tracking litter

[nekkiddoglady]

what do you to prevent tracking?

I had moved the litter box into our tiny bathroom..

litter gets tracked EVERYWHERE. The bathroom is also next to our bedroom and my BF complains about the smell. Im honestly out of ideas of a better place to put the litter.. we only have one closet and its full of stuff, so we cant put it in the closet. Basement is an unfinished dirt-floor basement. We dont have a spare room- all 4 bedrooms are occupied. I dont want it in the living room.. and I certainly dont want it in the diningroom or kitchen (eh, ew).. the other bathroom/laundry room is even smaller.

I made an attempt to do the toilet training thing, but Tabbi is too fat to get herself up on the toilet and balance- I caught her peeing on a rug.


Any ideas on how to prevent tracking litter?

 

[carolina]

Get yourself a good, large mat... that is what solved my problem here...

 

[rosiemac]

I had the litter mats as well, but i just swiff the spare bedroom every day where their boxes are and it keeps it at bay. I have wooden floors throughout so it's much easier, and my stair carpet is beige with flecks in so you can't see the tiny grains on that

 

[strange_wings]

Can you hide a litter box behind a chair or table in the living room? Or as a last resort get one of those tables that you can hide a litter box inside of. If you're only using one box right now that's why it gets so smelly. Any litter can only do so much if it's heavily used. Add one or two more boxes and scoop daily and the smell will be under control.

Using mats will help a lot, but there's always going to be one cat that jumps out of the litter box.

The only solution is just to clean it up.

You may also consider, along with a hidden box in the living room, trying one of the Tidy Cat Breeze boxes in the bedroom. If they use it, especially for urine, the clean up is simple and you won't smell it.

 

[rad65]

A large, ribbed front door welcome mat is what I use. The ribs used for wiping off shoes are excellent at picking up 95% of the litter that normally gets tracked away from the box.

 

[nekkiddoglady]

the way my livingroom is set up, there's not really any place to hide things under or behind anything.

My 2 year old also plays in the livingroom a lot.. and she's a nosy, curious little thing.. a litter box in the livingroom just isnt feasable, at least not right now.

I wish the basement was dry and at least somewhat finished.. I'd put several litter boxes there and put a kitty door on the basement door- litter box issues would be solved... maybe that should be our next project is trying to get the basement dried and clean enough that we can put litter boxes down there.

 

[ducman69]

If tracking is bad, switch litters, try a top entry litterbox if chubby kitty will use it, and put a litter mat around it. There are purpose made ones, but they tend to be overpriced IMO. As long as the mat is ribbed or similar so it can splay the paws and get the litter to fall off, you should be good to go, and regular door mats tend to be much cheaper than niche litter mats.

 

[nekkiddoglady]

Im not sure if Tubbi-Tabbi will use an entry top box, but I can get one to try. The other cats are pretty agile and can get in and out of something easily.

Otherwise a mat to catch the litter is our best solution, until I can think of a better place to put the box. My BF complains about the odor- every time someone poops you can smell it upstairs.

Ha, I'd like one of those litterboxes that hooks up to the toilet and cleans and flushes the waste!

 

[gloriajh]

Ah, the 64,000 dollar question -
- no matter the litter, no matter the location, no matter the mat - there IT is.

I suppose it helps to have a container that they can't kick the stuff out on the floor - that is helpful.

Like others have said - a good mat - not the kind with little rubber needles, is helpful.

In a room that has one of my litter boxes I've put up a cardboard to guide them through a maze before they get out of the area - that helps a little.

I've found that the low 4-sided litter pan lets them jump out in 4 different directions - so, with my home-made tote tubs - the sides are tall, and there's a hole for them to enter the tub - which make them exit in one place where I have a rug to contain the litter.

(I clean the litter several times a day, (I have 6 pans) so it's important to me to have easy access - that means no cover over them, that means they are not located down in some dark place that I wouldn't frequent often - like a basement.

Also, when they're located in a place that is easily observable I can watch for any health issues and catch a problem before it becomes a painful problem.)

 

[presto]

Originally Posted by nekkiddoglady

The bathroom is also next to our bedroom and my BF complains about the smell.

So, is it really the tracking, or is it the smell? Because if it's the smell, then you can't hide it behind a chair or in another room. If your BF doesn't like the smell, then your real problem is not the litter box, but owning cats. You may just need to work on the BF.