Help - can’t work out easiest litter tray situation for older cat

[Kateplaysrugbyinmydreams]

Our dearly loved rescue had managed without a litter tray for years but after a brush with the vet last autumn (dental abscess causing stress cystitis, huge dental under GA, diagnosis of hyperthyroid and some kidney issues) she was clearly reluctant to go outside to toilet and eventually we found a couple of puddles in the morning in the kitchen and what was clearly a poo of protest. No issues elsewhere in the house. We took this as a sign that she wanted en suite facilities and bought a tray which immediately resolved the issues and is well used.
However there is a slight issue which in turn leads to more issues….she likes to stand up to wee. She has always done this, it’s not new. I suspect it may be why she was abandoned actually. In the garden this was not a problem although she clearly caught one of my David Austin roses with jets once and gave it a bad time! In the house it means even with a high sided litter tray she can miss and puddle over the side.
I experimented with puppy pads and newspaper but it’s very hit and miss so then I got a super high sided litter tray from Amazon. It’s low to step in bot the sides are high enough that it almost always contains her. But - it’s too big for a liner. We used to use wood chip litter but it’s not great for smell (obvs remove poo straight away). Tried Waitrose clumping - better on smell but chiselling it off the tray was a nightmare. Now using ever clean litter for older cats. Great on smell, very little tracking. It’s not too bad to get out of the tray if I put newspaper underneath but it’s still getting stuck on. I can’t seem to work out what’s best. I tried lining the tray with a wheelie bin liner - too big and urine pooled underneath it which reeked on changing it. Bin bags are too small. Newspaper is probably the best. Ideally I’d like to change the litter once a week.

should I:

try different litter if so what, she doesn’t seem fussy thankfully
use something else to line the tray, if so what?
abandon litter altogether and just use newspaper in the tray
scoop the clumps out daily. I have tried this but really still need a liner or you end up fighting with the sticky stuff everywhere and it sticks to the scoop. Although I could just glove up and dig in?

please don’t advise vet- the standing up wee is nothing new and she is under regular vet care anyway
And please don’t advise a second tray, she’s clearly very happy with this one and I don’t need two problem areas.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vealind-Large-Litter-Household-Anti-Splashing/dp/B0DVP8K6R9/ref=sr_1_17?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7LECIbaKEdueQ-MZlNp7m4Nak-jrSu5J9emySRLjEyro0UXL7MGqn4mhHGLvjLEi96l1XKmhJQyRGFbjplFevUFNlvfNph5pj8yBXCq0m1dSjWQmYskTAvrSYvZIuqi1dZS47XYR6uqkc67ru-2jOMPoBpFg1VwxhAK2R2pApVR1srLhO52HRQo24IUo0QL9EX6V92TBKDtzZ62xs0R0Rv33meTsOmRtVXketajNCSoUmuzGxSva-ptDge11_ziUku6e6tBMsfyO5QTZuCFO0IjLK_zsAR1gJuu5HczvqAU.DpTes3DKyLUzStZbmJ9Ka9hBkxhYdnH90y6tGvTx7Jw&dib_tag=se&keywords=high%2Bsided%2Bcat%2Blitter%2Btray&qid=1785578120&sr=8-17&th=1

this is the litter tray she has, you can see why liners don’t fit, I could try another tray I guess but it needs sides as high as her bottom!

What about something like this. One that is enclosed.

I wondered about that but we tried one years ago and she hated it. One with a clear roof would sort the splash issue but still allow for a liner on the tray bit I guess

I would just use a soft clumping litter, wipe down the sides when you clean the tray, and don't remove the wee clumps too soon as they'll be more sticky. A stainless steel tray might be easier to keep clean than plastic and won't hold onto smells.

I have a hooded litter tray and use the Catsan smartpacks that fit perfectly. I have a fussy cat that likes to balance on the edge of the litter tray and not put her feet in the litter and this has worked for years by removing the door off the front.

My elderly cat also tends to wee outside the box on occasion. I have a covered tray (a big domed one) without a flap, and I put a ridged mat with a lip around its edge under the tray to catch stray litter and any wee. I can easily empty and rinse off the mat and stick a puppy pad in its place whilst it’s drying.

I’ve found the Pets at Home clumping wood granules work well and keeps on top of any odour, although it does tend to track (hence using a mat).

I have a top entry litter tray now, maybe you could try one.

That is one helluva litter tray!

When you say you used a black bin bag, did you just lay it across the bottom of the litter tray or did you open it out and put it in like you’d put it into a bin IYKWIM. You’d have to pull it down round the entry bit so she could still get in and out

i used Cat’s Best Cat Litter without a liner and it did stick a bit but not too badly. It controlled the smells really well.

We don’t use a liner at all here - our cat likes to dig and would shred it but we never did for our previous cat either. (Although she did mainly toilet outside.) We use Catsan non clumping litter. When cat wees I go in after him and “turn” the litter with a scoop, and the tray is deep cleaned once a week. I tend to keep the litter quite deep and he does fling it about a bit, so I often add in a wee bit more.

I’m blind as a bat with a nose like a bloodhound to compensate and it definitely doesn’t smell.

Ours has started using a litter tray. I put a free newspaper in then just a little litter as he likes to scratch I then just put the newspaper in a nappy bag and bin it. Unfortunately he does has a habit of doing a wee in the bath sitt over the plug hoke don’t want to get cross with him in case he does it elsewhere. He then spends ages scratching at the bath to cover it.

We never lined our trays and used a clumping litter. Make it deep enough to make it less likely for pee to reach the bottom so it won't stick

Ha - our last cat would go in the bath rather than the tray given half a chance! She toileted outside 99% of the time but if the weather was really bad she’d sneak into the bathroom. I read somewhere that a bath looks like a giant litter tray to a cat but I don’t know if that true.

I use this for mine and he likes to paw anything near him with his pee feet after use such as the walls and radiator cover . I can’t just about see the top of his head in it. I don’t use a liner as find they shred them as he like to scratch. I use clumping litter just scoop out the pee and poo daily into a poo bag and bin it. I use Tigerino on zooplus it’s amazing at clumping barely have any cleaning to do when I do a full litter change

Don’t think it linked!

I think you might be over-engineering this a bit.

I wonder why are you using liners or newspaper?

I have several cats and I haven't used newspaper or a liner in the past 40 years. My mother used to, but that was 50 years ago when the litter available was fairly rank (that grey granule stuff which turned to sludge).

I use Cats Best or World's Best and never find any issue with it sticking to the tray. And no issue with smell, if you scoop out the offerings and there is no liner in the tray, there is nothing left there to smell.

So my suggestion is to find the litter which works best with no liners.

Try pettiny jumbo litterbox liners, they really are huge: amzn.eu/d/0j08Z1dZ

Top opening tray if they will use it. Cat litter I’ve tried them all and though it’s expensive Scoop is the best for minimal tracking, smell absorption and fast clumping. You need to make deep though. 4 indoor large cats!

Yeah same, really deep good quality clumping litter (we use the pets at home luxury clumping stuff) and it won’t stick to the bottom, scoop clumps and poo at least twice a day. This works for us.
With our really poorly senior, towards the end she would get in the tray but her butt was often out of the door hole and so she often weed outside it, we just put puppy pads where she went and replaced them each time.

I have a high sided large tray and I use the jumbo sized Hooripoori bags from Amazon.