How to Get Cats to Use a Litter Mat
Cats are lovely; you must not constantly step on their litter. If you bought a litter mat just to watch your cats jump abruptly across it to the floor that you just swept every time they came out of the litter box, you may be wondering why you bother at all. Before splurging on a robot vacuum, try rotating the litter box so it faces the wall.
Sometimes the easiest and quickest way to train cats to behave is to leave them no other choice. This is a very big strategy here. Without all that wide open space to jump in, your cats will be forced to walk on the mat every time they get in and out of the jar. It won’t completely eliminate unnecessary debris, but it will give the mat a chance to catch them before they are released into the wild. Plus, it’s a free solution to a problem that can be annoyingly expensive to fix. There is no need to buy a bigger new mat – you and I both know that your cat will also refuse to touch it – or even move the litter box. Leave the box in place, face the wall, and lay the rug so that it covers as much of the floor between them as possible. It’s even better if you can squeeze it into a corner.
This ideal plan has one drawback: you cannot turn an open litter box to face the wall. If this is what your cats use, unfortunately they will keep coming and going as they please, regardless of your well-thought-out plans. But if you live in a house with an enclosed litter box, and your cats absolutely refuse to step on the mat, this trick will keep tracked litter to a minimum.