Cat litter trays: open, hooded and corner
The right litter tray comes down to two things: whether your cat will actually use it, and whether you can keep it clean without a fight. Open trays suit most cats and are easiest to clean; hooded trays contain mess and smell better in a small room; corner trays solve a space problem rather than a cat problem. Get the size right first, because a tray that is too small gets avoided long before the style matters.
What this aisle covers
We stock the plain open tray, the hooded or covered box, and space-saving corner designs, including Moderna's tray range in a few finishes — the Soft Green and the Lotus in olive green are both straightforward open-to-mid-depth trays, and the Smart Cat Loo in coral is a hooded design with a swing door. PawHut's hooded box with a front entry and top exit is the other common shape people ask for, useful where you want a second way in.
None of these are complicated products, but the differences between them decide whether a cat actually uses the thing. A tray bought on price alone, without thinking about the cat that has to sit in it, is the single most common reason a litter tray ends up ignored in the corner of a room.
Sizing it before you pick a style
As a rule of thumb the tray should be at least as long as your cat, nose to base of tail, and most cats are more comfortable with room to turn round. Bigger cats and multi-cat households are usually better served by an oversized open tray than a hooded box sized for an average cat.
This matters more than which style you choose. A cramped hooded tray traps odour against a cat that already feels boxed in, and a cat that feels cornered in the litter tray is a cat that starts going elsewhere in the house. Measure before you buy rather than guessing from the picture.
Hooded or open — the real trade-off
A hooded tray like PawHut's front-entry box keeps litter in, smells contained, and gives a nervous cat a bit of privacy, which suits multi-pet households and small flats. The trade-off is ventilation: smell builds up inside a covered box faster than it does over an open tray, so it needs cleaning more often, not less.
An open tray such as Moderna's is easier to scoop, easier to see when it needs attention, and better tolerated by cats who dislike enclosed spaces — which is most cats, if you introduce a hood cold rather than gradually. If you are switching an established cat from open to hooded, expect to keep both down for a week or two rather than swapping overnight.
What makes a tray easier to live with
A litter mat under the tray catches the litter a cat kicks out on the way past, which is the mess people actually complain about, not the tray itself. It is a cheap addition that solves a daily irritation.
Depth matters for kittens and older cats with joint stiffness — a low front edge is easier to step over than the same tray with a high lip, even if the two hold the same amount of litter. Match the litter itself to the tray: a fine clumping litter suits an open tray you scoop daily, while a hooded box copes better with a heavier, odour-locking litter since it is opened less often.
In this section
Everything below is in stock with us, priced with delivery worked out, and packed and posted by hand in the UK.
Moderna Litter Tray Soft Green
Open Moderna litter tray with rounded edges and easy-clean plastic
£3.49
Plastic Cat Litter Tray — Large & XL
A sturdy plastic litter tray in two generous sizes — practical, no-fuss, and easy to clean.
From£11.49
Moderna Cat Litter Tray Soft Green
Open Moderna litter tray with rounded edges and easy-clean plastic
£5.99
Armitage Litter Tray
A flat-edged plastic litter tray, sized for everyday scooping and dishwasher-proof cleaning
£3.73
Moderna Cat Litter Tray Spicy Coral
Open Moderna litter tray with rounded edges and easy-clean plastic
£5.99
Clean N Tidy Moderna Cat Litter Tray Berry
Open Moderna litter tray with rounded edges and easy-clean plastic
From£3.99
Moderna Lotus Litter Tray Olive Green
An open litter tray with rounded non-stick edges and a pour spout for emptying
£21.99
Sharples Moderna Cat Litter Tray Warm
Open Moderna litter tray with rounded edges and easy-clean plastic
From£3.99
Moderna Hercules Tray & Rim Eden
An open cat litter tray with a removable liner-gripping rim and a raised back
£16.90
Plastic Cat Litter Scoop
A no-nonsense plastic litter scoop for daily tray maintenance — comes in assorted colours.
£4.99
Van Ness Litter Scoop
A litter scoop with a wide, high-impact plastic head for clumping litter
From£1.49
Enclosed Cat Litter Box with Carbon Filter
A roomy enclosed litter box with a carbon filter that helps keep household odours in check.
From£28.99
Common questions
- How many litter trays does one cat need?
- One tray per cat plus one spare is the usual guidance, so a single cat is generally happiest with two trays rather than one, especially if they are kept on separate floors or at opposite ends of the home. It gives a cat an alternative if one tray is dirty or another cat is using it.
- Are hooded litter trays better than open ones?
- Neither is universally better — hooded trays contain smell and mess and suit small rooms, while open trays are easier to clean and better tolerated by cats who do not like enclosed spaces. Most cats will use either if it is kept clean and sized properly for them.
- How often should I clean a cat litter tray?
- Scoop solids out daily and do a full change of litter, with a wash of the tray itself, roughly once a week for clumping litter or more often for non-clumping types. A hooded tray needs the same routine, if anything slightly more often, because smell has nowhere to go until you open it.
- What size litter tray does a kitten need?
- A smaller, shallower tray with a low entry lip suits a kitten better than scaling straight down to an adult size, since a deep or high-sided tray can put a young kitten off using it at all. You can move up to a full-size tray once they are confidently jumping in and out.
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Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.