Do you all use covered or uncovered litter boxes and what was the basis for your decision? I had bought a covered one buy my husband insisted I return it and use uncovered. It works fine but I'm just afraid guests will think its gross. We keep the litter box in our first floor 1/2 bath. I thought about the laundry room but that room is way too small and I did not want my kittens having to go over laundry piles on their way to and from the box.
Also, do you have boys or girls? I am wondering if boys tend to be more diggers and therefore need more covered boxes and open boxes work better with girls? I have 2 girls.
Most cats are fine with either. Not sure why your husband wanted uncovered, but why not get a covered box and leave the cover off except when you have company, if that is what each of you wants.
I think uncovered vs covered is just a personal choice. We use uncovered only as the kits like to hop from box to box, testing out each one before finally deciding to leave a deposit
Any guests who come over will just have to live with the fact there are litter boxes around (but I clean them throroughly before they arrive of course!)
I use covered for my two cats. Last year when I brought Lalo home I tried both and he seemed to prefer the covered (but I believe that's a personal choice rather than a general cat choice), so we stuck with it. As for digging, Lalo *does* dig a little deeper than Zoey, but she's still a kitten so that might account for the difference.
(08-16-2010 12:11 AM)newcatperson Wrote: [ -> ]Do you all use covered or uncovered litter boxes and what was the basis for your decision? I had bought a covered one buy my husband insisted I return it and use uncovered. It works fine but I'm just afraid guests will think its gross. We keep the litter box in our first floor 1/2 bath. I thought about the laundry room but that room is way too small and I did not want my kittens having to go over laundry piles on their way to and from the box.
Also, do you have boys or girls? I am wondering if boys tend to be more diggers and therefore need more covered boxes and open boxes work better with girls? I have 2 girls.
I am also a new catperson, and we use covered. if you wish to use covered, introduce it gradually by leaving it open at first, then add the top, then add the door after a few days so the kitty is not scared of the box.since you have two cats, you should use 2 toilets anyway = let the cat choose from leaving one closed and one open. our girl loves the closed box ,she can scratch in it all she wants...
We use the uncovered as I tend to scoop after every visit and it was a pain taking the cover off all the time. Both our boy and girl use it well and cover things up. I'm hoping that eventually we can do without as we have just ordered the citykitty and are planning on trying the toilet training method.
(08-16-2010 12:11 AM)newcatperson Wrote: [ -> ]Do you all use covered or uncovered litter boxes and what was the basis for your decision? I had bought a covered one buy my husband insisted I return it and use uncovered. It works fine but I'm just afraid guests will think its gross. We keep the litter box in our first floor 1/2 bath. I thought about the laundry room but that room is way too small and I did not want my kittens having to go over laundry piles on their way to and from the box.
Also, do you have boys or girls? I am wondering if boys tend to be more diggers and therefore need more covered boxes and open boxes work better with girls? I have 2 girls.
I had purchased a very lg covered box before i got my 2 kittens, and they were so little i bought a sm uncovered, i switched to the covered as they began to grow so fast, they seem to like it either way, the cover does make it more inconvenient for me because i scoop after each time they poo, but my husband likes the way it keeps everything out of sight!! I think the suggestion about covering when guest come over is a good one and i may do just that
Mine are uncoverd,,,,reason being,,, I try to clean twice aday,,,sometimes I forget, and I'm lazy about putting the led back on
The other reason is the bigger box is not a litter box forsay it is a storage box so no kitty lid for that one.
(08-16-2010 11:22 AM)jellybean Wrote: [ -> ]Mine are uncoverd,,,,reason being,,, I try to clean twice aday,,,sometimes I forget, and I'm lazy about putting the led back on
The other reason is the bigger box is not a litter box forsay it is a storage box so no kitty lid for that one.
My husbands view on covered was that it would make it harder to scoop. I work from home and tend to scoop whenever I see or smell anything so the box stays pristine clean.
The point about guest accepting it is a good point. I would of course check the box before I had a guest over and since I have 2 kittes, obviously I am going to have to have a place for them to go. If they find a litter box in the bathroom offensive than there really is not much I can do about that. Especially since the bathroom is super clean.
Now that I think about it, before I had my cats, if I had gone to a friends home and they had a cat or cats and there was a litter box in the otherwise clean bathroom it would not bother me one bit. I wound not think twice about it.
Open is easier for me to maintain. I think if the box were in a more open area I would go for the top.
Sounds like its not a big deal to change boxes if I choose to down the road. Just do it gradually.
We have two covered boxes, one is a corner box the other a rectangle with a tall hoods. Both are very easy to clean. Chloe doesn't like to cover her poo!