Where to put the litter tray? Please help!

[SarahAndQuack]

I am fairly new to having cats, so I need help. I recently separated from my partner; at that point we had two one-year-old kittens, and my ex-P (a lifelong cat owner) had done everything around litter trays. They had a covered tray that lived in the far corner of our kitchen, and it was basically fine. She cleaned it out twice a day. Obviously, when we split up the kittens went with her. But, my DD and I both missed having cats, so we recently re-homed two sisters who are now about 10 months old.

I know they had a rough start - the rescue told us they were kept indoors all the time (we got them when they were 7 or so months old). They were very shy. Our other kittens we had since they were babies - weeks old - and they had been beautifully trained by their fosterer.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it's almost impossible to keep the litter tray from smelling! I've tried various different types of litter, but they don't seem to want to bury it, and at the same time, they dig like mad, and occasionally come out with mucky paws. I clean three times a day - more if I am at home - but you can still smell it.

We have outbuildings that are quite comfortable. Would it be awful to put the litter tray there, do you think? Or am I missing something?

Presumably if you are thinking of putting a litter tray in an outbuilding, these are cats that can now go in and out via a cat flap as they choose? (At a year old, they are no longer really kittens.)

If so, they do not need a litter tray at all, they should be toileting outside. You may need to 'help' them to do this if they have always used an indoor litter tray. You can do this by shovelling some of their used litter onto e.g. a border where you want them to toilet and showing them the area (so it smells of them and they get the idea). You would need to have an area where you can loosen the earth so they can dig in it. Once they start, they'll get the idea.

My indoor/outdoor cats do have a litter tray available, but they only use it if e.g. it is December and pelting with rain, or they are poorly. Otherwise it's unused and they toilet outdoors. For your cats that would be a gradual process and you'd still need to have a litter tray available but you should find they use it less and less often.

Thanks for the reply!

I though they were kittens until a year old - but I don't know why I thought that!

Yes, they have a cat flap. But I have a garden, so obviously I don't really want them pooing there!

They are either going to poo in their litter tray or in your garden - actually, probably both! But if you choose a particular area for them in the garden you might keep them off the places you would prefer they avoided.

If you want them to poo in a tray in an outhouse then sure, give that a go, but if it's raining they will choose the nearest place to the house, so if the outhouse is a distance away... good luck! Do you want go out to the outhouse twice a day in December to clear out the tray? Personally I'd be hoping they chose the garden 😄

For two of my past cats, I bought a large dog kennel, big enough to take the open litter tray and for the cats to go in with room to move about and put it on the patio close to the cat flap. They used it all the time.

Easy to clean out, kept dry from rain and no smell indoors.

What do you feed them? I find grain-free dry cat food results in much less stinky poos.

I want them to go in the litter tray! I just want them to cover it up.

The outbuildings are near the house, so it'd be no bother. I don't want them pooing in the garden because I use it as a working garden - it'd be disgusting to have cat poo accumulating there.

Thank you! At the moment it's whiskars dry food and felix kitten pouches - I just went off recommendations.

I would drop the Whiskas dry food and try another brand. I use Hills and Royal Canin which are easily available from the pet shops, or online. I buy a lot of my cat stuff (food, litter etc) at

www.zooplus.co.uk/

The outhouse sounds a good option. How would they get in, cat flap in the door?

They may well use the garden too though, it's what cats do, which is why I clear a specific spot. I then clear that spot as if it's a litter tray, so it doesn't accumulate.

Re them not covering over, that could be an issue with the litter tray - how deep is it? I have deep litter trays and put a lot of litter in them, and that seems to encourage covering over.

Smelly poo is pretty much always down to diet - unfortunately neither Whiskas or Felix are good quality, they're basically the feline equivalent of giving them fast food everyday.

Saying that, cats are notoriously fussy and finding a good quality food that they like and that you can afford isn't always easy, so it's likely to be a case of trial and error before you find something everyone is happy with.

About the litter trays - I personally think all cats should have access to a safe, clean toilet area in their homes. You don't want to take that away and find that they pee and poo on the floor or on your bed instead!

We use whiskas and science diet! The cat we have won't eat bozita, or two other good brands, as we tried. He won't even eat leftover chicken. So now we buy science diet in bulk and feed one meal dry and one meal whiskas with dry.

