kitchen???

We have a litter tray in the kitchen - it was put in there because the cats were locked in the kitchen overnight when we got them.

It's stayed in there because we have 2 cats - so 2 trays - and where else do you put them? There's already one in the hallway, we shut the downstairs loo door to keep human odours away from the hall, we don't want cats pooping in the lounge as there is carpet in there....so yes kitchen it is.

@PerveenMistry it's in the kitchen because there is nowhere else to put it. Cheddar is incredibly noisy when she uses it, so it can't go in the spare room! My house is tiny!

Just room for a litter tray? You can do better than that How about a cat flap into a cupboard for a litter tray room, cat shelves for snoozing, a plumbed in water fountain...

If I won the lottery they would have all of those things.

But for now they'll have to wait!

Our poor architect stood there baffled while me and DH argued about the best place for a cat flap and was even more confused when a couple of his suggestions were turned down as “that wouldn’t work for the cats”. In a previous house we had the rear of the house changed on the plans to accommodate a cat flap

He was probably a dog person.

It sounds grim if not unsanitary to have a litter box in the kitchen.

It's covered and tucked away under the units. It can't go in the bathroom As there is just no space.

@ILikeMango

It sounds grim if not unsanitary to have a litter box in the kitchen.

No more unsanitary than said cat walking all over the worktops and table after its been in said litter box which could still happen wherever the litter box is in the house...

A cats gonna go where a cats gonna go, there ain't no (well mostly not) stopping them

I had to ask for space for two litter trays and I shorted the bifold doors so there was a wall I could fit a cat flap on. We have a vocal Bengal who would scream the house down if she wanted to go outside and couldn't. Some days she screams from the cat flap because she can't be bothered to open it herself

We are planning a new kitchen once extension is built and know we need cupboards to the ceiling to prevent one of the little darlings scrambling up the cupboard to reach the few inches of space at the top. She left claw marks all down our old cupboards! It's just sooo exciting to squeeze yourself into a tiny dusty space to lord it over the rest of the family from, apparently.

@claireb7rg fortunately mine are not climbers. They've never set foot on the worktop!

@ILikeMango

It sounds grim if not unsanitary to have a litter box in the kitchen.

Mines in the kitchen by the back door, but it's a covered one with a cat flap. I don't see how it's unsanitary - it's not as if anything is going to jump out onto the counter!! I find it more sanitary than other rooms as the kitchen floor can easily be moped and sanitised if anything spills out - unlike with carpet. Besides, cats don't flush. It's human toilets that you need to worry about. People who don't close the lid before flushing send all the particles of into the air!! 🤢

Litter tray in the kitchen here! About the only place it would fit.

It’s jumbo sized and is fully covered. Gets scooped out regularly. My cats not a “climber” so doesn’t do work surfaces. If you’re diligent at keeping trays clean, why does it matter where they are? Personally, I couldn’t do an open litter tray, my cat likes privacy 😂

For those that are expressing horror, where do you keep your trays and are they opened or covered? The UK is a small area with lots of small houses and flats - not everyone has the luxury of where to locate the tray.

Yes our kitchen design totally dictated by the cats needs - and we didn't even have cats at the time (we were bereaved from previous much-loved generation of cats and were planning to get kittens once the kitchen refit was done. Appropriate locations for food trays (where they wouldn't be kicked over) cat flap through to litter tray, different cat flap to outside, and water fountain all set out as first points of layout and everything else had to fit around that.

@Furries

Litter tray in the kitchen here! About the only place it would fit.

It’s jumbo sized and is fully covered. Gets scooped out regularly. My cats not a “climber” so doesn’t do work surfaces. If you’re diligent at keeping trays clean, why does it matter where they are? Personally, I couldn’t do an open litter tray, my cat likes privacy 😂

For those that are expressing horror, where do you keep your trays and are they opened or covered? The UK is a small area with lots of small houses and flats - not everyone has the luxury of where to locate the tray.

Same here...

Your cat clearly needs its own room