Litter boxes for 8-week-old kittens

Three eight-week-old rescue kittens — that's a brilliant thing you're doing. Before anything else: most litter boxes are completely wrong for kittens this age. The sides are too high, and a tiny kitten that can't climb in will just go on the floor next to it. Covered boxes are even worse — kittens feel trapped and will avoid them entirely. You need something very shallow, open-topped, and easy to step into. A few quick questions: how big are the kittens roughly — are they all a similar size? And are you keeping them together in one space or in separate rooms?

Perfect — keeping them together in one room is exactly right at this stage. At 400g they're genuinely small, so entry height is the critical thing. The rule for adult cats is one box per cat plus one spare, but with kittens this young in a single room, I'd start with three boxes and watch closely. If one kitten is monopolising a box or others are going in corners, add a fourth. What's the room like — is there much furniture they could hide under, or is it fairly clear?

That corner behind the door is telling you something useful — kittens want to feel enclosed and safe when they toilet, so that's actually a good spot for one of the boxes. Avoid putting any box right next to their food or water. For kittens this small, my clear recommendation is the Savic Nestor kitten litter tray. It's designed specifically for kittens with a very low front entry — around 4cm — so a 400g kitten can step straight in without any scrambling. It's open-topped, easy to clean, and the right size for a kitten without being so small it's useless in a few weeks. Get three of them. Place one in that corner they've already chosen, one on the opposite side of the room, and one somewhere in between. As they grow you can swap to full-size trays — but for the next couple of months, the Savic Nestor is exactly what you need.

You're right to flag that. Clumping clay litter is the one to avoid with kittens under 12 weeks — they groom their paws and can ingest it, and it can clump internally. Stick with a non-clumping, dust-free litter for now. A plain wood pellet litter like Natusan or a paper-based litter like Breeder Celect works well and is safe if they mouth it. Keep the layer shallow — about 2–3cm — so they don't sink into it, which can put some kittens off using the box at all.

Good call. Three Savic Nestor trays, non-clumping litter, and one box in that corner they've already picked out — you're set up well. Once they're around 12–16 weeks and noticeably bigger, start thinking about transitioning to a full-size open tray. At that point the 1.5x body length rule kicks in and most standard trays will be too small. But for now, the Savic Nestor will see you through the first few months without any issues.