Care
Cleaning & care
None of this needs a specialist product. It needs the right temperature, the mildest thing that works, and knowing which of the three materials you are actually holding.
The everyday wash
Warm water, a drop of unscented dish soap, and a soft cloth or sponge. That handles almost everything in this catalogue — litter pans, potty trays, slow-feed bowls, carrier shells. Rinse well: leftover soap film is the main reason a cat starts avoiding a freshly washed box. Five minutes, no special product required.
Stainless steel
Steel pans are the easiest thing you will ever own. Soap and water, then dry it — wiping it down rather than air-drying stops the faint water spotting you get on mirror finishes. Steel does not hold odour the way plastic does, which is the whole reason to pay more for it. If a pan ever picks up a scratch that catches a nail, that is cosmetic; it will not rust.
Plastic, PP and ABS
These are the ones that need care. Plastic is slightly porous, so once urine or food oil sits in a scuff mark it stays. Wash on the softer side and skip anything abrasive — a scouring pad turns a smooth base into a texture that holds smell permanently. If a pan has been in service a year or two and still smells an hour after washing, no amount of scrubbing will fix it. Replace it.
Fountains and feeders
Empty and refill every two to three days, and take the pump apart once a fortnight. The impeller housing collects a slimy film you can only reach with a small brush; most pumps come apart without tools. Scale builds up in hard-water areas and shows as white crust on the bowl — a soak in diluted white vinegar, then a thorough rinse, clears it. Never run the pump dry; if the reservoir is low, top it up before switching it back on.
Odour that will not go away
Find the seam first. Smell lives in join lines, under tray lips, in the groove where a grate seats, and along the rolled edge of a hooded box. Soak those specific spots rather than washing the whole thing harder. An enzymatic cleaner — the kind sold for accidents — works on plastic in a way that bleach does not, because it breaks down the source instead of masking it.
What to keep away from it
Bleach and anything chlorine-based: it pits plastic and leaves a residue that is genuinely unpleasant for an animal with a far better nose than yours. Solvents, acetone, alcohol at strength — these craze and cloud ABS. Dishwashers: the heat cycle warps thin bases and the detergent is far more aggressive than anything you would use by hand. Strongly scented products, including the ones marketed for pets, are a common cause of a cat refusing an otherwise clean box.
When to replace rather than clean
Roughly every 12–18 months for a plastic litter pan in daily use, longer for steel. Potty trays with a mesh or grate go through grates faster than trays — if the mesh has sagged or a corner has lifted, it will catch a paw. Fountain filters are consumables by design and should be changed on schedule, not washed out and reused. A cracked carrier shell or a latch that no longer clicks shut is done; do not travel with it.
The short version: warm water, mild unscented soap, soft cloth. Dry it instead of leaving it wet. Skip bleach, solvents and the dishwasher. Replace plastic pans every year or two, and treat filters and grates as consumables.