What should be the ratio of cats per litter pan in ones home?

This question is exactly why I am a dog person.

Depends on how often you clean it. For instance if you have 5 cats and one litterpan it will need at least daily cleaning.

However I do not have cats- do they take issue with sharing a commode? Will they retaliate on your pillow if not given choices?

I have three indoors cat and we have two litter boxes. That works well. With five cats I would go with three provided they are indoors most or all of the time. And they must be cleaned daily.

Well when i had cats each cat had its own tray . Tho they all used the same tray , just had to clean it more often .

I’m with you @jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities . My answer to this question is: zero.

thankfully my cat has learned to hold it and meow at the door when he wants out, so we are litter box free. phew.

I have lived with several cats through out the years, three at the most at one time. My own thoughts on this is one large litter box for two cats. Same then applies for more cats, each set with their own. I have also found some cats do not like sharing their litter box at all, so of course they get their own!! grin

According to the “experts” (ergo, everyone that I’ve worked with in the veterinary profession for the last 15 years), one pan per cat plus one.

(I have 3 cats and 1 pan, but I’m probably pushing my luck.)

I have 5 cats and 3 litter boxes, but my cats are not particular, and will never eliminate on the floor (at least, they never have), even if we don’t clean the boxes for a few days.

It really depends on the cats. If there is a very dominant cat, he/she might try to stop other cats from using the box. And if you have a very timid cat, the cat might be too scared to use the litter box that other cats might use.

Start with one litter box per every two cats you have, then add as necessary.

Everyone: Thanks for all the great answers! I actually do have 5 indoor cats with only two litter pans. I’ve been thinking about getting an additional one because for some reason they mostly just go in the one smaller pan. So, I have to scoop every night and change the smaller one every 2 or 3 days.

As a rule of thumb, you want about one litter box per cat. If you have fastidious cats and no litter box is sufficiently clean for them, they will have “accidents.”

Using more boxes means that you don’t have to clean each individual box as often, so it also depends on how well and how often you take care of them.

My parents have five cats and five cat boxes, and they have at least one on every floor of the house (including the basement). This is because two of the cats are old (ca. 15) and my mom doesn’t want them to have to climb the stairs to get to their litter pans if they don’t want to. All five cats seem to all use all of them pretty randomly, from what I notice when I visit.

As @syz says, the experts say the number of pans should equal the number of cats plus one. However, I currently have six cats and two pans. I do scoop the pans daily and change them completely once a week.

One suggestion is to have pans in more than one area so the dominant cat can’‘t try to keep others from using the pans.

based on what i have learned in school you should have one more litter box then you do the number cats in the house

We have two cats and almost always have two pans. We only had one when we were in the apartment and couldn’t fit a second one, it just meant it had to be cleaned more often.

@deni that is amazing haha how in the world did you train it to do that?

Did I really put three indoors cat? Well, you know what I meant.

@Astrochuck – All cats believe they are the One and Only Cat God, so they probably consider themselves singular anyway. No harm done.

No argument here.

@Allibaby808 well i dont know really. he’s sort of an outside cat so when he comes in he has already gone to the bathroom or…when he has to he knows he has to go outside. he is such a genius and i love him