Having had pet cats all my life, I was well aware of their litter habits. Cats love to ensure they have every inch of their 'business' thoroughly covered up, even if that does mean sending litter flying out everywhere onto the floor, and they often dig so furiously they will tear the bag or pull the bag away from the edges of the litter tray, causing the tray to look like a mini bomb had gone off in it, with the crumbs of litter scattered all around. I've seen those litter trays which look more like carriers, where your cat goes inside it to do its business and then comes back out, but for an average of twice the cost of a normal tray I've never given them much thought.

When I originally got my kitten, Snoopy, I bought her a bog standard litter tray from the supermarket. This was four months ago and at the time there was no problem, she was still too small to cause much damage or send much litter flying. As she started getting bigger, I could see those first few signs emerging, consisting of her frantically clawing away to cover up whatever she had done. I didn't think there was much I could do about it.

I was in Pets at Home stocking up on some kitten food when I came across the Clean 'n' Tidy litter tray. When I first looked at it, I immediately had a thought of 'wow that's brilliant! Why did I never think of something like this?' You see it's so very simple. It's still the usually bog standard litter tray, except around the edge of the tray there is a detachable lid. I realised immediately that all you need to do is put the litter liner in the tray as usual, but this lid would stick it down firmly in place! I was sceptical at the idea that it might stop litter from being kicked out of the tray, as anyone who owns a cat knows just how obsessive they get when doing this, however it solved the problem of the bag being practically turned inside out by their claws.

My tray is a bold pink colour, very fitting for my feminine feline, however it was the only colour in the shop at the time so I'm afraid if you don't have a soft spot for pink, then you may have no choice. I was very eager to get Snoopy to start using the tray, but of course this wasn't a problem as all cat owners know that a cat just loves to go in her litter tray immediately after you change the litter. My kitten in particular loves to watch me change her tray (and jumps in it when it's empty, mystified as to where her litter is!) and dive straight in to make her mark in it.

I've had this tray a good 2-3 months now and I still prefer it much more over the usual litter trays. She has never once been able to rip the bag out from under the lid, it is fastened nicely in place, and although she does still make occasional holes in the bag with her claws, this is much better then having the bag being all over the place. As I guessed she still manages to kick a good amount of litter out of the tray, however I am pleased to notice that it does stop some from escaping, which is better than nothing! I have noticed with Snoopy that she loves to walk around the lid afterwards, balances herself carefully, then digs away at the litter with one claw so she doesn't have to stand in it whilst tidying up her mess. My kitten is rather strange, and after using her litter tray she loves to wipe her paws frantically against various surfaces such as storage boxes situated near her litter tray. I've never had a cat who behaves like this so it's quite amusing to watch, and I think she's grateful for this lid around her litter tray so she doesn't have to put all her paws in the litter afterwards!

I didn't realise until now but this litter tray comes in 3 sizes; Medium, Large or Jumbo. They only had this one size in my local Pets at Home but online they have 3 sizes and 3 different prices. I am convinced I paid £5.99 for mine which is the large size and I have found my litter tray to be big enough for my kitten. Despite her only being two thirds of her fully grown size at the moment, I can see the tray will easily be large enough for her once she has fully grown, therefore I do recommend this size. If you have more than one cat, I would suggest going for the jumbo size.