Litter tray provision is a basic but critical welfare requirement for indoor cats. Getting it right prevents inappropriate elimination, reduces stress, and supports urinary and gastrointestinal health.
Litter tray welfare is deceptively simple but frequently managed poorly. Cats forced to use soiled, inadequate, or poorly positioned trays experience the welfare harm of suppressed elimination — holding urine beyond comfort or eliminating in inappropriate locations with resultant owner conflict. Urinary retention increases the risk of feline idiopathic cystitis and urinary tract infection. The welfare solution — adequate numbers of clean, appropriately positioned large trays in substrate the individual cat prefers — costs little but provides significant welfare benefit. Understanding that litter tray avoidance is typically a communication about tray inadequacy rather than willful misbehaviour shifts owner responses from punishment to problem-solving.