Sympathy here; my vounger cat often misses so I use a washing up bowl he has to get into to use. Here I would use the tray from the bottom of my dog crate.perfect and I am sure pet shops will have similar. Here i use cheap shower curtains under and around the tray. Catches most and my boy pees a river too.

I'm not sure if this would work, but what about trying a large storage bin as a litter box?

http://petprojectblog.com/archives/cats/make-your-own-cat-litter-box/

ETA: I mean work for your situation. I made these for my younger cat that stands to pee and flicks mountains of litter everywhere (she's a crazy digger). The tall bin prevents 99% of the mess.

Those are good ideas: thank you. I'm now thinking of buying one of the large Sterlite bins and simply cutting it down a bit around the whole thing--so the sides would be too high for him to hang his big butt over but still short enough for him to hop in. I just wonder how easy it is to cut them. . .

I also just found this online--it has good reviews for this kind of situation.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004N1NAMW/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687682&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0087Y5NKS&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0A7ZP8TY21MEZTGP99N9#customerReviews

They are not hard to cut. Use a jigsaw. A 30 gallon Sterlite works well. Find the smoothest bottom available for cleaning. Sometimes the corners have protrusions inside.

Don't cut the hole on the short end as in the tutorial. They can walk in, stop and you have the same problem of a butt out the door. Cut it almost in the corner on the long side so they have to walk in and turn around.

Also, with older kitties who get arthritic, cut the door down low so they can just walk in and don't have to step up or hop in. If it gets too uncomfortable to enter, they might choose to go elsewhere in the house. As they get arthritic, squatting also becomes difficult. So the high sides are good for kitties who stand when they pee. The 30 gallon is about 17 inches tall, keeping it all in with a stander. Keeps the dust down too. I think cats like the sense of enclosure as long as there isn't a lid on the top. Some do not like that. Lids also trap odors in their bathroom.

Here's mine. Cut less, not more. You can always cut again if it's not enough.

If you have a tall cat, like mine, you may want to make your own box. Even one of the clear bins would work and I would cut an opening just wide enough for your cat to get it. For the clear type bins, I've had no problems cutting them with a large serrated knife. When considering height of the sides, keep in mind the depth of the litter.....which is usually around 3" deep.

Thanks all! I'm inspired to take some action on this. Snokums--that's a great idea about where to cut the door! Genius!

I had one that would stand and pee sometimes so originally cut the door up as high as would work, just in case he went around the door area (which he occasionally did but held himself low). I placed a makeshift step at the entrance for him to get into it which worked great. When he got older, I cut the door down real low so he could walk right in and fortunately he never peed out the door! It is a stressful situation but the Sterlites work great and cats seem to love their roominess.

With my older boy, I found that having the litter box in a corner somehow encouraged him to pee against the wall. So I've moved it out into the room (it's upstairs) and no more peeing outside the box. The other thing I thought that might be easy for you to do is to put down puppy pee pads around the box. That would be easy to clean up. Good luck. Old age is tough on all of us!!

He may not be willing to change boxes, if not you could have the box sit in a floor protector for a washer machine, lined with a couple of puppy pads. At least that way nothing would go on the floor. When we first got our pup, we used the pads by the door and they work quite well.

These are not terribly expensive and are available at Lowes and Home Depot.

Lots of good info here. My kitty is only 7, but it's good to think of adaptations for older pets.

If the Sterilite/Rubbermaid bin LID is large enough, you could turn it upside down and use it as a "drip pan."

How would you do that? I'm not following upside down.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/clevercat-top-entry-cat-litter-box/3262861?skuId=43579747&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_pet_&adpos=1o2&creative=43742657029&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&product_id=43579747&gclid=CIih3JqCkc0CFQ6maQodkwANsg

Oh gosh! What will they think of next. Cool idea I guess but I just don't see most cats using a litter box like that, especially an older cat. Actually, it reminds me of Jas's box and t-shirt thread over in Kitchen topics, my young cats would have a hayday with it!

As I stated in my first post, I had one of those CleverCat boxes for quite awhile. It was quite successful, so I recommend it. However, now that my cat is older he can no longer jump up and use it--it is quite tall.

It's great that you mentioned it, but without posting a pic or link so we can see what you're talking about most people won't know what it is.. I'm just saying...

Cassandra, he doesn't have to jump up. You can build a step out of a sturdy box or a couple of encyclopedias you don't use very often, and he can step up.

He still has to jump down in and back out again. That could be tough for an old kitty with arthritis. It may not be evident those moves cause pain either.

I wish they would make these innovative litter boxes bigger. Some look worth a try but not big enough.

Duly admonished lukkiirish. Yikes.

I don't think Rocket (he's 14) would want this to be his only litter box. He still enjoys jumping into boxes, but hasn't had anything this high.

I'd be afraid it could fall over when someone tried to jump out.

Off topic but the thread reminded me.... I went to a new small car rescue last year when, after my collie died and one cat was missing, I had room for another rescue cat. Lovely lady, and when we were in the cattery chalet, when I had said I would take the mother cat as her kits were old enough to leave home, there was this big lad in the top cage. Never saw a cat with so much sheer confidence! He was reaching through to play with the kittens, stealing water from their bowl with his paw.. He was a year old, neutered etc, and had been surrendered as his owner was moving to where there was cat allergy. Never had a name, just "kitty". So the lad needed to use his tray, gets atop it and poops. OUTSIDE the tray as he is hanging over the edge.. He turned round to cover the evidence, and COULD NOT FIND IT. The look on his face... Sheer comedy. I could not forget him and a week later he was here. He needs a deep tray so am using a washing up bowl as he in an energetic burier..

luckiirish; that is perfect and what I had in mind. when I suggested the tray from the dog crate. He can still use his familiar box and no worries re any overflow, and easily cleaned.

Oops. I edited my post above to add the word "lid." I meant that the lid of one of the bins could be used as a drip pan for the kitty litter box.

' He needs a deep tray so am using a washing up bowl as he in an energetic burier '

What is this?

snookums; cultural linguistic differences! A washing up bowl is a plastic bowl in which to wash dishes....The ones I have always used for my cats are oblong and deep and make excellent litter trays. Many cats like to keep their front feet out of the actual litter..and if you get a cat who is really keen on burying, it keeps it all in the bowl.

I have found myself taking my own advice this week.. the reason my lost cat went outside was that he would use a tray to pee but never for bigger jobs. Watched him after he came back and sure enough he was peeing near the tray ... These cats were originally trained on torn up newspaper. So I brought the tray from the ( not in use) dog crate up, lined it with plastic, and draped s single sheet of paper across the litter tray amid it. Perfect and they have both performed in the right place and everyone is settling. THANK YOU!

I ended up putting my old cat's tray in the tub. She lived to 18 and was able to get in there to use the tray no problem. the reason I did this was initially we got a new dog who would pester her when she was doing her business which irritated the heck out of her, but as time went on, she wasn't able to squat as low as before and so whatever went outside the tray went down the drain, and I could just give the tub a clean with disinfectant. I think it was probably arthritis that caused her to sit higher when she peed.

We've been using big storage containers from the container store with great success. I also have the Flip litter box from Modko that I use without the lid (t's expensive so only worth it if your box is in the open and you want it to be cute). The Modko boxes are a little too small for our big cats