Covered vs Top-Entry vs High-Sided Cat Litter Boxes (2026): Box Length by Cat Body Size, Litter Depth and Tracking Control

Most litter box complaints we hear aren't really about the litter. They're about geometry — a pan that's too short for the cat, sides that are too low for a vertical pee-er, or an entry hole that a 6.8 kg Maine Coon has to squeeze through. Get the box dimensions right and you'll usually solve tracking, odour and missed-the-target problems at the same time. If you already know you need a litter upgrade too, you can shop cat litter online while you work through the sizing math below.

This guide compares the three mainstream enclosure styles — covered (hooded), top-entry and high-sided open — against the one measurement that matters most: your cat's body length from nose to the base of the tail. Everything else, including litter depth and how much granule your cat drags down the hallway, follows from that number. For a deeper dive on pan dimensions in centimetres, our litter box sizing by cat body length guide runs the full calculation.

Our top picks at a glance

Four setups cover roughly 90% of the households we serve, and the right one depends on your cat's size, spraying habits and how much floor space you can give up.

• High-sided open pan (Petmate) — For sprayers, standing urinators and enthusiastic diggers. Walls of 25–30 cm, one lowered entry side.
• Hooded/covered box (Petmate) — For open-plan condos where odour control and visual discretion matter more than airflow. Best for cats under about 5.5 kg.
• Top-entry pan — For dog households, kibble-raiding puppies, and homes losing the tracking battle. Not for kittens, seniors or arthritic cats.
• Extra-large open pan (jumbo storage-tote style) — For cats over 45 cm body length, multi-cat homes and seniors who need a step-in height under 12 cm.
• Low-tracking litter pairing (OdourLock, World's Best Cat Litter, Naturally Fresh) — Granule size and clump strength do half the work the box can't.

How to choose: the five numbers that decide it

A litter box should measure at least 1.5 times your cat's body length (nose to tail base) and hold 5–7 cm of clumping litter. Those two figures, plus wall height, entry height and granule size, determine whether the box works. A 2014 study in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery by Guy and colleagues — indexed on NCBI/PubMed — found cats showed a clear preference for an 86 cm box over a standard 56 cm box when given a free choice.

1. Box length versus cat body length

Measure from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail while your cat is standing. A 38 cm domestic shorthair needs a pan of at least 57 cm. A 50 cm Maine Coon or Ragdoll needs roughly 75 cm, which is longer than most retail hooded boxes — this is exactly why jumbo pans and storage totes stay popular.

2. Wall height and entry height

High-sided pans run 25–30 cm tall. Seniors and kittens need a step-in notch no higher than 10–12 cm. Standard hooded boxes have a lip around 12–15 cm, which is fine for most adults but too much for a 14-year-old cat with stiff hips.

3. Litter depth

Clumping clay performs best at 5–7 cm. Below 4 cm, urine reaches the plastic and clumps break apart when you scoop. Above 8 cm, you're just carrying extra weight — and digging-prone cats fling more of it out. Plant-based litters like corn or walnut often work at 5–6 cm because the granules are lighter and clump high in the bed.

4. Tracking control

Tracking scales with granule size and paw surface area. Fine-ground clay (under 1 mm particles) tracks noticeably more than coarse walnut or pellet formats. A top-entry lid with a grooved surface, or a 60 x 45 cm mat at the exit, catches a meaningful share before it hits your floors.

5. Number of boxes

The ASPCA guidance still circulating into 2026 is one box per cat plus one spare, placed in separate rooms. Two cats means three boxes. Stacking them side by side in one closet doesn't count as separate locations to a cat.

Pick 1: High-sided open pan — the default for sprayers

A high-sided pan with 25–30 cm walls and a single lowered entry solves vertical urination without trapping odour. Cats that spray or stand while urinating hit the wall, not your baseboard, and the open top means you see soiling the same day it happens.

Petmate's high-back and jumbo open pans are the format we reach for most often when a customer describes urine running down the outside of a box. Pair it with 6 cm of a hard-clumping clay such as OdourLock, which locks moisture into a scoopable ball rather than letting it spread along the pan floor. Our team at Ashario Pets recommends adding a second high-sided pan rather than switching litter first — in a large share of the "my cat pees over the edge" conversations we have, the box was simply 15 cm too short for the animal.

Who should buy it: intact or recently neutered males, cats over 5.5 kg, and anyone with a serial digger. Who shouldn't: arthritic seniors, unless the entry notch sits under 12 cm.

Pick 2: Covered/hooded box — odour discretion in tight condos

A hooded box contains odour and scattered granules better than an open pan of the same footprint, but it costs you interior length and airflow. Most retail hoods give 45–55 cm of usable floor, which fits a 30–35 cm cat comfortably and crowds anything longer.

The trade-off worth naming: ammonia concentrates inside a lid. If you scoop once every two or three days, a hood becomes an unpleasant little chamber, and some cats respond by eliminating outside it. Scoop daily, swap the carbon filter on schedule if the model has one, and the format works well. In a one-bedroom near Yonge and Finch where the only box location is beside a dining table, a hood is often the honest choice.

