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Oct 18, 2024

The 3 Best Cat Litter Mats of 2024 | Reviews by Wirecutter

By Kaitlyn Wells No cat caretaker wants to step on the sandy mess that cats leave behind after they use the kitty commode. A cat litter mat helps corral that kicked-up litter. Most litter mats are

By Kaitlyn Wells

No cat caretaker wants to step on the sandy mess that cats leave behind after they use the kitty commode. A cat litter mat helps corral that kicked-up litter. Most litter mats are okay, some are good, and none of them can stop every teensy grain of litter from reaching your floors. After testing about 20 litter mats with dozens of cats, we’ve found that the Gorilla Grip Cat Litter Trapping Mat keeps the messiest of litter scatter at bay while being comfortable for cats to walk on, too.

This mat traps tiny litter particles well, comes in multiple sizes and colors, and is comfortable for most cats to use. But it’s hard to clean off liquid or gunky messes.

This silicone mat is easy to clean (which is handy if you have animals with gastro issues), but it doesn’t trap litter particularly well.

This dual-layer mat hides litter scatter in a lower chamber, out of sight. But it’s harder to clean liquid messes out of its honeycomb top layer.

This mat traps tiny litter particles well, comes in multiple sizes and colors, and is comfortable for most cats to use. But it’s hard to clean off liquid or gunky messes.

The Gorilla Grip Cat Litter Trapping Mat traps fine-grain scattered litter well, and it’s more comfortable for cat paws than most other mats we tested. It also comes in over a dozen colors and seven sizes, so you can easily find a mat that matches your litter box size and personal style. Note, though, that due to the mat’s tight coils, cleaning gunky stuff is tougher than with most other mats we tested. So skip this one if your cat has a tendency to make a big mess outside the box.

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This silicone mat is easy to clean (which is handy if you have animals with gastro issues), but it doesn’t trap litter particularly well.

If you’re less concerned about litter scatter and more about sticky messes (like vomit or diarrhea), opt for the PetFusion ToughGrip Cat Litter Mat. This one is made of silicone, so it’s easy to wipe clean, and raised lines along the mat help reduce litter scatter a bit. But there’s nothing to trap litter, so this mat is noticeably worse at that function than others (though it’s still better than nothing).

This dual-layer mat hides litter scatter in a lower chamber, out of sight. But it’s harder to clean liquid messes out of its honeycomb top layer.

The pricier iPrimio Cat Litter Trapper Mat is the best at hiding litter scatter. This mat has a dual-layer design, so it traps both coarse and fine litter better than the Gorilla Grip mat, hiding the granules in the bottom layer. And the iPrimio opens like a book for cleaning. Just avoid this mat if your cat tends to have an upset stomach or pees outside the box: Gunk tends to hide in the honeycomb-shaped holes, and the manufacturer warns that the fabric piping can lock in sour odors.

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I’m a lifelong pet caretaker, and I have several years of experience volunteering at animal shelters. For this guide, I spoke with Mary Molloy, an accredited pet behaviorist with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, about the litter mat types that cats prefer. I also contacted Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center veterinary hospital, to learn about safety considerations when cleaning litter mats. And I sought the professional opinions of both staff and felines at Meow Parlour, a cat café in New York City.

A cat litter mat is for anyone who has a cat litter box—that is, everyone who has a cat. These textured mats act like a doormat: Even the best-behaved cat tracks litter granules out of the litter box, and a good litter mat catches most of those bits before they spread throughout your house. But no litter mat is a perfect catchall, so don’t be disappointed if you use one and you still see a bit of litter scatter.

Some cats also just make a mess out of doing their business: missing the litter box entirely, coughing up hairballs, or sprinting out of the litter box and sending litter flying. A litter mat is an easily cleaned surface to help limit these disasters, so they don’t happen on your floor. You can also invest in dust-free cat litter or buy a higher-sided litter box to reduce the effects, but nothing will entirely eliminate litter scatter.

