Our cats use a closet, but we couldn't cut the door. Instead, we placed a baby gate over the entrance. We placed two boxes side by side inside the closet, then between the boxes and the gate we have the new litter, a sealed bin for used litter, and the scoop. The cats are left with a about two feet of space to step out of the boxes and then jump over the gate. This forces them to leave picked-up litter behind, and it has the added bonus of getting them some exercise :)

i'm gonna ask a dumb question, but please bare in mind i'm brazilian, so that's a huge cultural gap right there: what is the difference between a condo and an apartment? i've looked everywhere, asked my sister-in-law (born and raised in idaho) and i still can't find the answer...
i know this is hardly the place to ask that, but...

@prettybee: generally the difference is that you own a condo but rent an apartment.

A condominium is a unit in a shared building, with parts of the building owned and managed in common and parts privately owned (usually your living space). Condos can be in high-rises with hundreds of units or in two-family houses (that's what I own, each of has an apt of about 1000 sq feet). We share the yard, basement and hallways as well as expenses for replacing roof, siding, etc. Hope that helps explain.

NOW, as far as my cats in my condo apartment ;-))

I NEVER found a good solution for the litter box. Sometimes I had to have two because various cats didn't get along, were having issues, etc. It was always such a drag.

I loved my cats but the litter box was really the reason I was ready to stop having them when the last one passed away. Maybe again some day....but not any time soon.

I did that. I even hung a short curtain over the opening because it's a hall closet. It worked for a while but the cats started peeing over the edge of the box so I had to move it. I may put it back there soon though.

I built a sturdy shelf to go over the box, so the vacuum cleaner and other cleaning supplies still fit in the closet just fine.

Don't let out of sight be out of mind, though -- clean the box every day.

We do something similar, but simpler. We have the litter box in a closet and just leave the closet door cracked. It doesn't have to be cracked much -- just enough for the cat to open the door. Sometimes when he rushes out, the door swings open, but we just rush over and shut it.

in the size/type of building both are pretty similar, the difference is mainly in the ownership. A person actually owns a condo, it's liek a share of the building, and thus, the general maintenance building fees are paid by everybody. If I'm not mistaken, everybody pays a certain amount per month for these general fees, and some people are designated responsible for the organisation of the maintenance. An apartment is owned by a single owner, not necessarily living there, who owns the whole building, and rents it to different people. Because you don't own an apartment, that's why people in apartments generally have to come up with creative solutions because they cannot modify it as they please (the owner has to approve), and that where Apartment Therapy becomes handy!

Not really having a single square foot to spare, I just made sure to invest in a nice covered box that is round so it takes up less space in my tiny bathroom. I also clean it at least 2x daily, and use a good litter that helps w/ any smell and hardly tracks at all. As far as hiding it, if I ever want to have more than a couple of people over I'd set it in the tub for the night. Not the ideal solution but it works.

Also essential...the Bissell pet hair eraser. Without that thing, living in a 260 sq ft space w/ 2 shedding beasts would be impossible. Living in a small space with pets can get pretty gross if you don't make an effort to clean up after them religiously.

Prettybee- to elaborate:
Here in the U.S. you rent an apartment, and usually this means that you cannot make many changes (paint walls, change floor coverings, cut into cabinet doors) UNLESS you have written permission from the apartment's owner. If you do make changes without permission, you lose your security deposit (usually about a month's rent).
Sometimes, if you plan on staying in an apartment for a long time (as in the case of some people who are in rent-controlled apartments- ones with rent that is fixed below the market rate for as long as you live there) tenants will go ahead and paint/change things and treat the apartment like they own it anyway. Many of the older tenants in my building have paid for built-in bookcases, etc. for that reason.
However, if you own a condo, you must report to a common board of fellow owners if you want to make any changes beyond installing carpet or painting walls. Any structural changes must be voted on and approved by them (and if you aren't on good terms with your neighbors, or the board is just cranky, your plans can be held up indefinitely!)

@corrie: May I ask what brand of litter you use? I've been using NextGen Green Tea Litter, which has a nice, woody scent and works wonders with odors, but is also rather light and so tracks a bit. I'm curious to know what your non-tracking litter is.

Up until I moved into my current place, I never had a really good solution - the litter box always ended up in either the kitchen or the living room because it was the only place it would fit. Not at all ideal!

However, in my new place, the bathroom vanity doors had been taken off by the previous tenants; I told the landlord not to bother with installing new ones. I don't like to use that space for storage anyway because I find it awkward, but it's the perfect size for a litterbox. I put up a curtain rod and made a curtain to hang across the front so that my cat can go in and out easily but the litterbox is out of sight. The location makes it easy to clean the box (don't have to move it to access it!), and so far I haven't noticed much odor. I don't think that it's really an ingenious solution, but definitely one I'll try to use again!

