Every cat litter box decision comes down to four questions. How many cats. How big the biggest one is. Whether you want to scoop or let a machine do it. And what goes in it. This guide answers all four, then sends you to the deeper guide for the part that matters to you.
It is the hub for everything litter on Pet Approves. Start here, branch out.
Jump to:
The five types of cat litter box
| Type | Best for | Watch out for | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open pan, high sides | Most cats, big cats, kickers | No odor cover | IRIS USA High Sided |
| Hooded | Small rooms, odor for humans | Traps smell for the cat | IRIS Front Door, Nature’s Miracle Hooded |
| Top entry | Diggers, dogs that raid the box | Seniors cannot jump in | Top-entry boxes |
| Stainless steel | Odor that soaked into plastic | Price, cold in winter | Tevila, WoofiGo XL |
| Self-cleaning | Multi-cat, travel, hate scooping | Price, litter compatibility | Litter-Robot 4 |
The open pan wins more often than people expect. Cats prefer it, it is cheap, and high sides solve the kicking. Everything else is a solution to a specific problem.
Open pan with high sides
IRIS USA’s high-sided pan has a scatter shield on three sides and a low front lip so an older cat can still step in. Amazon Basics makes a similar large one. If you have never had a problem with the box, this is the box.
Hooded and front-door
IRIS USA’s front-door box is a walk-in with a flap. Nature’s Miracle makes a hooded flip-top with a charcoal filter. Hoods keep litter and smell in the box, which is good for you and bad for the cat. If a cat stops using a hooded box, take the hood off before you do anything else.
How big should a cat litter box be?
The rule most vets use: one and a half times the length of the cat, nose to base of tail. A 20-inch Maine Coon needs a 30-inch box. Most boxes sold as “large” are 18 to 20 inches, which is a medium box for an average cat and a small box for a big one.
Sides should be 8 inches or higher for a kicker, with one lower side for a senior. Depth of litter, three inches.
Note: a cat that hangs its rear over the edge is telling you the box is too small. That is not a behavior problem.
How many litter boxes, and where
- One per cat, plus one. One cat, two boxes. Two cats, three.
- Different rooms. Two boxes side by side count as one to a cat.
- Quiet, but not trapped. A closet with the door propped, a bathroom corner, a laundry room the dryer does not shake.
- Not next to the food. Cats will not eat where they go.
- Every floor of the house for a senior cat.
Self-cleaning cat litter boxes
A self-cleaning box rakes or rotates the waste into a sealed drawer after the cat leaves. The good ones cut the smell to nothing and turn daily scooping into a weekly bag change. The price is real, the litter has to clump hard, and a nervous cat needs a week to trust it.
Litter-Robot 4
The one everyone means. Whisker’s Litter-Robot 4 rotates the globe, sifts the clumps into a drawer below, and tells your phone when the drawer is full. It takes standard clumping litter, and the BoxiePro Bot litter in our litter guide is made for it.
Which robot for which house, budget picks, the multi-cat question, and whether they are worth it: read the full self-cleaning litter box guide.
Stainless steel litter boxes
Plastic absorbs urine over years. The old box smells even when it is clean. Stainless steel does not absorb anything, does not scratch, and washes like a pan. Tevila and WoofiGo make XL high-sided open pans, and there are enclosed versions with lids. This is the fastest-growing litter box category in 2026 for one reason: the smell test.
Gripe: steel is cold on a tile floor in January. A mat under it fixes that.
The litter itself
The box is half. The litter is the other half, and it is where odor is actually won or lost. Hard clumping, unscented, low dust. Our odor control cat litter guide ranks twelve, from Dr. Elsey’s Ultra to the tofu and crystal options, with a section for automatic boxes.
- Clumping clay for most boxes. Dr. Elsey’s, Arm and Hammer, Tidy Cats.
- Automatic-box litter that holds its clump through a rake. BoxiePro Bot.
- Natural for a lighter bag and a flushable option. World’s Best, Tuft and Paw tofu.
- Crystals for the lightest bag and health monitoring. PrettyLitter.
Mats, enclosures, and the smell in the room
Litter mats
A trapping mat catches the litter on the cat’s paws. Gorilla Grip’s coiled mesh mat and Pieviev’s double-layer mat are the two shapes: mesh you shake out, or a honeycomb top that drops litter into a tray. Either one cuts the tracking in half.
Litter box enclosures
A cabinet with a cat door that hides the box and doubles as a side table. Hzuaneri, Homhedy, and Evermagin make them. They work when the box inside is big enough and the door is on the side the cat approaches from. Measure the box first, then buy the cabinet.
When the smell is in the carpet
A cat that went outside the box left urine that ordinary cleaners do not touch. The pet stain remover guide has the enzyme cleaners built for cat urine, including the Nature’s Miracle cat formula.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best cat litter box?
For most cats, a large open pan with high sides. For odor and no scooping, the Litter-Robot 4. For a box that never absorbs smell, stainless steel.
Do cats prefer open or closed litter boxes?
Open, in most studies and most homes. A hood traps smell where the cat is. If you need a hood for the room, use a big one and a charcoal filter.
How often should you change cat litter?
Scoop daily. Full change and wash every two to four weeks with clumping litter, weekly with non-clumping.
Why does my cat pee outside the litter box?
Box too small, box too dirty, box in the wrong place, a hood the cat hates, or a medical problem. Rule out the vet first, then the box size.
Are self-cleaning litter boxes worth it?
For two or more cats, or anyone who travels, yes. For one cat and a person who does not mind scooping, a good pan and good litter get you 90 percent of the way.