A cat who stops using the litter box is rarely making a point. Far more often the box has quietly become unacceptable — too few of them, in the wrong corner, with litter your cat dislikes or a smell that has been building all week. The encouraging part is that most of this can be fixed in an afternoon, with no training involved.
How many boxes, really
The number vets give is one box per cat, plus one: two cats, three boxes. It sounds excessive until you remember that in a multi-cat home the boxes are also territory. A confident cat sitting in a doorway can block access without a single hiss, and the shy one finds a rug instead. The spare box removes that whole conversation. In a two-storey house or a large flat, put a box on each level — a cat with an urgent bladder or stiff hips will not cross the whole home to reach one.
Where it goes
Cats want somewhere easy to reach but calm: not beside the washing machine that starts spinning at unpredictable moments, not in a cupboard they have to squeeze past the dog to enter, and not next to the food and water bowls. They also want a way out — a box wedged into a dead-end corner leaves a nervous cat feeling trapped at their most vulnerable moment. Spread the boxes apart, too: three boxes in a row count as one box as far as your cats are concerned.
The box itself
- Big — at least one and a half times your cat's length, nose to base of tail. Most boxes sold in shops are smaller than that.
- Low sides, or one low entry side, for kittens and for older cats whose joints turn climbing in into a decision rather than a reflex.
- Uncovered, if your cat gets a vote. Hoods keep the smell inside, where the cat is, and narrow the exit. Many cats accept a lid; plenty quietly do not.
- Skip the liners and scented deodorisers. Claws catch on liners, and perfume is exactly what a cat is trying to get away from.
What goes in it
Most cats prefer a fine, sand-like, unscented clumping litter — the closest thing to what they would dig in outdoors — at a depth of three to five centimetres. Deeper is not better: a bathtub of litter feels unstable underfoot. If you want to change brands, put the new litter in an extra box next to the old one and let your cat vote, rather than switching overnight and hoping.
Cleaning decides everything
Scoop at least once a day, twice if you can. Cats have a far better nose than we do, and a box we consider tolerable may already be past their limit. Change the litter completely and wash the box with warm water and unscented soap every couple of weeks; strong disinfectants leave a smell that puts cats off. A cat perching on the rim, scratching the wall instead of the litter, or leaping out the second they have finished is telling you the box needs attention.
If it has already started going wrong
Before you treat it as behaviour, treat it as medicine. Straining, frequent small visits, crying in the box, blood, or a sudden move to the bath or a cool tiled floor can all point to a urinary problem — and in male cats a blockage is an emergency. Call your vet first. Only once your cat has been cleared should you start rearranging boxes, litter and locations.
When you do change something, change one thing at a time and give it a week. Logging litter box visits in PawKit for those seven days turns seems better into a real before-and-after — and hands your vet actual numbers if the problem turns out not to be the box.
