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 storage tote as a litter box is genuinely one of the best budget moves a cat owner can make — you're not missing out on anything by skipping the branded stuff. That said, most litter boxes, including many sold as 'jumbo', are still too small. Cats need a box at least 1.5 times their body length to turn around and dig comfortably. Covered boxes are tidier for us, but a lot of cats avoid them because they feel trapped — and a high-sided tote without a lid often works better than a covered commercial box anyway. Before I point you toward the right size, can you tell me: how many cats do you have, how big are they roughly, and are there any litter box problems at the moment — missing the box, avoiding it, that kind of thing?
Just one cat, she's a pretty big Maine Coon, probably about 6kg. She keeps going just outside the box which is driving me mad. I've got a standard covered box at the moment.
inparticular.ai
That's almost certainly a size problem, and the covered box is making it worse. A 6kg Maine Coon is a large cat — she needs a lot of room to manoeuvre, and if she's hanging her back end over the edge, the box simply isn't big enough. The covered top is also likely making her feel cramped, so she's bailing early. A storage tote will absolutely solve this, and yes, it works just as well as any branded jumbo box — often better.
So what size tote am I looking for, and do I need to do anything to it?
inparticular.ai
You want a tote that's at least 70cm long — 80cm is even better for a Maine Coon. The one I'd recommend is the Iris Ohio Storage Box, 68L, which comes in around 74cm long and is widely available on Amazon UK for roughly £15–18. It's deep enough to contain litter scatter, the sides are high so she can dig without flicking everything out, and you leave the lid off entirely. The only modification: use a craft knife or box cutter to cut a low entry point on one of the short ends — about 10–12cm from the floor — so she can step in easily without jumping. Smooth any rough edges with a bit of sandpaper or tape. That's genuinely it. No expensive conversion kit needed.
Will she actually use it, or will a new box stress her out?
inparticular.ai
Most cats transition to a bigger, open box without any fuss — especially when the old box has been causing them discomfort. Put the new tote in the same spot as the current box, add a couple of scoops of used litter from the old box so it smells familiar, and leave both boxes out for a week. You'll almost certainly find she starts using the tote straight away. Once she's consistently using the new one, remove the old covered box. Don't move the tote location for at least a month.
That's really helpful. Is there anything else I should change while I'm at it?
inparticular.ai
The main thing is litter depth — aim for about 7–8cm, which gives her enough to dig and cover properly. If she's been avoiding the box, a deeper fill often helps. Beyond that, just keep to a strict scoop-once-a-day routine; Maine Coons are particularly sensitive to a dirty box. The tote is easy to fully empty and wipe down every two to three weeks because there's no hood or mechanism to work around. You'll spend a fraction of what branded jumbo boxes cost and honestly get a better result.
