Cats are fussy creatures and that doesn’t stop with their toilet habits. Choosing a great cat litter box or tray is essential for your cat to go to the toilet inside. Cat litter boxes come in numerous sizes, shapes, configurations and budgets, and some are far superior to others at preventing the spread of odour and litter throughout the house.
In this guide we review the best cat litter boxes and trays available in the UK and explore the things to consider when buying one.
Our Top Picks
We have pulled out the highest rated cat litter boxes and trays from this guide. You can read our full reviews of each further down this page.
Overall Best Cat Litter Box: Catit Jumbo Hooded Cat Pan 5/5
Most Stylish Cat Litter Box: Curver Pet Litter Box 4.5/5
Best Cat Litter Tray: Yangbaga XXL Cat Litter Tray 4.5/5
For the best results when controlling the spread of odour, look to combine a cat litter box with an effective clumping cat litter (or biodegradable alternative) and a cat litter mat to prevent the spread of litter throughout your home.
Best cat litter boxes for controlling odour in the UK
We have reviewed and researched the best cat litter trays and boxes available in the UK that are great for controlling the spread of odour and litter from your cats toilet.
1. Catit Jumbo Hooded Cat Pan
The Catit Jumbo Hooded Cat litter box is our top pick on this list. The box is outstanding value for money (£15.36 from Amazon) and our favourite box for controlling odour around your cat litter tray. The box uses a carbon filter (1 included, see images below) which will last 1 month that effectively traps and removes odours. The box has a transparent flap for entry and exit to help contain bad smells, whilst ensuring you can see if your cat is in the box.
The box is large enough for most large cats (measuring 57cm Long x 39cm Wide x 46.5cm High) and comes with a sloped tray that is deeper at the back than the front to make it more accessible for cats to enter.
The tray itself is easy to clean as it is made of BPA free materials and the hood is detachable from the tray beneath. It comes with a built in bag anchor that allows you to simply attach a bag to the front of the tray to avoid any spills whilst emptying (the white flap beneath the door as shown in the images below). The tray also has a built in overlap mechanism to prevent leaks if your cat sprays inside the box.
Overall, we find this cat litter box to be excellent for our cats, and for the money, it is excellent value. We use Catit Ammonia Busters with our cat litter box (they are slightly cheaper, but work just as well) and we replace them roughly once per month (or when the tray starts to smell).
What we like:
- Provides privacy whilst retaining the litter inside
- Large hood lifts up for easy access for cleaning and clicks back into place
- The built-in bag anchor helps keep the bag open and frees hands for scooping (as seen in the above images)
- The carbon impregnated filter effectively traps and removes odours
- Comes in three different colours (Grey, Pink, Blue) and there are also tiger print versions!
- It measures 57cm Long x 39cm Wide x 46.5cm High
2. Curver Pet Litter Box
This litter box is another great cat litter box for cat lovers and their pets. It is specially equipped with a drawer system and a scoop, which in turn makes changing the litter very easy. The hood of the box is easily detached from the drawer below which makes it easy to deep clean when you need to.
The hood comes with a flap entry to help control the spread of odours and mess from the litter tray. It is a study tray made from plastic to help contain any liquids or mess.
This is definitely one of the more stylish choices in this list, and we love the simplicity and quality of the build on this box. You can pick this up for £54.99 from Amazon.
What we like:
- It measures 51cm Long x 38.5cm Wide x 39.5cm High
- Anti-slip base
- Beautiful design
- It comes in three different colours (white, brown and black)
3. Modkat XL Cat Litter Box
The award winning Modcat XL Cat Litter box is our dream cat litter box if you’re not restrained by a budget. The Modcat looks great, and has a two entry system allowing your cat to enter either on the front or the roof hatch. The roof entry helps to reduce the spread of odours and the grid roof helps to retain stray cat litter as your cat exits.
This litter box uses reusable tailor made liners that fit the box perfectly (it comes with one front entry and one top entry liner) that can be removed and cleaned. The liners last for around 3 months, but if you clean them regularly you can extend their lifetime.
The box itself measures 44cm x 54cm x 42cm and is a perfect fit for large cats. The top entry flap is 26cm wide, and the front entry flap is 21 cm wide, providing plenty of room for your cat to enter and exit. The high sides mean you can add a deeper layer of litter than normal litter trays which makes it great at containing mess, spray and odours.
The quality of this product is way above the other cat litter boxes reviewed in this guide, but with quality comes a higher price (Price not available from Amazon). If you’re not constrained by budget this is a superb choice!