I have two cats and have two litter boxes. I know I should have 3, but the two boxes work just fine. :) I took the doors off the space under the sink in the bathroom and placed the litter boxes in there over some shelf paper. I put the items from under the bathroom sink (cleaning products) under the kitchen sink since I do not keep food under there. It has worked out perfectly. The shelf paper I use under the litter boxes is the gripping kind, so it catches the litter that falls off their paws until I sweep it up when I get home.

I had a lot of BIG closets in my last apartment, so sacrificing one to Kitty was not a big deal. I didn't have the option of 'editing' the door, so I did the next best thing... just took it off the hinges entirely! I stored it in another closet and hung the opening with a pretty piece of fabric. I was also able to store some more 'outdoor' items in that closet too, like my camping gear in a tub on the top shelf, not being too worried about any strange smells. If you can't cut a space in the door, this might be a good option for folks! In the meantime, why not use that extra door as a headboard?

In our first apartment, we had it in a closet where we stored lots of other stuff. It got lots of litter dust on it. I don't recommend a shared closet with any kind of clay litter. We ended up liking Feline Pine a lot. Our next two apartments had wall mounted sinks that fit a box perfectly with a curtain attached with velcro to hide it. If you're not going to use a box with a lid/roof, make sure it's tall enough. If you have spray that hits the walls or floor, it's a HUGE job to clean up. We bought a house in which the owner did this, and we had to rip up the hardwood floor in the closet...only to reveal a urine burnt subfloor. It took us months to figure out how to make that closet usable. FYI if this ever happens to you...NO cleaners work once it burns wood! You have to seal it off. Shellac works!

My cat's litter boxes are hidden in plain sight. One is underneath a small wooden end table, and the other is behind a chair. Works well for me, and no cutting into a closet door or keeping a closet door open.

We had a nice massive shelf in the corner next to the door in our old bathroom. We simply bought a big squared littlerbox that exactly fit under/in it. So the box was shielded from three sides.

In our new apartment we simply put the litter box under the bathroom sink. Not beautiful but the only free space left for it.

My version includes a hole in the wall and it divides the closet vertically. Here it is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72524617@N00/4690001061/sizes/l/

P.S. I divided the closet vertically so that smells are contained near the litter and the rest of the closet is still usable for coats and other storage.

That is a neat way to keep the litter box out of sight without sacrificing space. For those who do not want or cannot modify their doors check out Ikea hacker, search for cat litter, you will see tons of "hacks" available made from Ikea furniture that are quite nice.
http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/

My current home isn't exactly a small space, but we've still been trying to figure out where to put the THREE litterboxes we have (and possibly a fourth, since we have 4 cats). Right now two are in the closet in a spare room, which we are turning into our office, and the other is in our master bathroom. Inspired by Ikea Hacker, we decided to keep an eye out for a large chest to put some cat doors on and use that--and we happened to find one at Goodwill one day. We haven't used it yet but it will probably go in our office, and we're thinking about putting a cat door in the office door as well to play double-duty against the odor. As for the third litter box (which is actually a plastic tote), not sure what to do with it. It isn't very aesthetically pleasing in our bathroom, but no one else will ever be in there so I guess it's not that big of a deal.

I have 3 pink Cats Rule litter boxes and they all sit out in plain sight, being the perfect little sculptural creations they are. :)

This is basically what we did in our condo. We have our very own Harry Potter cupboard under the stairs that also has our water softner in it. Since it is basically wasted space, we put both litter boxes in there with a cat door. If possible, I would recommend put the door up a little higher so they jump out, kicking off the litter. We had to install a larger door (yeah I have a fat cat) and now that they arent jumping, we are seeing more litter in the hallway.

I used to have a box in a closet for my cat Quincy- he actually learned how to swing the door open with his paw to get in! The problem was that it seemed to magnify the smell when he was done and he's incredibly picky. Then thankfully I got a basement- perfect cat den!

Charlotte, I would stick with one cat. My kitty was perrrrfect the last 18 and 1/2 years then he started missing the box just on the end. So was always have to be watchful of him. Then he started waking me up in the middle of the night when he mad a poop. I would have to get up and remove it. Could not figure why. The I realized I made him aware that I cleaned up after him during the day so why not at night lol
I changed his litter to the Tidy Cat Breeze system. I love it but not the price of refills . So I did a little DIY to save some money. The pellets do not brake down fast in water so I wash them iput them in a big old little box (plastic) and put in bleach hot water and vinegar. Rinse well let dry out side and reuse. As for the pads in side I buy the bed pads for people cut them to size. Easier on my pocket book and my back,

we have a tiny, half height HVAC closet that we did this with. we installed a similar kitty door, and he's able to go in and out while keeping it hidden from view

I love cats and have had a multiple cat household the past 10 years and have lived in 6 different places during that time. Having a decent spot to put the litter boxes has always been one of the things I look for when looking at a new home just the same as some want a certain number of bedrooms/bathrooms...a less used bathtub, a kitchen cabinet that can be 'sacrificed', a portion of a room that can be screened off, a closet - it's easiest to just take the door off and put up a curtain but I do recommend covering any carpet with some plastic sheeting you can get at Lowe's/Home Depot, they even have some with a sticky back just for that purpose. Currently we have a small closet in our laundry room that houses the catbox and all the kittly litter related gear and I keep a utility mat in front of the catbox to catch the majority of the litter that gets kicked out....it's my favorite spot so far as it's near the bedroom and I scoop every morning when I get up and in the evening before I go to bed.

