Cat Litter in Nepal: Types, Depth and Box Setup

The three types, and who each suits

Most cats, given a free choice, pick a fine-grained unscented clumping litter. It is the closest texture to what they would dig in outdoors, and it is the easiest to keep clean day to day because waste comes out in a solid lump.

• Clumping clay: The default for good reason: easiest to scoop daily, and the texture most cats prefer underfoot. Heavier to carry home.
• Crystal: Absorbs odour well and lasts longer between full changes. Some cats dislike the feel, so it is worth testing in a second box before committing.
• Natural and plant-based: Paper, corn and wood-based litters are lighter and often flushable in small amounts. Clumping performance varies a lot between brands.

Depth matters more than quantity

Five to seven centimetres is what you want. Shallower and cats cannot dig properly, which is a common reason they start going elsewhere. Deeper is simply wasted — the litter below that depth never gets used before the box is changed.

That gives you a way to estimate consumption. Work out the volume your box needs at that depth, scoop daily and top up to keep the level steady, and do a full change and wash every one to two weeks for clumping litter. One average cat on clumping clay typically works through a few kilograms a month, but it varies enough with box size and habits that measuring your own is more useful than any published figure.

One box per cat, plus one

This is the single most effective fix for litter box problems, and the one most often ignored. Two cats want three boxes. Cats guard resources, and a single box in a multi-cat home means the less confident cat eventually finds somewhere else to go.

Spread the boxes across different rooms rather than lining them up in a row — three boxes side by side is one box as far as a cat is concerned.

Where the box goes

Somewhere quiet with a clear line of sight and an easy exit, away from food and water, and away from anything that starts suddenly — a washing machine or a boiler is enough to put a cat off a spot permanently.

Covered boxes hold odour in for you, but they also hold it in for the cat, and they remove the escape route that makes a cat feel safe. Plenty of cats quietly prefer an open tray. If your cat is avoiding a covered box, taking the lid off costs nothing to try.

On size: a box should be about one and a half times your cat's body length, which is bigger than most sold as standard. A storage tub is a perfectly good and much cheaper litter box.

If your cat stops using the box

Change one thing at a time, and offer the new option alongside the old rather than swapping outright — a second box with the new litter tells you what your cat prefers without forcing the issue.

One important caveat: a cat that suddenly starts going outside the box, strains without producing much, or cries in the box may have a urinary problem, and in male cats that can become an emergency quickly. Rule out a medical cause with your vet before treating it as a behaviour or litter question.

Common questions