The best solution I ever saw was a door with a kitty door into a small walk-in closet off the mudroom.On the back side of that walk-in closet was a door to the garage, so you could access it from either side. It also had a vent fan. This family also used it to detain the kitties when workmen were in the house. I wish I had thought of that!

When we had a laundry room (new house only has a closet), we kept the dog's bed in there; easy to close him in when people come to the house. My mom keeps her cat box in the laundry room as well.

When we put built-in cabinets in the laundry room (which were Ikea kitchen cabinets) we designed a 2x2 portion of the bottom corner which was open w/no cabinets. The litter box fits perfectly in that little niche. Truly a laundry room designed for a cat. We even designated one entire floor to ceiling cabinet for pet supplies. :) (we have a dog too)

We moved our laundry room upstairs and incorporated the old one into our kitchen expansion. Then we put a 24" deep by 27" wide, double-doored cabinet in front of the old dryer vent to the outside. There's an electrical outlet inside, and it's an end cabinet, which allowed DH to install cat flap on the exposed end. (We got an extra finished end-panel just in case we want to resell the house some day and need to cover the cat flap hole.) Clever DH rigged up a small fan to exhaust odors to the outside, triggered to run for 15 minutes when a cat steps in. There are "spice" racks on the doors to hold litter pan liners and a bottle of AntiIckyPoo spray (the world's best cat-urine deodorizer imho!), and a hook on the wall for a scooper.

Scooping is easy with both doors open, and the cats seem to have adjusted to it just fine, tho' DH is also thinking of giving them a "bathroom light" in addition to the "bathroom fan".

I don't have a kitty, but I saw this idea a while back and it almost made me change my mind. Scroll down to see the neat litter box hideaway made from the Hol storage box.

Here is a link that might be useful: Litter box ideas

mollyred...could you PLEASE take some photos of your set up for us! I'd love to construct something similar..thanks!

if you clean after every use, you'll want somewhere that's easy for you to get to. I sort of like that cabinet w/ the double doors you can open for cleaning.

I have a through the wall cat door out to my garage. I had to tape the door open for a month or so until they learned how to do it...but now it is great since I don't have to smell anything. Litter has that litter smell to it, even when it is clean. My older cat that died last year must have smelled a faint smell of litter from the garage through the floor vents, because he used the floor vents as a litter box several times. What a mess!

And no..I didn't kill him. He just died naturally.

Cleo, I am so sorry to hear about your kitty's passing! This is the hardest!! They are such a blessing in our lives!

My husband has also been thinking about the flap into the garage. I think it's a great idea, but what about fireproofing? Do you know if you will need to close the flap if you ever decide to sell the house? Is that something that inspectors will frown upon? Best regards, Tanya

We keep our litter box in the downstairs bathroom. It fits in nicely behind the door. I like keeping those bodily functions/smells both human and animal in the same room. lol NancyLouise

If it were left up to me, I'd probably keep our litter box in the laundry room. But DH has a weird (and unfounded, IMHO) fear of clean clothes absorbing catbox odor.

We have a full bath downstairs. But all our bedrooms are upstairs, and we never use the downstairs bathtub. So the litter box stays there, hidden by the shower curtain. It really cuts down on tracked-out litter, too (but doesn't keep it from happening entirely.)

We keep a second box in our (attached) garage, and both our cats will ask to be let out to use it instead of the inside box if someone is home to let them out. DH is supposed to install a cat flap one of these years. Then we might be able get rid of the inside box entirely!

We have a new kitten who is currently in training, so the litter box is in the mudroom. Once he is a little bigger it will go down into the basement. Another option would be to put it in the mudroom closet, but the basement works fine.

My laundry room is too small for the litter box. Plus, I'm not sure if I'd want it in there. I used to have a cat who would pee on stinky clothes.

If the cats go in the garage how do you prevent hitting them or having them escape when you enter or exit with the car?

Like sue36, we have the litter box in the basement. Our basement is just a small single storage room with stairs from the kitchen, so we just leave the basement door ajar for them. It works fine. We also put a built-in bench in the mudroom without built in enclosed storage beneath it - just open space so, in the future, when the kitties get to be geriatric cats, we can move the litter box under the mudroom bench and they won't have to go down the basement stairs on their old legs! :-) It is interesting how many creative solutions people find for this issue!

sue36...great question! ..."If the cats go in the garage how do you prevent hitting them or having them escape when you enter or exit with the car?"...

