Can I place the litter box outside?

by Litter Box Hater

I live in a first floor condo with a patio enclosed by a 6 foot fence. I have a cat door leading to the patio which I leave open and my two cats go in and out as they please. Surprisingly, in the 6 years I've lived there neither of my cats have jumped the fence. I caught the oldest cat walking on top of it during the first few months I lived there but I told him no and chased him off and to my knowledge he has not done it since. He is now too old to jump that high and my other cat is too fat plus he got stuck in a tree for a week when he was one year old and he is not much for climbing now.

I would love to put their enclosed litter box (litter robot) outside on the patio (under overhang so it would not get wet). But I live a few blocks away from a canyon area with some coyotes. I have seen one coyote about 15 feet from my house at 3 am and I'm told that in the winter they do venture closer to the houses looking for animals and food. I've never had a problem with them or any other animal inside the patio.

My concern is that the smell of the cat elimination will draw in the coyotes and other animals. The litter robot does an excellent job of containing the smell but I know that coyotes and other animals have a much keener sense than I do.

Do you think putting the litter box on the patio would be ok?

My Thoughts:

Your cats look very happy in that photo!

I'm sure that you would find people on both sides of the issue here. Although I've never used an automatic litter box, I'm told that the Litter Robot does do a great job. Even so, animals have strong noses, and coyotes have been known to eat house cats for lunch. I personally would not do anything that might put my cats at increased risk. Since it is possible that the coyotes would be attracted by the smells from the box, my vote would be no, don't do it.

-Kurt