Even the best-behaved cat tracks litter granules out of the litter box, and a good litter mat catches most of those bits before they spread throughout your house.

A good cat litter mat helps contain messes, and it’s definitely better than having your litter box on a bare floor. But we found only small differences in how much litter they trapped. So think about what other characteristics—easy to clean, comfortable for paws, aesthetics—matter most to you before purchasing a mat.

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Cleaning a gunky litter mat is probably the last thing any cat owner wants to do after giving the litter box a good scrubbing. But you have to do it to prevent your pet from spreading bacteria as it walks on the mat and then, for instance, hops on your pillow. Before removing crusty crud, run a handheld vacuum over the dirty litter mat to remove loose litter scatter. Some Wirecutter staffers keep a handheld vacuum stored near their litter box so it’s within easy reach. We like the Black+Decker 20V Max Lithium Pivot BDH2000PL because it has strong suction that efficiently picks up cat litter scatter, and its pivoting nozzle easily reaches into tight crevices behind litter boxes and between litter mat indentations. Alternatively, take the litter mat outdoors and give it a good shake into a garbage bag to prevent fecal matter from contaminating waterways.

We’ve found that it’s easiest to run a dirty mat under a hose or a bathtub faucet to remove sticky stuff like clumps of litter, or errant pee and poop. The ASPCA recommends cleaning a litter box and litter mat every week with warm water and unscented soap. (Cleaning with unscented soap ensures that your cat won’t develop an aversion to the scent.) If your cat hovers over the litter box edge while doing its business and makes a mess, clean that up with a good enzymatic cleaner that neutralizes pet odors; Wirecutter staffers are big fans of the Nature’s Miracle lineup of urine destroyers and advanced stain removers. And never use an ammonia-based cleaner on pet accidents: Urine contains ammonia, and cleaning a spot with ammonia may encourage your cat to pee there again.

We looked at cat litter mats of all shapes, sizes, and litter-trapping designs across manufacturer sites, as well as on Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chewy, and Walmart, among others. We noted their price, materials, and design, and we narrowed the group down to our contenders based on long-term positive owner reviews. From those, we selected mats that were square- or rectangle-shaped and came in large enough sizes to accommodate most litter boxes.

As Wirecutter’s pets writer, I’ve been testing our picks for five years with my own cat, and I used that data to inform this guide. In 2022, I compared the performance of Wirecutter’s picks against new contenders by rotating their use every few days over two weeks. I paid attention to their litter-trapping capabilities, how easy they were to clean, and their comfort, traction, and durability.

In 2017, I evaluated the contenders using expanded criteria (outlined below) and then tested the finalists with Wirecutter staffers’ cats as well as with 13 resident cats at the Meow Parlour cat café in New York City.

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This mat traps tiny litter particles well, comes in multiple sizes and colors, and is comfortable for most cats to use. But it’s hard to clean off liquid or gunky messes.

The Gorilla Grip Cat Litter Trapping Mat traps small litter granules well due to its coiled design. It’s also comfortable to the touch, and it’s likely to hold up to any abuse from your cat.

You’ve got options. This mat comes in the widest range of colors we’ve seen and is available in seven sizes (the largest is about 4 by 3 feet) to protect more of your floor. And it’s our only pick that comes in different shapes: Along with the standard rectangle, the Gorilla Grip mat comes in a wedge shape to fit into corners, as well as a half-moon shape.

It works, as usual. Like most of the cat litter mats we tested, the Gorilla Grip does a good job of trapping small cat litter granules. If all you have to worry about is your cat tracking litter out of the box, this mat will stop most of it from making its way to your floors. The mat is designed with tightly woven coils that hold litter but are easy to vacuum clean or shake loose.

It’s not sliding, and not getting damaged. You can also feel confident knowing that your cat will actually enjoy walking on this mat. The Gorilla Grip mat was one of the softest we tested, surpassed only by the foam SmartGrip mat and our former top pick, the now-discontinued Easology mat. The Gorilla Grip was marginally less likely to skid across a hardwood floor than other litter mats we tested (the Petlinks Purr-fect Paws and the PetFusion ToughGrip mats were close seconds). And thanks to this mat’s PVC construction, your cat can scratch and wipe its paws all day long without damaging or pilling the mat’s surface.

