A top-entry litterbox asks your cat to get onto the lid and climb down through an opening. A front-entry box puts the opening in the side. That sounds like a small distinction until the box arrives and you realise the only place it fits has a shelf immediately above it.
Choose the entrance your cat can use comfortably, then check the space needed for both access and cleaning. If your current tray works, there is no particular obligation to give the toilet a roof.
Goldfish enters our covered Feandrea box through the top, like she’s in a spy movie. It suits her and our bathroom. It is one useful example, rather than a universal instruction from a cat with an unusually theatrical approach to household facilities.
Top-entry and front-entry: the practical differences
| Question | Top entry | Front entry |
|---|---|---|
| How does the cat get in? | Up onto the lid, then down through the opening. | Through a side opening; the step can still be quite high. |
| Where must space stay clear? | Above the lid and along the approach. | In front of the doorway, plus the cleaning route. |
| Is it enclosed? | Usually. Check the opening and internal height. | Often, but an open tray can also have a lowered front. |
| Will it stop litter escaping? | Check lid design and actual use; roof access is no guarantee. | Check the threshold and your cat’s digging and exit habits. |
| How do you clean it? | May need the lid removed or a drawer pulled out. | May need the hood removed or a drawer pulled out. |
Entrance position and enclosure are separate decisions. A covered front-entry box still has a lid; a top-and-front-entry box offers more than one opening. Product photographs can make those distinctions surprisingly easy to miss.
Start with access, especially for older cats
Cats Protection recommends low-sided trays for elderly cats and cats with mobility difficulties, with enough room to turn around. It also advises removing flaps from hooded trays.
Our practical reading of that advice: a low, open entrance is a better starting point when climbing is difficult. The words “front entry” alone tell you very little about the height of the threshold. Look at the actual opening.
For a small kitten, check whether she can enter and leave the particular box easily. Don’t buy a tall box on the assumption that she will grow into the job. For a cat who already dislikes enclosed trays, a different entrance in another enclosed tray may not address the problem.
If your cat suddenly struggles to use her tray or starts toileting elsewhere, speak to your vet. Cats Protection recommends checking for medical causes before treating a sudden change as a tray preference.
Measure the working space, not just the footprint
A litterbox has at least three space requirements: the rectangle it occupies, the route your cat takes and the room you need to clean it. Only the first normally makes it into the headline dimensions.
- For a top opening: check what is above the lid and whether the cat has a clear approach. A low shelf can rule out an otherwise convenient corner.
- For a front opening: allow room in front of the door. A doorway facing a wall is still a doorway facing a wall, however neatly the box fits.
- For a pull-out tray: check that it can come out far enough for you to work. Measure with nearby doors and cupboards in their normal positions.
- For a removable hood: think about where you will lift it and put it while scooping.
We keep our Feandrea in an awkwardly shaped bathroom. The shape gives us somewhere out of the way for it; the box has not made our bathroom bigger. For a broader setup checklist, see first-cat essentials.
Does top entry reduce litter tracking?
We would not buy on that promise alone. A lid may be designed to catch loose grains, but an entrance position does not tell you how much litter will end up on your floor. Your cat’s actual exit route matters too.
We know Goldfish uses the top entrance. We haven’t compared the same litter in otherwise identical top-entry and front-entry boxes, or measured what she carries out. So we cannot give you a percentage reduction, or say that changing the door would fix tracking.
If scattered litter is the reason you are shopping, first separate litter kicked over the edge from grains carried away on paws. Those are different problems to investigate. Our litter buying guide covers the material side, and our Sanicat Cotton Fresh review includes other owners’ differing experiences of tracking.
Privacy, smells and a lid that still needs opening
Goldfish’s covered box seems private and contains odours well in our bathroom. That is our household impression. We cannot tell what the inside smells like from how the room smells.
Cats Protection notes that hooded trays can trap odours and need careful cleaning. It recommends quiet placement away from food, water and sleeping areas, and one tray per cat plus an extra in separate locations. Its toileting guide explains these basics.
Whichever entrance you choose, make the daily job easy enough that you will actually do it. “Hidden away” is useful for the room; “forgotten about” is less useful for the cat.
The dual-entry box we use
Our Feandrea covered litterbox has a top opening, a configurable front door and a slide-out tray. It is a dual-entry design, so our experience should not be read as a test of a top-only box.
After roughly two years, we find it easy to clean and a good fit for Goldfish. Its size is the main caveat. The matching listing gives outside dimensions of 54.3 × 42.5 × 37.8 cm; these are listing figures, not our measurements. Read our full Feandrea litterbox review for the details.
Before you replace a working tray
- Name the problem. Is access difficult, is cleaning awkward, or do you simply dislike looking at the tray? The answer changes what to look for.
- Check the cat-sized space inside. Outside dimensions include walls, lids and sometimes storage. They are not the usable floor area.
- Keep a familiar option available. Cats Protection suggests offering different tray types to see which the cat prefers. Let her answer before retiring the old one.
- Check the exact door configuration. A flap can have a one-way setting or be removable. Read the instructions for the selected model.
- Buy for a clear improvement. If the present tray is sound, accessible and accepted, keeping it is a perfectly reasonable decision.
How we put this guide together
We combined our experience of one Feandrea box with published Cats Protection guidance and the original product listing, checked on 7 September 2026. The space checks are our practical buying framework. We have not conducted a comparative trial of entrance styles.
Explore all litter and tray guides or read our editorial standards.