Pair hooded boxes with a low-dust litter. Fine clay dust lingers inside the enclosure, and the American Veterinary Medical Association points owners toward respiratory-friendly household setups for cats with asthma — worth a conversation with your own veterinarian if your cat coughs.

Pick 3: Top-entry pan — the tracking and dog-proofing specialist

Top-entry boxes cut tracking the most because the cat exits upward across a grooved lid that knocks granules back into the pan. They also keep dogs out of the litter, which is the single most common reason GTA multi-species households buy one.

The limits are real. The climb is 35–40 cm, so kittens under about 16 weeks, cats over 12 years, and any cat with diagnosed joint disease should not be given a top-entry pan as their only option. Interior length typically maxes out near 50 cm, ruling out larger breeds. Customers often ask whether a top-entry box will fix a spraying problem — it usually won't, because sprayers aim at the wall, and the enclosed design can make them avoid the box entirely.

Who should buy it: households with a dog, hardwood floors, and an adult cat under 5 kg with no mobility concerns.

Pick 4: Extra-large open pan — for big cats, seniors and multi-cat homes

An extra-large open pan of 70–85 cm gives large breeds room to turn, dig and cover, which is exactly the behaviour cats abandon when a box is too tight. It's also the easiest format for a 14-year-old cat with a 10 cm step-in.

Load it with 6 cm of litter — in an 80 cm pan that's roughly 7–9 kg of clay or about 5 kg of a corn-based option like World's Best Cat Litter or Sustainably Yours, which weigh less per litre. Walnut litters such as Naturally Fresh sit between the two on density. Put a textured mat at the exit and you'll stop most of what the pan doesn't.

The buying mistake we see most: matching the box to the room, not the cat

The most frequent error is choosing a box by where it has to fit — a narrow bathroom gap, a cabinet cut-out — instead of by the cat's body length, then blaming the litter when accidents start. In our store we see customers return a second and third bag of litter before anyone measures the pan.

Diet plays a quieter role here too. Cats fed exclusively dry food take in far less moisture than cats fed wet cat food, and lower water intake means smaller, more concentrated urine clumps that are easier to miss during scooping. Check the guaranteed analysis on your current bag: a typical adult dry formula lists around 32% protein content, 14% fat content and 3% maximum fiber content, with roughly 380–420 kcal per cup, while canned equivalents run near 78% moisture. Foods formulated to AAFCO adult maintenance profiles give you a consistent baseline to compare against. Soft or loose stool that won't clump is a veterinary conversation first; some owners also use probiotics under veterinary guidance. Browse cat health and wellness options if your vet has suggested a digestive supplement, and see our cat wellness needs page for category-by-category guidance.

At a glance: Choose a litter box at least 1.5x your cat's nose-to-tail-base length, fill it with 5–7 cm of clumping litter, and match the style to behaviour — high-sided for sprayers, hooded for odour discretion in small spaces, top-entry for tracking and dog-proofing. Top-entry pans are unsuitable for kittens and arthritic seniors because of the 35–40 cm climb. One box per cat plus one spare, in separate rooms.

Visit us at 1111A Finch Ave W, Unit 2, North York, ON M3J 2P7 — we're open 7 AM to 11 PM daily, and delivery is available across the GTA through apps like Uber Eats.

Common questions about litter box types

What is the best cat litter box type in Canada for a single adult cat?

For most single-cat Canadian households, a high-sided open pan measuring at least 1.5 times the cat's body length — commonly 60–70 cm long with 25 cm walls and a 10–12 cm entry notch — is the most reliable choice. It suits diggers and standing urinators, stays easy to scoop daily, and works with any litter type.

What are the pros and cons of a top-entry litter box?

Pros: the strongest tracking control of any format, effective dog-proofing, and good odour containment in open-plan rooms. Cons: a 35–40 cm climb that excludes kittens, seniors and arthritic cats; usable interior length capped near 50 cm; poor fit for sprayers; and harder visual monitoring of urine volume, which matters for early detection of urinary issues.

How do I calculate cat litter box size by cat length?

Measure your standing cat from nose tip to tail base, then multiply by 1.5 for minimum box length. A 36 cm cat needs 54 cm; a 46 cm cat needs 69 cm. Width should be at least equal to the cat's body length. The AKC uses similar body-measurement logic for crate sizing, and the principle carries over — the animal must be able to fully turn around inside.

How deep should litter be for clumping clay?

Fill clumping clay to 5–7 cm. That depth lets urine form a solid clump before reaching the pan floor, which is what keeps clumps from shattering during scooping. Top up by 1–2 cm weekly to replace what you remove, and do a full dump-and-wash every three to four weeks for a single cat.

Not sure which pan suits your cat? Our team can walk you through sizing in person — reach out through the contact page, read more in the cat blog, or check the pet store FAQ.