I'd like to know the answer to this as well!

We keep our litterbox in the bathtub in our downstairs bathroom. The downstairs bedroom is used as a study so no one uses the tub anway. We just shut the shower curtain and hide it away completely.

"If the cats go in the garage how do you prevent hitting them or having them escape when you enter or exit with the car?"

Well, I'm ashamed to admit this, but in my case it's because we don't normally park in our garage. All three bays are full of DH's "workshop" stuff. Gee, do I sound bitter? ;-)

The Ikea box solution in the link above is rather ingenious, and it can also serve as a bench I'd think. However you still have to deal with litter tracking.

Our cat litte box is in the mudroom and it's easy to see and scopp daily. If it were in the basement it would not be nearly as convenient. Forget the garage! We have a steel entry door from the garage. Cutting a hole in it would be against code. And it's too darn cold here.

Our litter box is located in our kitchen under an extension of the countertop that has only a shallow desk-type drawer at the top and is open the rest of the way down. Basically, we have cabinets that run between two walls; however, in the middle, there is a portion that is cut away to serve as a desk area, only at countertop level instead of desk level (we were going to use a barstool there). My husband and I each have a "real desk" in our home offices, but this was to serve as a place to return a few phone calls, take phone messages, etc. When our cats came along, we ended up sliding our litter box in that recessed area. We put a door mat made out of something that resembles Astro-Turf (remember that?), only in blue, which matches our kitchen. The mat seems to catch the majority of the litter and greatly reduces any tracking.

However, the real reason I'm responding here is to mention the fabulous litter box we use. If your cat will use a covered litter box, I highly recommend it. We never have to scoop the litter (we don't even own a scoop anymore). You simply roll the litter box, the clumps get deposited in a pull out drawer, and then you dispose of the clumps. The only caveat is you must roll it every day. We put fresh litter in at the beginning of the month and then through the month we simply roll it every day, adding a little extra fresh litter as needed (about every 5-7 days). At the end of the month, we throw all the litter away and start fresh for the next month. I've included a link, which I hope works.

Here is a link that might be useful: Covered Litter Box

We did what snookums did--an open space big enough for the litter box to the left of the washer. We also put a vac pan in our laundry room and it works great for sweeping up the litter.

I can't believe somebody is so tidy as to clean the cat box after every use!!! (You are welcome to come and keep mine clean!)

When my daughter decided to move back home with her cat I struggled to find a place for the litter box. I also ended up with a cat door thru the wall. I found a space under the stairway to the second floor. The other side is a stairway to the "basement" the opens into the garage, so its accessible from that side for cleaning.

I have thought a lot about a vent fan but haven't done it yet. I do get odor problems - I think because the furnace in the basement is pulling air from the litter box.

Still I find it a better solution than any other for me.

My cat's box is in the basement. We put this in the basement door:

http://www.cathole.com/

We painted the trim to match the door and you honestly hardly notice the hole in the door.

My problem with litterbox on the first floor is the smell (not the poo/pee but the overwhelming smell of carbon). Also the litter tracking. Our basement is unfinished so I don't care is litter is scattered everywhere. It is slightly less convenient to scoop but it beats walking a dog or picking up poop outside!

Very grateful to everyone for your thoughtful recommendations!

Livvysmom, what a cute cathole and in so many styles! I love the idea -- we'll definetely be looking it this -- this that will be part of our solution as the flap doors just don't look right in the house!!

Sail-away, greatly appreciate your sharing your litterbox's find with us! We definetely are ordering! This is a brilliant idea!

It's amazing how many opportunities you have out there to make life so much more enjoyable, but you'll never hear about them!

Let me share something else (cat-related) here -- we found fabulous collars -- real leather and the SOFTEST!!! The site is called "kissed by the angels" -- it's an amazing product! Both of our cats wear them with the tags very comfortably... the rest of the collars now look to me very rough for the cats... Thank you, Tanya

We are building and in our mudroom I did what several people here have done, a place where there is only countertop with no cabinets underneath, about four feet wide (I have three cats so several litterboxes). I will have a vac pan right next to it and then a cabinet to store supplies in. I clean out my litterbox several times a day (cats get weird if I don't) and it has to be somewhere I regularly go or I forget.

