It may seem like a minor problem at the beginning (nothing compared to eliminating outside the box), but it can really get on one’s nerves to be around cat litter everywhere, every day.
- Get a box with higher sides or a shield. Such a box has the benefits of keeping litter in without the disadvantages of a covered litter box. What you need to look for, though, is that the entrance wall, while lower than the other sides, is still high enough to keep the litter in. Otherwise, the floor in front of your cat’s box will be covered with litter. Here is a good example of a litter box with a shield. Alternatively, cat behaviorist Pam Johnson-Bennett suggests in her books to buy a plastic storage container, cut one of the sides lower as an entrance, and use this modified container instead of a cat box. The sides are high and the box itself will be large.
- Get an extra-large cat litter box. So why does your cat throw litter out of the box? Because he needs to dig a hole where he can eliminate, and the litter is in the way. Therefore, he moves it to another place. If the box is small, this “other place” just happens to be outside the box. There are other reasons why you should choose a larger litter box. It turns out that there are very few large boxes in pet stores. Anything smaller, in our opinion, is too small for a regular cat. Find out here how a large litter box is considered “normal” for a cat.
- Use litter with larger particles. Especially avoid fine-grained, clumping cat litter. Those particles are not only thrown out of the box but also tend to get stuck on your cat’s paws, ending up literally everywhere in your house. Clumping litter is still good, but you should look for larger particles.
- Get a covered box. Like a box with a shield, a covered box helps to keep the litter in, even if your cat throws the litter around excessively. Covered boxes, however, have some disadvantages that you should know about.
- Use a top entry box, such as the CleverCat or ModKat. These boxes do the job of keeping the floor around them clean. The problem is, not all cats accept them, which may lead to litter box avoidance. Just take a look at the picture. It reminds us of a Polish TV series, “Four Tank-men and a Dog,” except there is no dog here.
This reminds us of a Polish TV series, “Four Tank-men and a Dog,” except there is no dog here. - Place a mat in front of the litter box. The mat won’t keep the litter in the box, but iat will do two things: first, it will prevent the litter from scattering further away from the box and, second, it will make the cleanup of the tracked litter easy. You can buy cat litter mats here.
- Use litter from natural ingredients, such as pine pellets or starch. This won’t stop litter from tracking, but having wood-scented pieces on the floor is less bothersome than having the artificial scent of clay or silica litter.
Have you already tried some of these techniques? Or do you have a completely different way of stopping your cat from kicking litter out of his box?
Is your cat behaving badly in other ways too? Check our solutions to the most common cat misbehaviors here.
