Every cat owner is familiar with the dreaded feeling of walking barefoot through a room and stepping on the little pebbles of cat litter that escaped the box after your cat’s last bathroom break. Or maybe your cat likes to dig and kick its litter out of the box in its bid to dig down to the center of the earth to hide its business. Either way, finding litter all over your floors is many cat owners’ least favorite thing about owning a cat.
So, what is a cat lover to do if they want to save their sanity (and their feet)? It may be as simple as changing your cat’s litter box. We’ve looked at the litter boxes that stop the tracking of litter to other parts of the house and compiled our list of greatest hits. These reviews will let you know the options out there to help you make the right litter box choice for your home.
The Petmate Top Entry Cat Litter Pan is our best overall for a litter box to stop tracking of litter throughout the house. This box has high walls to prevent litter kicking and a plastic top with a wide opening to let your cat enter and exit with ease. When your cat exits the litter box, the textured, non-slip grated lid catches stray bits of litter depositing the pieces right back into the box. The box has rounded edges for easy carry and comes with a scoop for easy cleaning.
The grate in the lid allows most commercial litters to fall back through the opening. If your cat is not used to a top entry litter box, you may have some trouble convincing it to use this type of box. The hinges of the lid may warp over time from the weight of your cat, so you may need to start taping the lid down.
Pros
Grated lid allows litter to fall back into box
High sides keeps litter in the pan
Cons
Lid hinges may warp over time
2. Nature’s Miracle High Sided Corner Cat Litter Box – Best Value
The Nature’s Miracle Just for Cats Advanced High Sided Corner Cat Litter Box is the best litter box for the money. For cats that love to dig and kick in their litter boxes, this high-sided box helps keep litter in the box where it belongs. The front entry is high and narrower to help keep litter in the pan when your cat exits the box. This corner pan also has a non-stick and antimicrobial coating to help reduce buildup and litter caking to help ease cleaning.
If you have a high kicker, litter may still end up outside of this box. To solve that problem, this box can also be bought with a lid under the name Nature’s Miracle Just For Cats Advanced Hooded Corner Cat Litter Box.
For cat lovers that just hate having to deal with the litter box and all it entails, our premium choice is the Whisker Litter-Robot Automatic Self-Cleaning Cat Litter Box. The Whisker Litter-Robot is a self-cleaning litter box that automatically cleans itself every time your cat uses the box. Within a few minutes of your cat leaving after completing its business, the box starts cleaning and removes the waste to a carbon-filtered drawer to help trap pet odors. The box is also Wi-Fi enabled and comes with an App so you can control your litter box from anywhere. The bundle comes with 3 carbon filters, 100 waster drawer liners, cleaner wipes, a ramp, and a litter trap mat.
This litter box will take care of all your litter cleaning needs, but it is a large piece of equipment that you will need to have space for in your home. Technical issues are always a possibility with a high-tech litter pan, so you may have to reach out to the company for technical assistance if you run into any issues.
Pros
Self-cleaning
Reduces odors
Comes with litter tracking mat
Cons
Very large
Potential for tech issues
4. Frisco Multi-Function Covered Cat Litter Box- Best for Kittens
The Frisco Multi-Function Covered Cat Litter Box is the best litter box for kittens because of its high sides and low front entry. This litter box has a wide entry, making it easy for kittens to enter to use the inside pan, and the high walls help prevent spraying and kicking of litter. This box allows your cat to conduct its business in private and comes with a scoop for easy clean-up. With the location of the litter pan inside of a larger litter box, any litter spillover is going to stay inside the box instead of on your floors. The bonus feature of this box is that it has room for storage, so you can keep your litter pan cleaning supplies inside the box next to the pan.
As your kitten grows, you’ll be able to keep the same litter box because of its overall large dimensions. Some large cats may have trouble with the size of the smaller litter pan inside the box, so you may have to swap it out for a larger one as your kitten ages.
The Catit Jumbo Hooded Cat Pan helps keep the cat litter inside the pan while also giving privacy to cats that like to do their business without an audience. This cat pan has a front door that helps prevent tracking of litter outside the box, as well as a carbon filter to prevent odor. The front entry can also be folded back to add more litter and to easily clean the pan. The high, covered sides and front door of this litter pan keep litter inside the box where it belongs.
The litter pan has clips to keep a litter bag in place while your cat digs away to find the perfect spot to relieve itself. Cats may be attracted to the carbon filters on the top of the box, so you may have to watch out that your cat doesn’t play with the filters.
The Booda Dome Cleanstep Litter Box is a large box that helps prevent litter tracking while also giving your cat privacy to conduct its business. The inside of this dome-shaped litter box is rounded to help keep litter inside the pan when your cat starts to leave the box. The non-slip steps also help catch any additional litter that might be stuck to your cat’s paws on its way out of the box. This litter pan also has carbon filters to help cut on odors for both you and your pet. The Booda Dome is large enough for most cats, but larger breeds may have some trouble entering the box.
Pros
Non-slip steps catch litter
Ramp keeps litter in the box
Carbon filters to cut odor
Cons
May not work for large breeds
Need to purchase carbon filters
Buyer’s Guide: Choosing the Best Litter Box to Stop Tracking
There are so many different types of litter pans to prevent litter tracking on the market that it can be difficult to figure out the best choice for your cat.
Here are four types of litter pans that help prevent litter tracking:
Top Entry: A top entry cat litter box is the best choice for many cat owners that are trying to prevent litter tracking. The cat enters the pan from the top and the high sides and lid keep the cat from kicking the litter outside the pan. Many of the top entry boxes have a textured lid to trap any leftover litter stuck to your cats’ paws when it exits the box.
High Sided: Sometimes all a cat owner needs to prevent litter tracking is a high-sided litter pan. Some cats prefer to kick and dig when they need to relieve themselves and large amounts of litter can end up outside the pan. A high-sided litter pan with a high, narrow entry solves the problem for many owners.
Hooded Pans: A hooded litter pan has high sides to keep your cat from kicking litter outside the box during its bathroom breaks. Many hooded pans also have a higher entry to help prevent litter tracking when your cat leaves after using the facilities. Some hood pans also offer additional features that assist in preventing litter tracking, such as a front door or non-slip steps.
Automatic Cleaning: The solution to litter tracking for some owners is the purchase of an automatic cleaning robotic litter box. Robotic boxes clean within a few minutes of your cat leaning the box, so it takes care of any mess left behind by your cat. These robotic litter pans also come with additional features, such as a litter mat, carbon filters, bag liners, and more.
Cat Litter Mats
For some cat owners, the simplest solution to the cat litter tracking problem is to buy a cat litter mat. These mats come in all different sizes and textures to effectively catch any extra litter stuck to your cats’ paws after they leave the litter box. A cat litter mat can be made of sisal, plastic, fabric, or silicone and can be easily cleaned. Once the mat catches the litter, you can pick up the mat, shake it out over the garbage can, the litter pan, or take it outside the house to shake loose the caught litter.
Shana Loven lives in the Pacific Northwest with her longtime partner and their dog, Bella. She grew up in a large, crazy family with a plethora of pets, ranging from mischievous hamsters to a mob boss of a cat, and several loyal dogs. When she's not using this wealth of experience writing about pets to help out other pet owners, Shana enjoys reading her extensive book collection, crafting miniature scenes, crocheting, and using her former librarian wizardy to conduct research about any topic that interests her....Read more
