Selfish logistical issue

Can you guys help talk me through this?

Background: I have two cats, Alex Rodriguez and Blossom (Princess Blossom Pepperdoodle Von Yum Yum), both of whom are around a year old.

My catbox has always been in the bathroom, under the sink. But this is getting to be untenable for a few reasons: 1. The pipe under the sink makes it impossible to have a covered catbox so it's just standing there open, which leads to 2. Blossom kicking litter out when she scratches. So I'm constantly having to sweep up litter from the bathroom floor.

Is there a way for me to stop the litter-kicking problem while still having an uncovered litter box? There's no other space in the bathroom to put the box. Otherwise, where can I put the litterbox that I can cover it? I'm thinking the kitchen hall sort of near the bathroom. Remember that I'm in an NYC apartment that's approximately 750 square feet, with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

Also, is there any truth to those self-cleaning cat boxes?

Also, for the two people who sent me cat-related questions two weeks ago: I have no idea. I don't even understand my own cats! (Which is pretty much the point of cats.) I'd take your cats to the vet to get them checked for UTIs, which is what I'd do it one of my kids started peeing or pooping in the wrong places with no other major changes going on.

Comments

[hydrogeek]

bitchypoo.com writes a lot about cats and has one of those self-cleaning litterboxes. She's been my source of cat info since I accidentally ended up with a kitty. Who is now for some reason pooping on the bed...

[Shannon]

Not sure if you have room for this, but we have a little grate thing that the cat has to step on as she walks out of the litterbox. We got it at Petco or Petsmart, can't remember which. Every cat owner who comes over comments on what a great item it is. However, if you have a very small space, you end up stepping on the grate as you walk through the bathroom, and it kind of hurts your feet.

We had the self-cleaning litterbox when I was in my early 20s and still living with my parents. It works okay, but you really have to stay on top of changing the little boxes, because if they get to full they don't close and whoo-whee do they stink! Also I seem to recall some sort of situation where the mechanism broke and I was out in the yard spraying the thing with the hose and prying off stuff from the various parts. I concluded that this disgusting effort was not worth the time saved from having to clean the litterbox. But then, that was before I had a kid and got familiar with the poopsplosion.

[Geeks in Rome]

My cat's litter box fits perfectly inside a medium/large? size shipping box from the US post office. But any cardboard box with high sides will do. He can dig and kick, but the litter hits the sides and ricochets back in the box.

Also I keep the box in the kitchen in a corner so I am more likely to scoop out the prezzies as soon as he leaves them in there. I found it was too easy to let the stink build up in the bathroom.

[Brooke]

We keep ours on a rug or towel. The litter still gets out (and we do have a covered box, but Muggle can still get some distance). It cuts down on the tracking litter everywhere. And you can just pick up the rug and shake it out.

[Helena]

Yeah, we keep our litter box in the hallway near the front door. Most folks comment that they don't even notice it's there until we point it out. The litter mess is out of the way, we don't walk in that hallway unless we're exiting the apartment (or getting into the hall closet).

I like the keeping it in the kitchen idea. Also, the keeping it in a cardboard box idea.

I also like the idea of the cats going to live with my in-laws.

[Caitlin]

If they'll tolerate a litter change, you could try the cedar chip type. It's not clumping or very odor absorbing but it also doesn't scatter as much.

[Ann]

We had a self cleaning box and it was great. Yes, you have to change the little boxes when they get full and they are quite expensive.

But, the kitty we have now, who is skittish all around, was afraid of it and wouldn't use it. So we're back to the old fashioned kind.
And she doesn't bury her stuff. PEEE UUUUU.

It's amazing what we put up with for our cats!

Here's my favorite joke:
The dog says "you feed me, you play with me, you give me a nice place to live. You must be god."
The cat says, "you feed me, you play with me, you give me a nice place to live. I must be god."

[laura]

When we lived in a small townhouse (but still 890 sq ft-- I could never do NYC apts!) we tried two things:

Thing 1: in a storage-only closet, we placed a covered cat box with a plastic mat under it (a discarded wheeling chair mat from my office, actually) and we cut a cat door into the closet. This was OK, but the landlord happened to stop by and informed us that the cat door was ok, but that if the closet smelled AT all of cat litter box when we moved out, we'd have to pay to have it professionally cleaned. We did notice that coats we were storing in there were getting an ambient odor: so, we switched to:

Thing 2: covered cat box, facing into the corner in the kitchen. That way, litter kicked out would be in the corner, and there wouldn't be the view of the inside of the box open to our kitchen. I was OK with it primarily because it was an eat-in kitchen, so this corner was pretty removed from food prep areas. We had a "plug-in" air freshener nearby and never ever noticed any odors.

