Kitten Thunder’s lives are very hard. For one thing, on the 14th day of Christmas, we took down the tree. While Oliver hasn’t so much as looked at the tree for a month the packing if it was very upsetting to him. Obi loves that tree and was unhappy about the whole thing – except a box full of ornaments to play in, that was fun.
We also got rid of the plastic crate full of tissue paper. It was the best thing ever. But, as he is compelled to do, Oliver peed on the tissue paper. He can’t help it. Crunchy paper just NEEDS pee.
Since he’d peed in the crate anyway, I went ahead and enacted a plan if been working on for a while. Operation: Really Tall Litter Box is going now.
You see, the problem with big cats is that they do gross things with their litter box. Obi is a zealous digger and we end up with kitty litter – clean and dirty – all over the floor. Both cats, on occasion, stand inside the box and don’t realize their back ends are not over it. Poop on the floor.
So my answer? Great big crate.
Oliver was okay with it. So far. He didn’t have to “go” so he looked around before suggesting what we really need are treats. Obi attempted to climb in and got high centered. As he tried feebly to get his back legs in, I swooped him up and dropped him into the box. “You’re going to have to give it a little hop,” I said.
Rude. Unreasonable.
I’ll let you know how long they hold it.
Kitten Thunder: Life lessons and cat tales 
Maybe a step stool is next.
Thunder did the poop-over-the-edge thing for about ten years (okay, not when he was a tiny kitten, so let’s say nine years). I dealt with it by putting a mat under the litter boxes and picking up anything that fell on the mat. For nine years. Then one day I saw some giant litter boxes (very similar to these: http://www.amazon.com/Petmate-Plastic-Hi-Back-Litter-Assorted/dp/B007TUL8Q4/) in a pet store, and I replaced my “large” litter boxes with the giant ones. That was a year or two ago, and he hasn’t pooped over the edge since.
Nine years. I was picking up poop unnecessarily for nine years.
The giant box is actually what they had. But once their favorite spot in the box was used, they would turn around to use the opposite corner. I actually think the poo would bounce off the edge, then the door and roll up against the box. Impressive, really. Except for the poop on the mat and the cats obsessively trying to bury it with ceramic tile.
Another litter story: once, I had an overnight guest sleeping in a room that the cats had to walk through to get to the litter box. I also had spare litter in my bedroom. At the time I was buying bulk litter in refillable plastic containers that were about one foot square and a little more than a foot tall. This one was about two-thirds full of litter, and the lid was on (but not snapped on tight).
I woke up in the morning and noticed that the top of the litter tub was on the floor. I looked inside, and there was a clump. One of the cats (probably Seffie) had been scared to walk past my sleeping guest, so she’d taken the lid off the spare litter container, jumped into it, and peed. I was impressed.
Aw, smart Seffie!