Okay, here's a question, WHERE do you keep a cat litter box?

We have just adopted a four year old 12 pound long haired calico mix (mutt cat) declawed and spayed, very sweet with the kids. But I can not figure out a good place to keep her "potty". The cat belongs to everyone but it was my youngest daughter who really wanted a cat so the cat roams the house, but at night, the cat sleeps in the playroom so that is where her litter box is...well, every afternoon when the kids get home and I open their playroom, it smells awful!!! No matter how clean I keep it, enclosing the litter box in a room just doesn't seem to be a good idea. I don't want it in the kitchen (food preparation) I am thinking about putting it in the bathroom but I am not crazy about the bathroom smelling like cat poop when I go into it in the morning to take my shower. There just doesn't seem to be a good place to keep the "cat potty". We put the cat in "her room" at night because we also have two dogs who are outside in a fenced yard all day and at night the dogs come in and are kenneled. Eventhough the dogs can not get to her, the cat is afraid of them and I don't want her to be scared all night. I guess I will put the litter box in the bathroom and just let the cat sleep in there at night and then go into my shower in the morning armed with air freshener. **sigh** Unless ya'll have a better idea!!

Where do you keep your cat litter box?

Thanks, MM

By Mommmie on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 01:42 pm:

If you get one of those litter boxes with the automatic arm that sweeps it every time there's poop, it'll keep a lid on the odors and you could out it anywhere.

By Tink on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 01:49 pm:

We keep ours in the laundry room. I keep up on the laundry (out of the dryer and into the dressers and closets) so the clothes don't smell. Does your box have a lid on it? Our cats have always preferred the "privacy" and it keeps the smell down a bit.

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 01:57 pm:

Our litter box is in the basement. Our cellar door has a cat door in it so our kitties can do down there whenever they please. We also use scoopable litter which is MUCH better concerning odors than traditional cat litter.

By Cat on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 02:26 pm:

Ours is in the laundry room, also. There is a door on the laundry room, but we have a stop on it so it won't close (don't want them to not be able to get to it!). We put a gate in the doorway to keep the dog out. Their food is in there, too (on top of the dryer). We never keep clean clothes in there, just dirty, but I never notice a smell of litter anyway. Our cats have free roam at night. The dog sleeps on our bed. (yes, he's spoiled ) I think if you let the cat roam free at night, she'll stay away from the dogs. One of ours usually sleeps either on the couch downstairs, on the rocking chair upstairs or under Randy's bed. The other usually ends up either in the rocking chair or on Robin's bed. They do sometimes cause trouble at night, but not enough for me to lock them up (yet--Gizmo's getting close! He woke us up at 3:45am the other day by knocking things off the kitchen counter! lol). Good luck and congrats on the new kitty! I'm a major cat lover. I could see myself as one of those old women with two dozen cats roaming the house and whole rooms dedicated to them! rofl Good thing dh won't let me get any more.

By Boxzgrl on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 02:38 pm:

Another vote for the laundry room. We have a litter box with a cover. A few good things about the laundry room are 1) it smells fresh all the time from laundry going and 2) there are air vents for the washer/dryer so it keeps the air circulating and helps keep the bad smell away.

By Andi on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 03:21 pm:

Ours in in the downstairs office. We also use scoopable cat litter.

By Amecmom on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 03:59 pm:

Ours is in the laundry room now. It is covered. We use the Fresh Step Crystals which are amazing. There's no odor at all! Also no mess to track around. Enjoy your kitty!

Ame

By Colette on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 04:19 pm:

Mine is in the basement.

By Janet on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 04:27 pm:

In the bathroom, for us. We have one with a lid, and we also use the Arm and Hammer flushable litter, so I can scoop and flush whenever, and it keeps the smell down.

By Agreen on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 07:22 pm:

ours is in the basement. I like the arm and hammer scoopable too.

By Breann on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 07:27 pm:

We have 3 bathrooms, but only use two. So, the third has become Prancers bathroom We keep the litter box in the bathtub. It is an enclosed litter box and we scoop it obsessively so it doesn't smell.
The bathroom is fully useable in case of potty emergencies. Just no shower. But, that could easily be fixed by just lifting the litter box out.
The bathroom looks normal, with rugs and decorative towels. The shower curtain is pulled shut, so if anyone does go in there, they won't know there is a kitty box

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 08:54 pm:

When a cat lived here, ours was in the bathroom. Then the dog took to having *kitty treats* for snacks, so Jen put it in her closet. DIS-gusting.........

By Bea on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 09:40 pm:

We have two boxes for Gwen. One is in the hall next to the laundry area, and the other is in the 3rd floor bathroom. We use the old fashioned clay litter and a spray of Fabreeze makes her box smell fine between litter changes. I have dust busters near both boxes to clean up where she scratches litter out of the box.

By Heaventree on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 10:10 pm:

I have a craft room/den the cat box is in there. I don't cover as we would forget to scoop if we did. I put a baby gate on door, the cat can get through and I can leave the door open but the dog can't get in. Our dog, like most dogs finds cat "treats" irresistible .

I never liked the idea of the bathroom as the steam and cat litter just doesn't seem like a great combination and I find if the box is in a high traffic area you get cat litter on your socks and track it all over the house. I put a little mat under our box to help with this.

The laundry room seems like a good idea if your kitty has access.

By Cat on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 10:27 pm:

"Kitty treats" are the reason we have a gate in the laundry room doorway.

By Meltonmom on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 01:38 pm:

Thanks everybody. I think I am switching to Arm and Hammer and I am going to try putting it in the laundry room, that way I can flush it and maybe it won't smell so bad.

PS Didn't know anything about "kitty treats" yick! And I have two dogs too but I haven't seen them do THAT! :-)

Hope ya'll have a good day and thanks for the suggestions. I know it is a little thing but it was bothering me. MM

By Janet on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 02:00 pm:

Breann, I love your solution!!