Now, we have a garage and the box is in there, and there's a cat door into the garage.

[Rosie]

We have 5 cats, so our litter situation is a little crazy, especially since one has diabetes and pees constantly. We have 3 self-cleaning boxes and 3 regular boxes, all using scoopable litter. The self-cleaning boxes frankly get overwhelmed with the amount of pee my diabetic cat puts out so I can't really tell you how it works with normal cats.

My sister reports having really good luck with the clear crystals. I'm not sure how they work, but I don't think they stick to the cats' fur and leave a mess everywhere. More expensive, though, I think.

I've seen people build boxes with doors that contain the litter boxes and odor. However, out of sight, out of mind...you might tend to forget to clean it as often.

I love my cats, but I HATE dealing with the litter!

[Matt]

As for as cats peeing/spraying in the wrong place, when we had this problem a while ago we used Feliway with good success: http://catfaeries.com/feliway.html

We use the clear crystals, and while they do a better job of keeping the smell down, they're more painful to stop on when they get kicked/tracked out of the cat box :(

You could get a Roomba and schedule it to clean the bathroom every day while you're at work to keep the mess down. I'm sure there's cheaper solutions, though.

[c3]

Oh man, not the cat jokes. The low-key cat hostility. I promise, I won't start a cat merits vs. dog merits debate. I'll try not to...

But anyway, an answer to your question. The litter kicking is just an offshoot of a cat's natural instinct to bury/cover their, erm, leavings. There's nothing to be done about the actual behavior, because it's normal.

A few things that you can do to help cope:
*a corner litter box (We got one of these and it works very well. It's triangle shaped, has high side walls, and fits in the corner. Takes up very little space. Highly recommended. I'd say 60% less litter scattered.)

*put the litterbox inside a long, low Rubbermaid type container, such as the flat underbed boxes that are narrow but not too wide. (Lots of the scritched and scratched litter ends up in the outside container. Downside? Kitty may see that as part of the litterbox and occasionally eliminate there.)

*covered litterbox. If you try one, leave the front door off at first. Cats may not innately understand the switch to a covered litterbox and need some help with it.

[Sara]

We have the littermaid self-cleaning litterbox for our single cat, and it works as advertised. No daily scooping, hurrah! From the NYC apartment perspective, however, I think it is bigger than your average litterbox and it makes a little bit of a sound when it cleans itself (not an offensive sound, but kind of a mild whiny sound); also you need to either plug it in or use 4 D batteries (which run out pretty quickly, adding to expense). I started my cat with it when she was pretty young -- before the 1 year mark. She was never afraid of it. It actually provided her with entertainment. For years she would run to the litter box and watch the self-cleaning action whenever she heard the sound start.

Generally it is ok with smell control, but if you get lazy and let the "waste receptacles" overfill, it can get pretty smelly pretty fast and then disposal can be a bit messy. There are other finicky things about the box that you have to get used to -- like don't overfill with litter, etc. But before I was married and traveled on a lot of one or two-night trips for work, I couldn't have lived without the self-cleaning litter box.

Just saw the comment about keeping up with the diabetic cat -- it keeps up fine with my non-diabetic cat.

[meggiemoo]

Ah cats and cat litter. My solution won't help you, Moxie, but it may help other cat slaves, er, owners out there.

We have 3 cats, and I was pretty much sick of cleaning up their pee and poo in a box. So we taught them to go outside and pee and poo there. We have a cat door in the screen in our window (the window is low to the ground), and a little table under it so they can get to it. They come and go freely.

Of course, in the winter when the windows closed, we're stuck with letting them in and out a zillion times a day (I think they play with us). But I still say it's better than cleaning a litter box.

Our cat-to-person ratio (C2P) is 1:1 right now, which is dangerous. We're pretty much oversaturated with cats. Anyone want a really old, crabby cat? No? Didn't think so.

[pnuts mama]

try putting the box (with cover) in the tub- you can show the cats to jump in there and rinse out the tub whenever you need to.

***
hedra (or anyone else)- if you're reading this thread, flaxseed oil for plugged ducts? anything else? usual stuff not working, can't find/get the thing out. sorry for the hijack!

