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
Your vet's advice to add multiple box locations is spot on — litter box stress in a 7-year-old Manx is really common, and spreading boxes around the home is one of the most effective ways to reduce it. Quick context before I ask a couple of questions: most litter boxes are too small — cats need a box at least 1.5 times their body length to feel comfortable — and covered boxes, while tidier for us, often make stressed cats feel trapped and more likely to avoid them altogether. So, how many cats do you have, roughly how big is your Manx, and what's the stress actually looking like — is he avoiding the box entirely, going outside it, or something else?
Just the one cat, he's a fairly small Manx, maybe 4kg. The issue is he'll sometimes crouch near the box but then run off without using it, and occasionally goes on the floor nearby. The vet thinks he associates the box with discomfort and wants us to create positive new associations in different spots.
inparticular.ai
That behaviour — hovering, then bolting — is a classic sign of negative box association, and your vet is right that fresh locations can help reset that. A couple more things I want to understand: what type of box are you using now, open or covered? And where is it currently positioned — is it in a busy area, somewhere quiet, or tucked in a corner?
It's a covered box, in the corner of the utility room next to the washing machine. Pretty noisy in there when the machine's on.
inparticular.ai
That's almost certainly making things worse. A covered box next to a noisy appliance is about the most stressful litter setup you can have for a cat who's already anxious — he feels enclosed and then gets startled by the noise. The new locations need to be open boxes in calm, low-traffic spots where he has a clear sightline and an easy exit. For a small Manx, you don't need anything huge, but you do need something with a low entry point so approaching it doesn't feel like a big commitment when he's already wary.
Makes total sense. What would you actually recommend buying? We need probably two or three new ones.
inparticular.ai
For your situation, I'd go with the Savic Nestor open litter tray. It's a straightforward, generously sized open tray — around 56cm long, which is well proportioned for a small Manx — with a low front entry and a higher back to keep litter in. No lid, no flap, no enclosed feeling. It's easy to place in multiple rooms, simple to clean, and because it's open he'll be able to see exactly what he's getting into before he commits. Buy two or three, put them in quiet spots — a spare bedroom, a corner of the sitting room, somewhere low-traffic — and keep the sides clean so there's no residual smell putting him off. The Savic Nestor is widely available on Amazon UK and reasonably priced, so stocking up on a few won't break the bank.
Perfect, that's really helpful. Should I get rid of the covered box completely or keep it?
inparticular.ai
I'd retire it, at least for now. While he's rebuilding a positive association with litter boxes, keeping the covered one in the mix gives him the option to default back to avoiding it. Once he's consistently using the open trays in the new locations — usually within a few weeks — you could reintroduce a covered option somewhere else if you want, but honestly, many cats never go back once they've had the choice. The open tray tends to win.
