Big indoor cat - managing the litter

[Makeitendnowplease]

I have a beautiful male ragdoll. He's already the size of a full sized regular cat, and he's going to grow for another 3 years!
He just has an open litter tray, but of course when he does a poop it stinks throughout the house! We also have litter walked all over the room as it sticks to his paws.
Does anyone have a recommendation for

• a closed litter box with those paw pads to catch the litter which will be big enough when he's fully grown. Am open to one of those self cleaning ones
• good litter - does anyone have one that's flushable?

Thanks!

The Litter Robot is amazing. If you can get over the price tag it’s honestly life changing with indoor cats.

You shouldn’t flush cat litter. Even the flushable types can block your drains. We use Sanicat litter. Does the job and compatible with the Litter Robot. I used to rate Worlds Best but it can be dusty so apparently overtime can cause problems with the LR sensors so we stopped using it. It’s probably what I’d go with for a conventional tray though.

Everclean is very good litter. Never flush litter, it can block pipes and risks introducing parasites into the water systems.

A big enough litter tray and good litter should be enough that it doesn’t smell after a couple of mins. If a cat has very smelly poo it’s usually a sign that their food is not suiting them/digestive troubles.

Fine, I'd seen some said 'flushable' but I don't put anything down unless I'm sure, so that's a no.
We still have him on kitten food, but the stinky poop I think is because he pinches the older cat's food. We keep it to a minimum but hard to stop completely.
DH wants the litter robot, I could be tempted.....

I really rate top-entry litter trays - they are so much less messy

It’s not the litter that’s the problem if it sinks it’s a food problem. Cat poop only smells when food is either crap on quality or disagrees with a cats tummy.

Maine Coon slave, welcome to the big cat club.

Mine never got on with covered litter trays, so open we went.

I use Tigerino Crystals Clumping Cat Litter – Baby Powder Scent. It doesn't smell of much scent wise, but Phoenix likes that. I use it as my house doesn't smell of cat. The urine clumps together, easy to scoop out so the litter looks clean.

I love it & have a stock pile as its jumped £5 for a three pack in two years.

Have you considered his/her food?

The bigger the cat the more difficult it is to get a big covered tray. Amazon have a couple of big ones that might work without breaking the bank eg
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Catit-Jumbo-Hooded-Cat-Grey/dp/B003RQVGKC

Don't used perfumed litter. My girl cat got cystitis/UI on the 2 occasions we tried it.

Pets at home have a big covered one. Our ragdoll just poos next to it anyway 🙄. But it does make it easier to get rid of and keep clean. Floors are laminated.

I have a huge male moggy. Probably won't be the size yours will end up but he is pretty massive! We actually use under bed storage boxes as litter trays. He does do a lot of kicking but we sweep up ASAP. Not ideal but we couldn't get a covered box as he likes to put a leg up on the side of the tray when he does to the toilet!

Another vote for Litter Robot. Wish I’d bought one sooner! We use it with Everclean.

Thanks everyone - you cat lovers are a keen lot, I usually get tumbleweed when I post!
@Plump82 I love the idea of an under bed storage box as a litter tray.
Huge thanks for all the tips. @AgnesX Yes, scented litter sounds awful. Like scented sanitary towels and panty liners.
@scarletwidow I'd love a top entry tray but I just don't know if they'll be big enough.
@user593 another vote for the robot - DH will be happy!

I have a litter robot now. Wish id got it straight away. I do have to manually rotate it as my cat isn't keen on that part. He actually put a hole in the liner by biting it. I contacted the company and they replaced the liner. but its still so much easier than having to scoop all the time.

Corn or plant based cat litter helps neutralise the smell @Makeitendnowplease and both are flushable. They clump and absorb urine fairly quickly. Unsoiled litter when you do a full change can also be composted.

Get an 80/100l plastic storage tub with a lid. In a multi cat household, you may want to use a transparent one. They are a LOT cheaper than trying to get a big enough litter box.
Cut an entrance in one side bigger than your cat. Make sure the bottom edge is about 10 cm from the bottom of the tub.
Sand the edges of the access hole so they are smooth and won't catch his fur or litter. Put large silicone litter mat outside the tray to clear his paws.
Stick charcoal filters to the inside of the lid to help absorb odours.

Hopefully that will give you an alternative idea.

Large lidded tray here. 1.5 year old Maine Coon boy who is pretty big already. I use cats best clumping litter pretty deep in his tray. Yes, the clean bits track a bit - they’re going to realistically. But not a pain to hoover up. Clumping works well, I’d never flush even though I supposedly could.

A ribbed mat does well at catching some of the clean stuff that sticks to his paws. Personally, I couldn’t do a self cleaning tray. I’m a bit anal about wanting to know their trays are clean, I don’t trust a robot to do as good a job as I do!

Thank you @Femalemachinest Another vote for the Robot, interesting. I just don't think I can justify spending that much, there are others for £2-400 ish, anyone tried those?
Or we could just go for a very large box - am not against that either @101Kittens and @Ijwwm .
I am not good at making decisions!!

Be very wary of other self cleaning litter boxes. You know you’re safe with the LR because it’s been around for ages (we’ve had one since 2018), they’re built in the USA, have failsafe safety features and are meticulously tested- this is in part why they’re so expensive. Tragically there have been cases where cheaper dupes have killed cats. I’m sure there are safe alternatives out there but really make sure you do your research so you don’t end up with something dangerous.

Would never recommend the automatic ones.

We have been using the storage tubs for years, including for multiple feral kittens litters. Wouldn't go back to normal trays now especially with the range of cats who pee standing up for multiple reasons, the frequent over the side poops and well many, many kittens.

Personally switched to corn/plant based litter over a decade ago when one of my own cats decided Catsan was tasty 🤣 Had only recently tried it as I had always used wood pellets before that and they were hurting older cats feet.

Paper litter is another good option that doesn't track.