Litter box for elderly cats with mobility issues

A senior Burmese with reduced mobility needs a very different litter setup to what most people use. Standard boxes — even the low-sided ones — can still be too much of a step-up for a cat with stiff joints or arthritis, and covered boxes are almost certainly out. Most litter boxes are also too small: a cat should have a tray at least 1.5 times their body length, which for a Burmese means something reasonably generous. Can you tell me a bit more about her? Specifically: how mobile is she day to day — can she step over a low lip unaided, or is that already causing hesitation? And is she currently missing the box, going less often, or just visibly uncomfortable getting in and out?

That hesitation and the going-elsewhere is a classic sign the entry is asking too much of her — 10cm is genuinely too high for a cat with any joint stiffness at her age. What you need is either a tray with a cut-down front entry of around 3–4cm, or one that comes with a ramp so she can walk in at a shallow angle rather than stepping up at all. How big is Miso? Burmese are medium-sized but there's a range — knowing roughly how long she is will help me confirm the right tray size.

Good — so you want a tray with an internal floor space of at least 55–60cm long, and the absolute priority is that front entry. My recommendation is the Savic Litter Tray with Ramp — it's an open tray with a built-in, gently sloped ramp at the front that lets Miso walk in rather than step up. The ramp surface has grip texture so she won't slip, the tray itself is a decent size, and because there's no hood she won't feel trapped or need to crouch. It's widely available on Amazon UK, straightforward to clean, and the low-tech simplicity is actually the point — no moving parts, no lid for her to push past. For a 14-year-old with mobility concerns, removing that step-up barrier often resolves the going-elsewhere problem almost immediately.

Keep both for at least two weeks. Put the new ramp tray in the spot she uses most — or closest to where she's been going elsewhere — and leave the old one in place. Most cats will migrate to the easier option on their own, but you don't want to remove her familiar tray before she's confident with the new one. Once she's consistently using the ramp tray, you can retire the old one. Also worth checking: if your flat is over one floor, have a tray on each level. At 14, she shouldn't have to do stairs to reach her box.

You're in good shape then. The Savic ramp tray should make a real difference for Miso — the moment the entry stops being a physical decision she has to make, most cats just get on with it. Keep an eye on whether she's drinking enough too; older cats with mobility issues sometimes reduce trips to the water bowl as well as the litter tray, and that can compound things. Good luck with her.