Get better litter. My cats litter tray doesn't smell. I use Intersand classic. My litter tray is currently in the living room
As my existing cat is struggling with my new cat.

Try better food and better litter, also more trays, you could put a second tray in the outhouse. General advice is one tray per cat plus one.

After trial and error i’ve found that wood litter doesn’t smell. I only need to change it once a week.
clean a poop up as soon as you smell it.

keep the litter tray away from their food. If you have 2 cats you should have at minimum 2 trays.
grain free food is better for their tums too.

Get a covered tray and put it in a room that you don't spend much time in, so it's less of a problem if it's a bit smelly. For example, a utility room or downstairs loo, if you have one. You will also need to ensure that the cats can always access it, so something to stop the door being shut, such as:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stopper-Anti-Crash-Handles-Protector-Annoying/dp/B0BPYF6F9N/ref=asc_df_B0BPYF6F9N/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697228009084&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10022934295130506318&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006702&hvtargid=pla-1989781030034&psc=1&mcid=cf3331992fdf3e8cb244c3b3751e0bc9&gad_source=1#immersive-view_1720604377300

My cat's poos truly don't smell at all. I don't know if it's her diet or the cat litter. We use Cat's Best Original litter, which is a clumping wood-based one. I remove the clumps each day, but I only need to do a full change one a month so a bag lasts ages. Dietwise, she eats Katkin and Canagan (but they are rather expensive and might be too dear if you have two cats).

Link is a bit unwieldy - screenshot attached instead

We swapped to katkin. No more smelly poos

Ah, interesting! Will give the food rec a try.

The outhouse door can just be left open.

The litter tray is deep; I've tried varying the amount of litter and it doesn't make any difference (but if I put in more than a couple of inches they go crazy and try to dig to Australia ... still without reliably covering anything ...).

I admit, I just gave them what our previous kittens had and liked - but then, they supplemented their diet (heavily) with the local mouse population. They were excellent hunters and, though we didn't, you could have left them to fend for themselves. These kittens do catch the odd mouse, but they don't seem to have really got the knack for it yet - which is a shame!

Litter trays - well, but the outbuildings are perfectly safe and clean.

Yes, it's a covered tray, and the cats always have access to it. There are no rooms in this house we don't spend time in, which is why I think I'll put it in the outbuilding.

I'm onboard with changing their diet - seems like that's the majority view! Really useful advice (now here's hoping they'll go for something different).

Presumably other cats could access the outbuildings though?

It's not so much that putting the trays there is a problem, just that if you take away all their litter trays overnight, you could well find they get confused and stressed and go on the floor 🙈

I have my cat’s litter tray in the bathroom. It’s a largish corner one with a cover that fits in pretty well. Wood litter (not paper pellets) works for me. I use either Morrisons own or get from Wilko’s online. It’s easy to immediately scoop up his poos and the wood doesn’t hold urine odour.

I wouldn't take them away overnight - I'd put another one in there and see if I could get them to transition.

Yes, other cats could get in, but I suppose if it became a particular issue I could put a cat flap on the outbuilding door too.

By all means put another tray in your outbuilding. Just make sure you remember to clean it out!

They say cats should have enough trays to have one each and a spare, so you could have three.

My cats poo smells. No worse than mine right enough, poo is poo lol!!

My cats on felix. As soon as she poos she comes and mews at me to clean it up!

I put it in a doggie poo bag in a small pedal bin I keep just outside back door for this purpose. It stops the poo stinking out the whole house.

Seems to make no difference if she decides to bury it or not. Still smells till I open the door and dispose of it!

I muck out the tray once a week fully and disinfect it etc, refilling and topping up the litter.

My kitten eats felix kitten and stinks the place out. He buries the poo in wood pellets, but poo is poo. We scoop it out asap, but it’s smelly.

My older cat goes outside, kitten hasn’t worked out how to use nature’s toilet yet.

See, I could not possibly get away with once a week! I do it twice a day, and I always put it straight in the outdoor bin.

But I know it doesn't have to be smelly like this, because my previous cats were on the exact same regime, and it was fine. So I think a tweak of litter or diet, plus maybe moving the litter tray, might be worthwhile.