Cats and Litter Boxes: Too Many Options

Hi, I'm Dr. Maja! Read my introduction to learn more about me and Miki, the kitten who made me a cat person.

Cats are peculiar creatures. They have a lot of requirements and preferences, and are sometimes quite literal about them. For example, take litter boxes. Some cats like for them to be enclosed or covered, some prefer them open without sides, and some hate using them in the first place. And I have a little bit of everything, with my three cats. Luckily, one thing I don’t have to worry about is them missing the litter box, since for my three cats, I have a total of 7 litter boxes. Crazy, I know.

Minnie’s Litter Box Routine

Minnie only had one accident in the first few days of coming to me, when she urinated on my bed, of all the places. Since then, she’s been using the litter box, and with so many of them, she has a good selection. I realized that she prefers to use a covered box, and part of the reason may be Nara. She will stalk Minnie as she goes in the litter box or will jump up on top of it, then chase her around the house as she gets out of it. She will sometimes even block her exit from the box, but luckily, she is not doing it anymore. Minnie has grown and become more insistent on “fighting” back.

Before pooping, Minnie has a special routine where she runs around in the litter box, as if she’s playing. The first few times she did it, I figured it was for fun. Until she stopped and the smell hit me. When she goes for a pee, she skips the litter box dance and goes straight for it. Minnie indeed likes to play inside the litter box as I clean out the dirty litter. She seems to interpret the sound of me scooping as a call for play.

Nara’s Litter Box Routine

Nara also loves her litter boxes, and it’s interesting to see that both kittens tend to prefer to urinate in the ones where they don’t often defecate. Nara will use the opened and covered ones alike; she doesn’t seem to have a preference. But after she has finished, she will spend quite some time covering it up. It seems like she is not entirely satisfied with how it turned out, so she goes back to it. Let’s just say, the litter I use is quite easy to scoop, but it still ends up everywhere, as both kittens are a little too enthusiastic when using the litter box.

Miki Is Another Story

The kittens are now so used to using a litter box inside that even if they go out to play, they will run inside to go to the toilet. Miki, on the other hand, spent a lot more time outside during the day as he was growing up, and is now not as keen on his litter box, if he can choose. Sometimes if I need to leave the house for a day or so, and he stays locked inside, he will use it without a problem. If the weather is bad or there is a lot of snow, he will also prefer his litter box. But during dry and warm days, he will sit on the window sill, contemplating life, and probably working himself up to needing to go to the toilet. Then he starts meowing and comes to the door, even placing his front paws on it, to show me that he wants to go out. I am just grateful that in instances when he is home alone, he chooses to use the litter box and not try to hold it in, as that wouldn’t be great for his urinary health.

Why So Many Litter Boxes?

It may sound strange and overboard, having 7 litter boxes for 3 cats. In theory, they should have at least 4. I went for more to give them plenty of choices, so they don’t feel the need to compete or toilet outside of the litter box. Also, by offering plenty of litter boxes, on 2 floors, I am hopefully encouraging them to toilet often, rather than holding it in. It seems that every time I am on a work call, there is at least one cat digging in the litter box, closest to my working desk. And now, when I need a few example pics, none has used the litter box since the early morning. Cats, they always do their own thing.