This is a specific conversation about Cat litter boxes — size, type, and placement — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A corner box hanging-over-the-edge situation is a really common one — corner trays look neat, but they're almost always too shallow and too short for a full-grown cat to turn around and dig properly. Most litter boxes are too small full stop: the rule of thumb is at least 1.5 times your cat's body length. And covered boxes, while tidier for humans, often make cats feel trapped and get avoided. Before I point you in the right direction — is it just the one Russian Blue, roughly how big is he or she, and apart from the overhang are there any other issues like avoiding the box or going outside it?
Just the one cat, she's about 4.5kg — pretty solid build for a Russian Blue. The main issue is she hangs her back end over the edge so we get mess on the floor. She doesn't avoid the box, she just doesn't fit in it properly.
inparticular.ai
Got it — she's using it willingly, she just physically runs out of box. A 4.5kg Russian Blue is a medium-large cat, probably around 45–50cm body length, so you need a tray that's at least 65–70cm long internally. That rules out almost every standard supermarket tray. Can I ask — do you want to stay open top, or would you consider a high-sided open box? High sides solve the scatter and the overhang without making her feel enclosed the way a lid does.
High sides would actually be great — she's a digger so scatter is a problem too. I'd rather not go covered if possible.
inparticular.ai
Perfect, then I'd go straight to the Savic Senator Open Litter Box. It's one of the few genuinely large open trays available in the UK — the internal floor is around 56cm long and the sides are about 21cm high, so she'll have proper room to turn and dig without anything going over the edge. It's a single open trough shape with no hood, so no trapped feeling, and the high back wall does most of the scatter work. It's widely available on Amazon UK and holds up well — the plastic is thicker than budget trays. Worth placing it against a wall with a bit of space on either side so she can approach from the front without feeling cornered, especially given she came from a corner-box setup.
That sounds really good. Is there anything even bigger if she still seems cramped, or is that pretty much the largest open tray you can get?
inparticular.ai
The Savic Senator is about as large as purpose-made cat trays get in the UK without going bespoke. If you tried it and still wanted more floor space, the next step people take is a large underbed storage box — something like a 60–70 litre Really Useful Box or similar — with one low side cut down for entry. It sounds DIY but it genuinely works, costs less, and gives you a custom size. For a cat who's already using her box happily though, the Senator should do it. The issue you're describing is almost purely a size problem, and she's telling you she's fine with the concept.
Makes sense. I'll order the Senator today. Thank you — this was much more straightforward than I expected.
inparticular.ai
Good — it usually is once you cut through the marketing on litter boxes. She should take to it straight away since she's already a willing box user. One tip: put the new box out alongside the old one for a few days before removing the corner tray, just so she can investigate on her own terms. Enjoy the tidier floors.