[pixie]

we put it in the bathrub, which has been great for keeping the mess contained. However whenever we have guests they can't shower, but we have a small house and no guest bed so it's rare someone spends the night anyway.

[Lisa V]

Our third cat is my 10 year-old's. The cat wanted to sleep with her, so we put a litter box in my daughter's room in the closet. To avoid it being stinky, we got a self cleaning one, and it works. Once in awhile there is a malfunction and we have to scoop, but for the most part, we are happy.

[Seahorse]

I know of four people who have successfully gotten rid of their litter boxes by training their cats to use the toilet. Only one cat started as a kitten. The others were all over a year old. One cat was 9 years old. Try googling "Toilet train your cat".

[attiton]

When I lived in Manhattan, we kept the litter box in the bathtub (pixie and I are on the same page).

Yes, it means that you are touching the pan a lot, but it also means that you keep it clean so it smells TONS less and you can just sweep the cat litter pellets into a dustpan.

[hedra]

@pnuts mama, ouch - my only solution for plugged ducts was nursing upside down/rotating positions. *I* never managed to get one out, but the babies could do it. I think I also tended to take NSAIDS for anti-inflammatory help (reduce swelling to improve unblockage), no idea if that helps, did it on principle when I remembered. Warm showers just felt a bit better, but nothing but nothing cleared them except baby help.

We have one of the robotic cleaners that is the big round thing that rotates, quite a large capacity and uses regular trashbags. Two cats use it often, one cat is too big but tries anyway. WAY too big for small apartment (ours takes up half the downstairs bathtub, unused space at the moment), but they still track litter... so, um, probably not the solution. DOES work fabo for just cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. Might be loud for an apartment.

The cedar litter doesn't track too badly, and is supposed to be easy to vaccuum up... BUT, I find that it tends to work into fabrics, like bedspreads, socks, etc. (we have several boxes due to the three cats - rule being 1 box per cat plus 1, I think?)

I'll also vote with the Feliway for helping or ending stress elimination of cats (and fighting, depression, anxiety, etc.). Worth the expense for the plug-in version. Seriously seriously.

[pennifer]

Litter just doesn't stay in the box. Lots of folks have mentioned good containment methods. We keep our litter boxes in a closet and leave the door ajar. You have to be vigilant about people who unthinkingly close doors, but at least it's out of the way. I bought some gray astro-turf like stuff (but extra tall grass) that I put under the boxes, and there's a rug outside the door to the closet. That stops the litter from traveling any further, so then it's just local cleanup.

It's the worst part of cat ownership.

[Lorraine]

Our cats are peeing everywhere right now in reaction to: baby, bathroom construction (moved litterbox), and housemate's new cat. We are extremely frustrated and will definitely try the Feliway. Thanks for the recommendations.

@pnuts mama - warm showers (hope you're not in the middle of the same disgusting heat wave I'm in) and kneading, kneading, kneading is the only thing that ever worked for me. Kneading in the shower, right after the shower, while nursing, whenever you think of it. I'm ouching all over again just remembering it. Good Luck!!

[emily]

We have two cats and in our most recent apartment the bathroom was just too small to accomodate a litter box -- even a tiny, uncovered one. After lots of deliberation we stuck it in a closet like an above poster and that worked pretty well.

Also, we use the litter that looks like little crystals. I was skeptical about it but it works EXTREMELY WELL: really, no odor at all and it somehow dries out the poop so scooping it is less unpleasant. It's changed less frequently now that I'm pregnant and my spacey husband is on the task and it still doesn't smell much.

We also bought a kind of ribbed mat at Petco to go right outside the entrance to the litter box and that has cut down on the tracking considerably.

At an open house the other day I noticed a litter box that was consructed to be the base of a potted plant. Not sure how well that worked/who it fooled for long but it was a cute idea. They just had it in the living room with the opening facing into a corner.

[Marta]

My brother has a cat, and they have always done this:
Take a rubbermaid or some such plastic tote, and cut a hole from the top down in a U shape on one end. (They leave the top on the tote to eliminate odor, but you could leave it off due to your pipe situation.) When the kitties kick, the litter will stay inside the box. Perfect solution.
My brother and his wife are super smart. :)
Good luck!
M.

[Lisa F.]

no answers on the cat stuff, but
Pnuts mom, kellymom.com has info here: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/mastitis.html

scroll down to purple box, good luck!

