You wouldn’t like to be squeezed into a small, covered space to try to do your business, would you? Well, your kitty also needs to be comfortable too in order to use the litter box.
Ideally the litter box you choose for your cat should meet the following 5 requirements:
Made of high quality steel not plastic - plastic is a porous material and so it allows not only odors but also bacteria to seep in making your litter box smelly and unhygienic
Shallow entry, so they don’t have to climb a mountain to get to their toilet - less than 8 inches is an ideal height.
It needs to be big enough that they can turn a full 360° in it without any part of their body bumping up against the sides. A good rule of thumb is that the litter box needs to be 1.5 times the length of your cat.
The litter box should be open. Your cat doesn’t want to feel trapped in a covered space so no covered litter boxes and nothing with a door flap - this makes your cat feel vulnerable and anxious.
Nothing electronic - while this is easy for us, your cat may not like the sounds and movements while trying to do their business. Many cat-owners have reported their cats using an electric box initially and then they started going on the floor, leaving the pet parent confused. This happens if your cat needs to re-enter the litter box quickly after using it once and the box has already started the cleaning cycle (think, cat with diarrhea, or urinary infection) - the sounds and movements have scared them off. In addition, electric boxes pose an issue with multiple cats in the household for the same reason. Kitty #1 does their business, and the box starts the clean cycle, but now kitty #2 needs to go and gets freaked out by the sounds and movement of the box so uses your expensive rug instead.
So to sum up, your litter box should be a big, open, flat rectangle - this is the most enticing litter box you can provide for your cat. Incidentally, this is also the cheapest option that is easiest to clean - so a win-win for both you and your kitty.