Like most litter mats we tested, the Gorilla Grip mat did well at locking in small granules, but its coil-like texture was too intricate to capture larger granules. So keep a dustpan nearby to sweep up any larger pieces of cat litter.

The Gorilla Grip also isn’t ideal if your cat has stomach issues or frequently misses the litter box. Because of the mat’s tightly woven strings, spot-cleaning is difficult (as it is with the Pet Magasin mat, which has a similar textured design). You can run the Gorilla Grip under a hose or a bathtub spout to remove caked-on debris, but if you frequently have to clean up pet messes, consider the PetFusion ToughGrip instead.

Most user review complaints focus on durability and lack of skid resistance. Wirecutter senior staff writer Kimber Streams has owned two Gorilla Grip mats, and both have stayed put: “Our bathroom rugs slide a lot more [than this mat],” Kimber said. (You can also try placing your litter box partially over the mat to help keep it in place.)

Kimber bought a mat in 2021 that developed a split after a year of use. A replacement, bought in 2022, is in good condition (all things considered) after nearly 2.5 years of action.

This silicone mat is easy to clean (which is handy if you have animals with gastro issues), but it doesn’t trap litter particularly well.

If your cat often makes sticky messes just outside the litter box, go with the PetFusion ToughGrip Cat Litter Mat.

It’s not the best litter gripper. The ToughGrip silicone mat has a raised outer lip and raised inner ridges along its surface. The wavy ridges are ¾ inch apart, and since the mat is smooth, unlike our other picks, the litter falls free easily when you tip it out. Although this mat’s ribbed design is meant to help contain litter scatter, it’s not as effective at doing so as the coils on our main pick—especially if your cat frequently steps in its mess and tracks dirty litter everywhere (such gunky scatter doesn’t cling to this mat like it does to the Gorilla Grip).

But you can really hose it down. It’s made of silicone, so you can quickly wipe off vomit, hairballs, diarrhea, or other unpleasantness, and you can easily clean the mat with hot, soapy water. The ToughGrip is the easiest mat to clean of those we’ve tested, a conclusion also reached by our human friends at the Meow Parlour cat café. The faux poo we applied came off swiftly with a wet paper towel, while caked-on messes slipped away with a quick run under the kitchen faucet. This mat was also the easiest to vacuum of all those we tested, needing just one pass to capture the litter scatter. (Most other mats either had holes that were too deep for the vacuum’s suction to reach or they got caught in the vacuum cleaner’s suction, similar to a bathroom rug.)

It’s durable and stable. The ToughGrip’s smooth silicone makes it one of the softest mats we tested, but its raised inner ridges are less comfortable. The mat also stays in place better than most models we tested, and it’s likely to far outlast the PVC-foam SmartGrip, the other PetFusion mat we tested, which could easily be shredded by curious claws.

The PetFusion ToughGrip comes in one color and two sizes (27 by 22 inches and 36 by 26 inches).

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This dual-layer mat hides litter scatter in a lower chamber, out of sight. But it’s harder to clean liquid messes out of its honeycomb top layer.

The iPrimio Cat Litter Trapper Mat is ideal for cat owners who like the illusion of a mess-free space and want to have an easier time controlling litter scatter. This mat does a better job of trapping both small and large litter fragments than the Gorilla Grip mat—but it needs to be tipped out rather than vacuumed, and it makes cleaning crusty messes a challenge. The iPrimio is also less comfortable, and it skids across the floor with little effort. And it is more expensive.

