Litter
How to Set Up a Litter Station That Your Cat Will Actually Use
When I got Pickles, I bought the smallest litter tray I could find because I assumed cats were small and therefore their trays should be small.
This was wrong.
Within a week, Pickles had made her feelings about the tray abundantly clear by using the corner of the bathroom mat instead. She was not being difficult. She was telling me, in the clearest way available to her, that I had completely misjudged the setup.
The size problem nobody tells you about
The general rule — which I wish someone had told me at the start — is that a litter tray should be at least one and a half times the length of your cat, measured from nose to the base of the tail.
Most trays sold in pet shops are too small for an average adult cat. They are fine for kittens. They are not fine for a fully grown cat trying to turn around comfortably in a confined space.
Once I replaced Pickles' tray with something she could actually fit in properly, the bathroom mat incidents stopped immediately.
The cat litter box size calculator gives you the recommended minimum dimensions based on your cat's actual length — much more useful than guessing from the shelf.
Location matters more than I expected
My first instinct was to put the tray in the most hidden, out-of-the-way spot possible. Tucked behind the door in the corner of the bathroom, basically invisible.
Cats do not want a tray that feels like a trap. They want to be able to see their surroundings when they use it, and they want a clear exit route. A corner with a wall on two sides and a door on a third is a cat's idea of a stress-inducing ambush scenario.
Moving the tray to a quieter but more open spot made a noticeable difference to how readily Pickles used it.
Covered versus uncovered — the debate
I tried a covered tray because I preferred how it looked. Pickles disagreed strongly with this decision.
Some cats are fine with covered trays. Others find them claustrophobic, especially if the tray is already on the smaller side. The cover also traps odour inside, which we might not notice but the cat absolutely does.
When I switched back to uncovered, I got my cat back on side. The aesthetics were not worth the standoff.
How many trays for how many cats
The standard guidance is one tray per cat, plus one extra. So for three cats, that is four trays.
I resisted this for a long time because four litter trays in a flat felt like a lot. Then I had a period where two of the trays needed cleaning at the same time and all three cats queued and protested in unison, and I understood why the guidance exists.
You do not necessarily need four in a small home — two well-placed trays made a meaningful difference for us even before I got the third — but one tray for multiple cats is almost always going to cause issues eventually.
The bottom line
Get the right size. Put it somewhere the cat does not feel cornered. Keep it clean. If you have multiple cats, multiple trays are not optional — they are just the cost of the arrangement.
Most litter problems are setup problems. The cat is usually telling you something is wrong with the tray before they tell you with the carpet.