I have on big closed litter box for Phaedra and Lilith. I clean it every morning and Phaedra loves helping me....digging in the sand making a MESS. I started to close the bathroom door so that I can clean in peace. Now yesterday I totally forgot to clean out the litter box and this morning I found poop in the corner of the bathroom. (My fault for forgetting to clean the box).
My question is, is one litter box for 2 cats enough? Or should I use 2 boxes? When I clean out daily there are no accidents on the floor. But I would like to know how many boxes you use and for how many cats?

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~Genevieve~

The general rule seems to be:

Number of cats + 1

So for 2 cats, ideally you should have 3 litter trays. I have on occasion not cleaned the one of the 3 trays I have for my 2 cats and have found a present / protest poop on the bathroom floor.

1 tray for 2 cats would seem to be running very close to a dangerous level.

minimum 2 ideally 3. I have three boxes for 1 cat to avoid accidental laziness from him!

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

It depends on your cats. I know one litterbox would be fine for my two. I generally have two out and they pick a favourite and use it, but there have been times when they have had just one and there are no problems. Mine are not bothered about using a dirty box.

If you know your cats are bothered by a dirty box, then having two or more out would be helpful if you are too busy to clean sometimes.

You need a litter box for each of the kitties --and a spare! The problem for most people is finding a location for these. Some put them all next to each other and others spread them out around the house. A multi-level house needs at least one on each level. Cats are fastidious creatures and must have a clean litter box or they will not use it, as you've found out!

Here's the problem... you may risk it and get away with one box for awhile. But you are giving them reasons to go outside the box, and they've already shown their intolerance for anything but a perfect situation litterbox-wise. And the big potential problem is not pooing outside the box, it's peeing outside the box. So you use one box for awhile until one cat starts peeing outside the box, and then you could be screwed. It's not as though at that point you just get a second box and instantly the situation is fixed, because now the smell is out there, there is precedence for going outside the box, and it may be real difficult to put the genie back inside the bottle. Plus what do they do now if both cats need to use the box at the same time? Often times my cats scurry to the litterboxes when they see me preparing dinner. Many cats decide that they don't want to pee and poo in the same box. What happens when you are gone for a day and your replacement isn't as dilligent about cleaning the boxes as you are? And also some cats will decide that they don't want any other cats soiling *their* box, so they guard it.

If it were me, I'd definitely have 3 boxes. 2 in the room where you now have one, and one other box in some other part of the house.

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The little monsters 3

I read a post on Facebook today -- the owner has a 4-level house had two litter boxes and wants to know why her bengal kitten isn't going in the litter box. Mighty big house for a small kitten to navigate to find the proper floor and box. Thankfully, my house is small and the litter box is in the utility room in the middle of the house and there is one in Raiden's enclosure as well. I think you'd rather have too many litter boxes than not enough, especially for two kitties.

It has never been a problem with only one box. I have seen them both use the box at the same time. It's a very big box. I bought Urine Off spray for emergencies..so after cleaning the mess with Pinol I still sprayed Urine Off to be on the safe side. I have another 4 litter boxes in the garage..i guess I will go get one up so that they have two boxes and see how that works. Thankfully it was the first mess-and the first time I totally forgot to clean the box for a day.

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~Genevieve~

I really think the extra litter box will help -- especially in times when you "forget" to clean. I've been there with Raiden's box. He doesn't like using it if it's not free of the waste and I can't always keep up with how often he goes. I try to check it every few hours. Overnight he will use it a couple of times and I get it all out of there in the morning. Then one day he puked, peed and pooped in the box when he was sick and that was a gigantic mess to clean up. I had just emptied the box the day before and cleaned it all out and ended up having to do it all again the following day.

We have 2 boxes for 3 cats. It depends on your kitties.

I have two large boxes side by side in my office. One is covered and one is uncovered. They almost always use the covered box to do their business, but they occasionally pee in the uncovered box. Sometimes one of them (Blondie) rolls in the uncovered box. I don't like it, but I am ignoring it and hoping she stops.

I have heard of cats rolling around in the litter in the box. That just seems super gross and it just spreads it all over the place if some of it sticks to the fur! I know your boxes are always clean, Jill. But ....Blondie is something else.

I have two cats and I currently have two litter boxes. Soon getting a third, though.

Both boxes are heavily used and do get dirty quite quickly with all the peeing, as I do not use crystals or clumping litter, but 100% recyclable paper based litter, so it does start to smell quickly, the wet pellets stay wet, which the cats hate, and needs to be emptied.

I am cleaning both boxes multiple times daily and dispose of any dirty litter as soon as I see it.

My problem is that I am currently in a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment and my bathroom is tiny so I will not have room for 1 more box in there.

In a couple of weeks though, I am moving to a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment, so I will have 2 boxes in the main bathroom, and 1 box in the other bathroom.

I really suggest getting at least one more litter box as it will be so much easier for you. My cats just simply refuse to use it if it’s dirty and you really want to avoid them going anywhere else.

Lalune93, I'm sure it's going to feel like you're in a mansion doubling the bedrooms. Hopefully, you can find space for another litter box. I can remember the days before clumping cat litter when the litter box reeked of the smell of cat urine. I would not use anything but a clumping litter.