Litter Box Liners, A Good Idea?

By Josh Wiesenfeld

Litter Box Liners, A Good Idea?

The question of whether or not to use litter box liners is mostly a personal choice. Using liners may help keep the litter box sanitary and clean. We line our litter boxes and are big proponents of using them. However, we have subscribers who use them and subscribers who don't use them. There does’t seem to be a consensus on the topic, even among our veterinary and shelter professional subscribers.

So we'll give you our list of pros and cons and you can choose for yourself if the information provided helps to steer you one way or the other!

Pros:

  1. Litter box liners make cleaning out the entire litter box once a month, and disposing of the old litter, super easy!
  2. You won't have to scrub your litter box clean when you change out the whole box (that is unless the liner has ripped and litter has gotten under the liner).
  3. Kitty box liners keep the litter box hygienic for you and your cat.

Cons:  

  1. Litter liners cost money.
  2. They sometimes rip (we suggest doubling up or using thicker liners in this case).
  3. Liners aren't environmentally friendly (This can be solved by purchasing biodegradable "green" liners). 
  4. They can bunch up and make clumps that form in this bunched up material harder to clean. We share this one pet peeve with liners - they don't seem to be made to really fit litter boxes! To properly fit a litter box, we think they should have four corners on the bottom of the liner to fit the four bottom corners of the box. Because they aren't made this way, they tend to bunch up. We have had subscribers tell us that the extra material gets in the way, and bothers their cats. 

Regarding this last "Con," - we have a tip to provide regarding how to minimize the excess material and "bunching" that can occur with liners. We hope you find it helpful, we always use this trick on our litter boxes. All you'll need is some long strips of scotch tape.

1. Put a new litter liner in a perfectly clean litter box.

2. Fill the box with at least 2 inches of litter. 

3. Starting with one of the shorter sides of the box, gather any excess liner material, and pinch it together on the inside of the box. 

4. Take a long piece of scotch tape, and starting on the inside of the box, apply the tape to the plastic of the liner starting below where you have bunched up the excess liner material. Draw the tape all the way over the lip of the box and apply to the plastic of the outside of the litter box. This gathers all the excess material and creates a cleaner fit for the liner.

5. Repeat this on the other short side of the box next, then repeat on both long sides of the box.   

This trick should minimize excess liner material, and create a maximum amount of free area inside the box for your furry loved ones:)

Have any tips of your own?  We'd love to hear them. As always, please send us a note if you have any questions about this topic, we love hearing from concerned fellow cat lovers! 

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Stay tuned for upcoming articles on litter use, kittens and the litter box, and more tips and tricks.. Get our Newsletter to receive our emails with articles, cat care tips, and more.

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As always we look to ways of keeping cats comfortable, happy, and using the litter box. Following these and other basic rules of litter box care can help avoid problems from coming up if your cat uses the box well, and help to alleviate problems if your cat already has litter box issues. Please note that some litter box behaviors and avoidance can be a sign of medical problems - if your cat has litter box issues or you notice changes in litter box behavior, it is important to take your cat to a good veterinarian. Although Boxiecat brand litter is veterinarian recommended, the writers of the article wish to state that we are not qualified to give medical advice.