[JJ]

I once saw a bathroom set-up where the (undersink, I think) litterbox had a curtain around it, like a tall dust-ruffle. It seems like this would help contain some of the scratched-out litter, which would hit the curtain and then fall within the confines of the curtain.

I've heard that self-cleaning boxes break easily, but I don't have personal experience with it. If you're already keeping the box in the bathroom, get some flushable litter, like World's Best. http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/

[Amy]

@pnuts mama--When did you have the baby? Did I miss the details?? (Sorry to hijack).

I'm going to continue to hijack by saying I wish there were a way for us to all have little bios or something to keep up with stuff like this. I feel like I know so many of you... it would be nice to be able to be updated when big things like new babies happen. (Sorry, Moxie, not trying to create more work for you!)

No litter advice. Even with a covered box, my two cats get it everywhere!

[Rbelle]

I definitely second whoever said take the door off the box if you get a covered one. When the Hat was about a year old, I switched to a covered litter box with a little swinging door. I came home after the first day to a warm pile of poo smack in the middle of my futon. Worst. Mess. Ever. At least until I have kids :P

After years of living with a litterbox in the bathroom and getting sand stuck on my feet every time I got out of the shower, I started putting the box in my hall closet (I crack the door, and put a hanger over the top so it can never close completely). The first apartment I did this in had hardwood floors, so I just kept a little whisk broom and dustpan in there and swept up when the grains seemed like they were spreading.

Our new place has a carpeted closet, so I bought two "cat mats" from Target - they're basically giant bath-mat looking things with grooves that are supposed to "catch" the litter. They don't, so much, but they completely cover the carpet, and even a little bit of wall on either side. We don't store anything in that closet, but I did in the previous apartment, and didn't have much of a smell problem - more a dust one. Of course, I only have one cat - when I lived with a roommate, and we had two, the smell was much worse. Of course, she was terrible at cleaning the box in a ... er.. timely fashion, so I think that was a big part of it.

[heather]

Two things that have worked for me in my many years as cat caretaker:

1. Get a tall (1-foot or maybe 18"?) cardboard box, just a free one from the grocery store, and put the litter box inside the cardboard box. We didn't even bother cutting out an entrance/exit, just made the cats hop into the litter box. (This might not work if there isn't room under the sink for a cardboard box that's tall enough to contain the litter yet short enough that the cats can get in and out.)

2. Get a large shoe mat (one of those plastic or rubber mats that's usually near the door) and sit the litter box on it. This way when the litter or something from the litter box gets out, just shake or wash the mat. (This works well for food or water dishes too, if your cat's a messy eater.)

[caramama]

Man! All my ideas have been covered! Closet, corner box, putting in tub, mat down in front. Not that these work for our cat. Honestly, nothing works, and each time we looked for a new place we had to consider where to put the litter box(es).

Those whose cats are peeing in the wrong places, try multiple boxes in different places and keep them all as clean as possible. (Not that this cures our cat, either, but it helps.) The Feliway (plug in) REALLY helps!

@pnuts mama - Heating pad followed by massages and/or baby nursing? I hope everything else is going well!

Amy - This is why I think everyone should have a blog or at least a profile somewhere (I know blogger has those). ;-)

[caramama]

OT: I'm trying to organize another DC Area get together for August--this time dinner without kids. If you are in the area and interested in meeting other Moxie readers and/or mommybloggers, come to my blog and vote on which day you can make it.

[Jenn]

Self-cleaning litterboxes ROCK. We have three of them. I'll never ever ever have another kind.

[Terri Mac]

A friend of mine switched over to these top-entry litter boxes http://www.clevercatinnovations.com/(S(edpxnt45n303qcbjysyp0umj))/menu_lbl.aspx
The kitties had no trouble adjusting. Highly recommended (no affiliation...).

Pnuts mom, that kellymom site that was posted above has tons of info, I had persistent plugged ducts (record was 9 in one week), and that site was a lifesaver. Do whatever you feel comfy with.

[Kimberly C]

I have 3 cats in a smallish house, and one of them is a litter kicker- the other two are picky as hell and won't go in ANY litter boxes if they haven't been cleaned TODAY.

The hell that I put up with for these beasts is huge.

That said, we have 4 litter boxes (I know, I know, awful right?) 2 booda domes with stairs inside for the litter kicker- google it, it's a pretty sexy litter box if a litter box could ever be called sexy- one rubbermaid container, and one kitten style petite cat pan.