Paul..ma..
"I can't believe somebody is so tidy as to clean the cat box after every use!!! "
"I do get odor problems"

I don't think the problem is the furnace.
Keeping the litter box clean, makes both cats and humans much happier and healthier.
I don't mean to sound preachy, just one of my pet peeves with cat owners, I have always had cats and work with a rescue shelter. You don't want to use a toilet that has been used and not flushed....
For the original question...The litter box, the litter locker, the dustbuster and one of the new litter mats are all in the corner of the laundry room. No odor problems. It is the tracking of the litter that drives me crazy, I keep telling them to shake their paws over the litter mat, but a cat being a cat just ignores my helpful suggestions.

We have a little kitty room under the stairs (It used to be a storage area). It's about 4' wide by 3' deep and about 3' high. It fits right below the landing. During the renovation I am renovating it as well for the kitties. It will have a stone floor (probably travertine...because I have left overs heh heh) and a small lip at the door to contain any stray litter. It already has a vent to the garage, and an air purrifier in it. I am adding a couple art pieces (Cat prints from the 20's) and a little chandelier. Yes that's all very silly, but heck, it's fun to be silly :)

We clean the litter daily, and use the silica litter, so there isn't an order issue, but I like to be extra careful. The space is large enough to store all of their "Stuff" in (they also dine in their room and have food and water on one side). I'm going to add a shelf around the perimiter to put the "Stuff" on.

The opening is a pretty good sized door that opens into a hallway. They have a cat door which is trimmed out to look like a minerature of our front door. To clean I open and can vacumm from the outside easily, and the litter box slides to the door easily (on my knees I must admit). I have room for a bucket with lid to contain the waste in the room as well. Some day I dream of this being DS's job...but he's 2 now so he just wants to play in the water and food...and the litter box, so we're holding off on giving him this chore.

Igloochic, I am so happy to hear that your son has a kitty -- such a blessing to have their love in your life!! The kitty room sounds wonderful! Tanya

Igloochic --

Silica is carcinogenic. Try a cat litter without silica. We use "World's Best" which is made of corn. Clumps really well. We love it! And no carcinogens for you and your cats.

IMHO the best place for a litter box is in someone else's house :-)

fyi - I'm allergic to cats.

Fortunately I have a basement so I can put mine there - no where near my kitchen. I always get a little nervous when my cats get geriatric - that they somehow won't be able to make it down there. I'll probably be carrying them - because there is NO good place for a litter box upstairs in my house.

We are looking forward to getting the litter box out of the main-floor bathroom. It has a baby gate on one side to keep the dog out. She is faster than I am at cleaning the box. Our cat tracked clumping litter all over the bathroom and into the hall until I switched to Yesterday's News. It is newspaper recycled into little plugs. It doesn't track, but if Peter gets too feisty in the box, he kicks it on the floor.

I am having the same problem of trying to find a place on the first floor for a litter box. I appreciate hearing all of your comments especially since I don't have a mudroom, basement, or garage. The links with litter boxes hidden in the furniture are really helpful. Maybe I can have my contractor build something cheaper than the one for $380 that's adverised on one of the links.

Also, how can I tell if my kitty litter has silica? I've had 2 cats both die of cancer and thought I was smart switching to a natural food and bottled water. Sounds like there are more carcinogens that I'd like to think.

Thanks for your help!
Karen

Karenfromknoxville, so sorry to hear about your kitties -- devasting!! We are using the crystals (and I believe that's what the reference is as to silica).

I just last night put "The World's Best Litter" (which is pure corn)in just one of the litterboxes -- it was already used this morning and no smell AT ALL!! Clumps beautifully and completely! We always clean up as soon as used (which I agree with other posters believe to be the responsibility of cat owners -- it's like not cleaning up a baby!).

So I think with the box, like you describing, the right litter and diligent cleaning, the litterbox can be anywhere and no one will ever guess! Tanya

I've been eyeing this cabinet for some time. I would buy it if it came in darker wood. I've seen some other dark wood cabinets but they didn't look as nice as this one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitty Solutions

Well, I don't know about clean litter after every USE, but I do clean my once a day. I have 2 cats, I don't find odour to be a problem. I can however relate to kitty litter getting everywhere!! I have my little box in the bathroom on my main floor, which is near my kitchen, and the litter is constantly scattered everywhere! I feel like I am constantly sweeping and vacuming, and it's STILL a problem! Any suggestions? Do those kitty mats really make a difference? Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!