The previous owners did this. We left it because it would come in handy if we got a cat someday. Unfortunately though, the closets smells kind of...well, not good. It's hard wood floors though.

We put our litter box in our empty un-used fireplace. This was working fine until we discovered our cat using the box as a starting point to climb up the chimney. We finally figured out that she hadn't been sneaking out to get so dirty, but was actually cover in sut from the fireplace. Ew.

My husband and I did the same thing in our last house! But we ran into the problem of the litter smell getting trapped in such a little space...(despite the use of nose-friendly litter like pine pellets and constant cleaning)...the solution: my husband installed a bathroom fan at the top with a duct leading out of the house. He put the fan on a dimmer switch so we could keep it on "whisper" mode all the time

Our renters have a cat and I assume they are putting the "cat" closet to good use :-)

As someone who has always had cats, finding an unobtrusive place to put the litter box in a small apartment is always a challenge (bathroom? corner of the kitchen? Ugh). I recently found the COOLEST litter box I have ever seen (you know you're getting older when you get excited about a litter box) - it's the Modkat
http://www.modkat.com/
Since the cat enters the box from the top it is perfect for apartments and places where space is tight, and the perforated "roof" allows the litter to fall back into the box rather than get tracked all over your house. The reusable liner is more eco-friendly than disposable bags, but I read one review that said her cats had started peeing on IKEA bags since they were made of the same material (you've been warned). I don't have one yet (the $180 price tag caught me off guard), but I plan to get at least one before too long. Does anybody out there have a Modkat already?

I love the idea!! We fortunately have a small nook that we made into a litter space. There is always a solution for this. Every animal has to go to a bathroom, as a pet owner you need to be responsible and keep your cat litter always clean.

Our litter box is in the guest bathroom shower! When we have guests we move it into our bathroom closet, which works fine temporarily... but I love having it out of sight when it's just us around here.

I trained my cat to use the toilet to overcome the problem of "no place to put the litterbox."

@ncouch and charlotte TY!!! now i get it... here it is a bit different... we have apartments that are owned and rented by "regular people" as opposed to the builders or whatever, and they can be sold... i own my apartment, but some neighbors rent theirs in the same building...

@jennaudrey how did you do that???? i wanna train my cat. right now he is an outside cat as i live on the ground floor, but we'll be moving soon and i don't know what floor we'll live in, and i hate litter boxes, so that's a great idea. my cat is 2yold though, is that a problem?

I found this website's explanation of how they did it a lot more plausible than those clear plastic liner thingies that are sold in stores for the same purpose.

http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html

As soon as my kitten's legs are long enough, I'll give it a try!

The cat doesn't look very thrilled about it being in the closet. :)

I have two boxes and am working on two more because my kitty addiction is out of control. I have 5 cats, (2 more and I'm officially a crazy cat lady). I'm thinking of getting a giant plastic tub and filling it with kitty litter...kidding. One of their boxes is in a cabinet under my vanity. It works well 'cause there's a shelf in there to put supplies on. I just took the door off and covered it with a curtain. The other one is behind a chair in the living room. It's a covered box but I still have to clean it several times being that I have 5 kitties and only two boxes. My issue is trying to find out where to put another box and then some. The litter I use however is pretty good in that it lasts longer than most and works well with multiple cats. I use the worlds greatest cat litter. (It's called that) I don't know if it's the greatest, but it's pretty darn good. :)

A bit late to the party here, but wanted to comment on the closet/litterbox thing: we've got 3 litterboxes currently in the house (for the 4 kitties-in-residence) and two of them are in closets. The hall closet has 2 sliding doors and the litterbox is in the bottom of one side; we just never close the door on that side (hey, motivation to keep the shelves neat). The other closet-box is in the computer room, where I removed the closet doors entirely and turned the space into a nifty storage-nook thing for electronics, office, and craft supplies. The litter box is on the bottom left (see here behind the orange mesh curtains. Which are awesome as they help prevent litter kick-out while not creating an unpleasant porta-potty situation for the cats.

I have an small open area under the bathroom sink I put the cat box there and then hung a decrotive curtain from underneath the sink and now kitty has his own private spot. There is even abt 2 ft of space where I put a mat for the litter that falls off his paws. The best part is when having ppl over or just watching tv there is no longer the sudden unpleasent smell of the cat using his box.