They have knocked over the rubbermaid container a couple of times, and occasionally the litter kicker will get in the kitten pan and knock sandy cat litter everywhere- I am pretty on top of THAT mess because we have hardwood floors and cat litter tracks everywhere very quickly and I can't stand it stuck to my feets.

I want to throw in that the crystal cat litter? Not good to us. The litter kicker is a big longhair and because of all the litter kicking she gets the dust not just on her paws but pretty much all over her- then she licked it off with a cat bath and got really sick, hurling uncontrollably and unable to eat. 300 dollars worth of vet treatment later? We found out she doesn't handle crystal cat litter well. Oops.

I wrote you a novel, my bad.

[rudyinparis]

Ha! I keep thinking of my Dad, a very sweet man who has borderline OCD when it comes to housekeeping. I guess when he visited my sister (who lives in Japan, about same square footage available as in NYC so no good hidden spot for the litterbox) the whole cat-kicking-litter-of-his-feet thing almost made him break out in hives from stress. So this whole conversation--cat poop, cat pee, litterboxes in tubs, in closets... throw in pnuts mamas plugged duct (my dad tends to be sqeamish about the, uh, woman parts) and I think he'd have to go to the hospital after reading through this.

Pnuts mama, I always used the "warm washcloth massage like a maniac" method. Usually took awhile, the better part of day, but then it would break up or dissolve or whatever it is that it does. Good luck.

Yesterday I stepped in a coughed up hairball in my bare feet. Just to add to the conversation.

[deborah]

I second the motion for the Clevercat top-entry litterbox. We just switched our two 5-year-old cats to this type of box, and I can't tell you how much of a difference it's made. Hardly any litter on the floor anymore!

[hedra]

Mmmm kittypuke and bare feet. :shudder:

[effective nancy]

I am not a cat owner, but I've encountered this problem. When I worked at the zoo, I cared for sand cats, these very small wild cats from Qatar. Anyway, we had them use litter boxes but, as they are extremely territorial, kicking the litter wasn't uncommon. First of all, if your litter level is LOW, you'll have MORE scatter problems with the kicking, because they'd really rather bury it in situ but can't get enough stuff to cover, hence the flinging around of litter. Second, whenever you're changing the location/container/format/litter material of the litter box, it's recommended to save a piece/clump of the old stuff to put in there so their noses know where to go in the new context.

If your solution is to bring the litter box out of the bathroom, may I suggest a tasteful crate as the disguise? I've seen wicker-covered crates for dogs' use in, say, living rooms that make the thing look more like posh furniture than a containment device. Then you get nearly-opaque walls, good ventilation, and a wide opening through which to do daily maintenance.

[pnuts mama]

haha, plugged ducts and cat boxes...this is my life...thanks for all the info! i'm laughing about hanging upside down and nursing...although i will try the nsaid for sure. i found another thread here that mentioned using ice also, to shrink the tissue. we'll see what happens. amy, we had our boy 6/19- healthy, happy when eating, all is well, thanks so much!

moxie- all this a-rod hoo-ha and i'm thinking of your cat and elC...how you could spin it in a positive way to give him another way to talk about the divorce...

[rebeccaeee]

Litter issues are the worst. The little mats that you put just in front of the box work well. Corner boxes work. Boxes buried in the bedroom closet work. My kitty was afraid of a self-cleaning box- they are loud and they are BIG. Also refused to use a covered one b/c one of the other kitties would wait till she was done and then 'pounce'! Thus began five years of potty issues. I can't recommend Pam Bennett-Johnston enough for psycho kitty issues, particularly those of the peeing kind. She has many books and a cool site at catbehaviorassociates dot com. She's like the kitty whisperer! BTW, my cat didn't calm down with feliway but she was fooled into good behavior a few times when I cleaned with Nature's Miracle enzyme cleaner. It got the smell out which forced her to find new places to pee.

[veggiewarrior]

One of my professors in grad school successfully toilet trained her cats and claims that it was very easy. You might want to see if your local library can find these two books for you: How to toilet-train your cat : 21 days to a litter-free home by Paul Kunkel and No more litter : how to train your cat to use the toilet by Donna McCracken. Sounds crazy but if it works it would be great!!

[hedra]

@pnutsmama, no no no, it's the BABY who is upside down! (grab by ankles... no, wait, that's bad, I think...)

[anon]

Don't know if anyone's mentioned this - but when I had a cat in a small apartment and the same litter on the floor problem - I switched to recycled paper litter.
The paper is shaped into little pellets - and there's no dust, liquids clump into easy-to-remove piles and very little is kicked out.