What we like:
- Easily configure front or top entry
- Uses tailor made liners for easy cleaning (no need for washing the tray!)
- Swivel lid for for easy access for cleaning
- Amazing quality product
- The grid on the top of the box helps contain cat litter without the need for a cat litter mat
4. Pawhut Cat Litter Box With Litter Scoop
The Pawhut cat litter box is a great option for cats of all sizes. The cover comes fitted with a flap which helps to conceal odours coming from the cat litter tray. The box has two doors, allowing your cat to enter at the front or top of the box.
The box is made from durable plastic with handles on both sides to make it easy to move and clean. The removable tray at the front of the box makes cleaning the box very easy .
What we like:
- Easy to clean pull out draw
- Dimensions: 47cm Wide x 55cm Long x 44cm High
- 2 door options (front and top)
- Includes a scoop
5. Trixie Vico Easy Clean Cat Litter Tray With Dome
The Trixie Vico easy clean cat litter tray weighs about 988g, and it is ideal for big and small cats alike. This litter box is also very suitable if your cat has very long hair. It comes with the hinged front for easy cleaning. This Cat Litter box helps keep a household with a cat fresh and clean in this important aspect. It can hold a good amount of litter and the opening front meant we could leave it up whilst the kitten got used to it. It is available in turquoise and white colour.
What we like:
- Litter tray with hood, door flap, scoop and handle
- Made of high-quality plastic material
- Activated carbon filter neutralizes bad odours
- Double rim prevents urine and litter being scattered out of the tray
- Easy click clasps make it fast to open and close
It is also very cheap and affordable.
6. Yangbaga XXL Cat Litter Tray
This is our stand out cat litter tray on the market. Made of stainless steel, the Yangbaga is very easy to clean and is our favourite non-box option for odour control. This high sided tray is great for containing mess and is sturdy to prevent any issues whilst your cat goes to the toilet.
As the tray is not a box, you should expect some cat litter to escape the tray, but if you combine this with a cat litter mat, it contains significantly more than plastic options on the market. The non stick coating makes cleaning the tray with a wipe or hose a doddle and is our favourite cat litter tray available in the UK.
What we like:
- Made from stainless steel
- Has a non stick coating making it easy to clean
- Rubber feet on the bottom to prevent slipping
- 20cm high to contain a large amount of your cats mess
- It measures 50cm long x 35cm wide x 20cm deep
What to consider when buying a cat litter box
When looking for a cat litter box there are a number of things you should consider for both you and your cat, these include:
- Box or Tray? Trays can be a better option for anxious cats who don’t like to explore whereas boxes are better suited to younger or care free cats. Boxes are superior for containing odour and reducing the spread of faeces or litter. If your cat doesn’t take to a box, you can always remove the lid to get them used to just using the tray.
- How big is your cat? If you have a larger cat, you’ll need a larger box. Ideally you should look for a box that is a minimum of 1.25-1.5 times the length of your cat.
- How high is it? If you have an older cat with joint problems you’ll want a fairly shallow tray with easy access. For other cats, most won’t struggle with getting into the boxes we have included in this guide. If you are buying a litter tray, you will want the tray to be a minimum of 15-20cm high to contain any mess that your cat will cause
- How easy is it to clean? One of the most important factors for cat owners. We cat litter trays to be metal to improve cleanliness, whilst many cat litter boxes come with liners or trays to make the cleaning process a doddle. Check out our guide on self cleaning cat litter boxes if you’re interested in a more high tech box solution.
- How well does it contain odour and mess? There is nothing worse than a bad smelling cat litter box when you enter a home. We have focused our reviews on this below, but we like to combine our cat litter box with a clumping cat litter and a cat litter mat to manage this.
Additional ways of preventing smells from cat litter trays
Although the litter trays we have reviewed will help to reduce the spread of unwanted odours from your cats litter tray, the choice of cat litter plays a major part in reducing this further.
Choosing a clumping cat litter will help to reduce odours by eliminating the odour at the point the faeces was done. You can check out our favourite clumping cat litter or flushable biodegradable litters here. We combine our cat litter with a cat litter freshener to keep it fresh.
Would you like to test products for us?
If you own a dog, cat, rabbit, ferret or hamster we would love to talk to you about testing some of the products that we feature on Cutely. As a tester, we send you products (completely free of charge, and you keep them after!) to test and review with your pet. In return, we ask for your thoughts on the product, what you liked and didn’t like, and some photos of the product being used by your pet (all sent via email).
