Guide
One of your housecats dies: here’s why you should get them a new companion
by Darina Schweizer
The perfect litter box doesn’t exist – or does it?
11/9/2025
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Pictures: Darina Schweizer
From cardboard fortress to high-end throne, my cats have dug their way through every litter box out there. In the end, I still wasn’t satisfied.
Need a laugh? Just take a look at my first litter box – DIY luxury:
I erected these cardboard walls a few months ago to keep my feline digging crew from spreading litter all over the flat. Whenever Jasper and Joy get into the box, it feels like they want to dig their way from Zurich to Australia.
Once their deep drilling is complete, they barrel out of the box like rockets in a torrent of cat litter. Sadly, neither a cat litter mat nor cardboard barriers could prevent my flat from being covered.
And so, I began my search for the perfect litter box*.
(*Ideally, according to this German article, each cat should have its own litter box. However, my pets double-teamed it right from the start – despite different options.)
Non-automated: a tricky start
The year had just started. I’d made my decision: the box had to go. I went looking for a litter tray with a high rim straight away.
High walls: not a solid all-round solution
I found what I was looking for with Simao from Trixie and its XXL walls. Jasper and Joy immediately accepted their new, very spacious box. Since it’s so easy to clean, I originally liked it. Until I realised the opening at the front was too big. Anytime there was digging, litter was flying past even the litter mat.
I opted for the Curver version since you can simply pull out the drawer to clean it. At the same time, the front section acts as a small staircase to help cats get out. I also hoped that any litter would fall off their paws this way.
Sadly, my hopes were dashed, the drawer’s just too short. Pulling it out so my cats could stand on the stairs created a gap at the back. Not only did litter fall there whenever Joy dug around, but streaks of urine would splash there too. This system definitely hasn’t been thought all the way through.
All-in-one box: too big
Maybe a litter box cabinet is best after all? My little litterers could relieve themselves in one part and wipe their paws in the other before coming out. And the smell would stay inside too. Nope, no dice, I didn’t have the space for it.
I was getting frustrated. After more than a month of manual labour, I was getting increasingly sick of fishing my cats’ droppings out of the litter myself. It’s anything but meditative, not even if I squint my eyes and pretend I’m a gold miner.
What about self-cleaning?
Thinking of gold, I had an idea: «Maybe I need to spend a little more money on a self-cleaning litter box». I quickly stumbled across product tests by fellow editors Lorenz Keller and Jonas Rudin. Mind you, 500 to 800 francs (Litter-Robot 4) is already insane…
The spinning circle: a litter catapult
I did some research and found a mid-range model after all: the compact ScoopFree SmartSpin from PetSafe. Since it’s closed all the way round – apart from a small opening at the front – and stands on tall legs, I was hopeful for less litter chaos. Maybe it’d even fall off my cats’ paws onto the litter mat when landing from a greater height. Spoiler alert: it didn’t.
Assembling all those individual parts was also a challenge. Getting through that, however, a new world opened up for me. I only had to empty the litter drawer every three to four days. At first I didn’t even know what to do with all my free time.
«You’ve got to be kidding me!» I was getting angry cleaning up yet another mess. Great, now I can add maggots to my growing list of litter box problems. «Why don’t those geniuses just install a flap over the litter drawer?» – «Maybe they do?» my husband responded.
Open and automated: almost perfect
Turns out, this flap does exist. My jaw almost dropped when I saw a flap listed in the description of the M1 litter box from Neakasa. Alright, that’s it: this was the last litter box I’d be testing. I swore to myself.
My verdict: there’s no such thing as the perfect litter box. Some traces – olfactory or tactile – will always remain. But I can live with that now. And my cats? They don’t care either way, as long as they can dig to their heart’s content.
Which litter box can you recommend? Let me know in the comments.
Darina Schweizer
Senior Editor
Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.chI love anything with four legs or roots - especially my shelter cats Jasper and Joy and my collection of succulents. My favourite things to do are stalking around with police dogs and cat coiffeurs on reportages or letting sensitive stories flourish in garden brockis and Japanese gardens.
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