I used a brand called Good Mews - http://www.stutzman-environmental.com/goodmews.htm
Iit's distributed to grocery stores on the west coast, but may be available at pet stores.

Looks like Purina makes a kind called Yesterday's News: http://www.yesterdaysnews.com/home.html

[Julie]

God I'm glad we just have dogs........

[Amy]

@caramama--I had a blog... psuedonymously... and then it was found by my students... and then I was fired. So, um, no blog for me. I do still have an LJ account... I guess I could at least put a little bio there.

@pnuts mama--Congrats!!! Hope you are all adjusting.

[shans281]

@ pnuts mama -- hopefully you've already cleared it, but if not here's what's worked for me:

1. drink lots and lots of water
2. take a few lecithin pills every few hours (available at a grocery store or pharmacy)
3. moist heat
4. hand expressing while massaging pretty hard from the area of the plug toward the nipple

nursing in any configuration/frequency usually wasn't enough to clear it for me (though I did it anyway). Also, check to see if there's even a tiny white speck on your nipple -- if so, you'll need to pick that milk blister apart with a sterilized needle first -- half the times I've had plugged ducts I ended up finding a milk blister and none of the above worked until after I'd cleared it. When you do get it, watch out --I usually get a constant stream for at least five minutes! And ah relief, though it's likely to be sore for a few hours or a day afterward.

good luck, hope everything else is going well!

[andrea]

Has anyone had this problem? Our cats, a Siamese and a Tonkinese, who are almost four years old, will NOT COVER their business. It's crazy. They crap and run, basically. We use a covered litter box with the crystals, but even with uncovered boxes and pellets/clumping litter, they did the same thing. We're at a loss to know what to do about it. The smell factor, if we don't get right over there to shake the box, is out of this world. They covered as kittens but stopped a couple of years ago (before the girls were born, so it's not that). And it doesn't matter how clean or otherwise the litter is.

Any ideas?

[amy]

You may have to try any number of these suggestions until you find one that works for your cats. Personally, my cats won't tolerate a covered box because they don't get along, so they won't enter a space where they feel trapped to do their business.

We have done the cardboard box with the U cut in the front, and it has worked. We tried the plastic mats, but my big cat would jump to clear all the mats, effectively spreading the litter even farther. What has worked for us is the RPM Drymate mat, which is a flat fabric mat with grippy stuff on the backside so it doesn't slide. The cats will walk on it and it does hold the litter.

We also keep our primary box in our bathroom, but I'm sure our bathroom is huge compared to a NYC apartment bathroom. Still, it gets cleaned every other day, and that keeps it from getting too gross. I second what another poster said about deep litter. When it's shallow, both of mine will kick it farther. Out of spite, I'm sure.

[Nutmeg]

@pnuts mom: Congrats!!! I hope your are feeling better. I had mastitis 8 times (YAY). I was only ever to clear ducts when nursing. I would massage, press, squeeze and massage. It hurt to do it, but in that child bearing way where you know you are getting some where. I would do it for a couple of minutes while nursing and then let it be until next nursing or the tissues will get more inflamed. Good luck. Kelly mom saved my life.

Moxie, I agree with the cardboard box idea, but I would modify it. You only need the ends of the box mostly, to cover the part where most of the litter is scratched out. so you could just cut the front and back so it would fit under the sink (if your fit is tight), and leave the ends in place to catch the majority of the flying litter. Just a thought.

[shirky]

we have the same size home. If I really wanted a covered box I would either take some kind of rubbermaid thing or an actual covered box and use utility shears to cut out a space for the pipes. Yes the pipes stick into the box space, but the cats are used to it, so who cares. Custom!
However, a covered box won't keep all the litter in. So I also keep the dustbuster right there and vacuum a lot.
Our cat doesn't bury either, plus I SWEAR her shit stinks worse than our old cat's did. I get the smelliest perfume litter I can find that she will tolerate. That hippie crap from Trader Joes, the wood chips? Is BS. Does NOTHING for the stink.
if you toilet train your cat do you have to leave the lid open all the time? COuld never, child would get all up in there. ick.

[Another Erin]

Not on the litterbox issue, which has been well covered (ha!), but for anyone looking for help with weird cat behavioral issues - check out Cats International (http://www.catsinternational.org/). Free cat psychologists who do phone consultations. Fabulous when my cat was pulling out all his hair.