Its unusual design is mostly easy to clean. The iPrimio is a dual-layer litter mat with fabric piping around the edges, and it opens on a hinge like a book. Litter scatter falls through the honeycomb top layer and gets trapped on the layer below. The design hides the litter scatter from view, which is great for cat caretakers who want their space to at least look like it hasn’t been disturbed by their cat’s smelly actions. We tested three litter mats with this design, and the iPrimio was the best, since its slightly larger holes allowed both small and large granules to fall into place. (The BlackHole mat couldn’t trap the larger particles.) The iPrimio mat’s smooth bottom layer is easy to clean: A quick wipe with a wet paper towel removed our faux poo in testing.

But the Trapper’s honeycomb is, well, a trapper. Most vacuum cleaners don’t have enough suction to reach the litter trapped below the iPrimio mat’s top layer, so you need to open it (like a book) to toss the trapped litter into the litter box or a trash can. Doing so takes a bit more space and time than if you just ran a vacuum over the mat.

We had difficulty cleaning trapped gunk out of the honeycomb holes in the top layer by hand—we had more success with a kitchen faucet, and thankfully the mat dries quickly. iPrimio warns urine can leave pungent smells on the fabric piping (tell your cats, because cats are great at following the rules).

The texture is different, but the cats didn’t mind. The iPrimio mat is more pleasant to walk on than the other two honeycomb mats we tested, but it’s less comfortable than the Gorilla Grip, both PetFusion cat litter mats (the ToughGrip and the SmartGrip), and the Pet Magasin mat. The honeycomb pockets felt a little strange on our bare feet, so if your indoor-only cat has sensitive paws, this mat may not be the best choice. That said, our feline testers didn’t seem bothered by the texture and walked across the mat as usual.

And like all three honeycomb mats we tested, this one provided little skid resistance on our hardwood floors. If your cat likes to play with your area rugs and frequently relieves their upset stomach on the litter mat, the iPrimio’s probably isn’t for you.

The iPrimio Cat Litter Trapper comes in two colors and three sizes (29 by 27 inches, 30 by 23 inches, and 32 by 30 inches).

The Drymate Original Cat Litter Mat’s single-layer design doesn’t have the litter-trapping coils or holes found on other mats, and its recycled-polyester fabric failed to trap cat litter during our tests.

The Pet Magasin Cat Litter Mat (which comes in a two-pack) has tight coils. These made it harder to spot-clean, and it was the only single-layer litter mat we tested that we couldn’t vacuum up the trapped litter from.

Though the Pieviev Cat Litter Mat occasionally tops Amazon’s best-seller list in the litter mat category, we don’t recommend it because it’s difficult to clean. Unlike our iPrimio pick, which looks similar, the Pieviev opens on only one side, so you can’t unfold it to clean inside the crevices.

Although the BlackHole Litter Mat is a more expensive layered mat in the style of the iPrimio, it has slightly smaller holes and is not as good at trapping larger granules. Instead, those granules pile on the top layer, which defeats the purpose of having a litter trap. Also, the mat opens only at the two shortest ends, forming a tube, rather than opening like a book. So it’s not as easy to open and clean as the iPrimio.

The Petlinks Purr-fect Paws Litter Mat is a single-layer mat that uses circular recesses to trap litter, similar to a honeycomb mat’s design. It trapped litter well, but it was also one of the hardest to thoroughly spot-clean. The recesses made cleaning dried urine and sticky messes more difficult for us. And as with the honeycomb mats we tested, we couldn’t vacuum up any litter trapped in this mat’s holes.

This article was edited by Catherine Kast and Jennifer Hunter.

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Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, staff doctor, Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, phone interview, October 12, 2017

Mary Molloy, CPDT-KA, owner, Nirvana Tails, and animal behavior counselor, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, phone interview, November 6, 2017

Kaitlyn Wells

Kaitlyn Wells is a senior staff writer who advocates for greater work flexibility by showing you how to work smarter remotely without losing yourself. Previously, she covered pets and style for Wirecutter. She's never met a pet she didn’t like, although she can’t say the same thing about productivity apps. Her first picture book, A Family Looks Like Love, follows a pup who learns that love, rather than how you look, is what makes a family.

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