I’ve been using storage totes as litter boxes for years, some with openings cut on one side, some with the lids off with no holes (cats just jump in), some with lids off AND holes cut. You’d be surprised at the various feline preferences, although nearly all of them love the large open “field” of litter.
Some cats are “elevator” pee-ers ... they start with their butt crouched in the normal low position but then slowly lift their butt as they pee until a fountain shoots over the edge of the box. I’ve had one who has done that his whole life. Tall-sided totes really help eliminate that problem, though for the truly talented pee’ers (like my guy) there’s still an occasional oops.
Other cats, especially older ones, begin to crouch less as they age. I have one who pretty much stands to pee these days. I’m guessing it’s related to age and arthritis in his back and/or legs and am just thankful that he still goes in the box. I have to wipe down the inside walls of the tote occasionally but that sure beats cleaning up urine outside the box. Same thing as above — a storage tote with tall sides help eliminate issues.
It’s good that you identified the real issue. You’d be surprised at how many people accuse the cat of peeing outside the box when really it’s just an overshot.
Even smaller totes with tall sides can work in confined spaces.
Dr. Lisa has quite a bit of info about litter box issues and options on her website and suggests storage totes or concrete mixing tubs as litter boxes. If you haven’t seen it, here’s some interesting reading:
https://catinfo.org/the-litter-box-...es_of_Litter_Boxes,_Size,_Number_and_Location
I will say I had a friend who once used a hard plastic kids swimming pool as a litter box in the basement. Sounded like an interesting idea (cats liked the surface area) but it didn’t prevent the cats from peeing over the sides, the center was difficult to reach to scoop, and it was so heavy and cumbersome that it was virtually impossible to dump and scrub.
