The cat's vote usually goes to open
When researchers and behaviourists watch cats choose freely between identical trays, one hooded and one open, the open tray wins for most individuals. The reason is vulnerability. A cat in the tray is in a squatting, distracted posture, and its instincts ask three questions: can I see what is coming, can I leave quickly in more than one direction, and does this place smell safe? An open tray answers yes to all three. A covered tray restricts the view, offers a single doorway that another pet can block, and holds odour inside at exactly the height of the cat's nose.
That does not make hoods cruel or unusable. Plenty of confident cats use a covered tray happily for years, especially one that is large, cleaned often, and placed where the doorway cannot be ambushed. But if you are buying a first tray, or troubleshooting a cat who has started going elsewhere, open is the evidence-backed starting point.
Odour works differently than owners assume
People choose hoods to contain smell, yet the hood mostly contains it for the cat, not for the room. Inside a covered tray, ammonia and waste odours concentrate, and cats — whose sense of smell far exceeds ours — must step into that trapped cloud every visit. A fastidious cat may respond by perching on the rim, rushing, not burying, or choosing a cleaner-smelling alternative such as laundry or a bath mat. Ironically, the room often smells worse with a neglected hooded tray, because the hood persuades owners to scoop less often while the cat endures more.
Whichever style you use, scooping daily matters more than the lid. If smell is your concern, location helps more than a hood: a ventilated spot away from soft furnishings, with the tray large enough for the cat to turn around fully — roughly one and a half times the cat's body length — keeps both cat and household comfortable.
Size, doors, and the cats who struggle most
Hoods shrink usable space. A large or long-bodied cat may fit through the opening yet be unable to squat and turn without brushing the roof and walls with its coat, and many cats dislike that contact. Swinging entry flaps add another barrier: kittens, senior cats with stiff joints, and nervous newcomers may push a flap once, dislike the touch on the back, and refuse to try again. If you inherit a covered tray with a flap, removing the flap is a sensible first modification.
Multi-cat homes raise the stakes. The single doorway of a covered tray is a perfect ambush point, and a cat who has been pounced on while exiting may quietly stop using that tray altogether. Open trays in separate, low-traffic locations — ideally one per cat plus one spare, spread around the home rather than lined up — remove both the ambush and the queue. Asthmatic cats are another group often better served by open trays with low-dust litter, since a hood concentrates litter dust as well as odour; discuss litter choice with your vet if your cat coughs or wheezes around the tray.
Testing your own cat's preference fairly
Offer both at once for two weeks: identical trays in similar quiet spots, same litter and cleaning, one hooded and one open. Count deposits rather than guessing. Most cats declare a clear winner, and some split usage by function, which is still useful information. Then keep the preferred style and remove the experiment.
If your cat currently uses a hooded tray without issue, there is no need to fix a working system — simply keep it scrupulously clean and watch for change as the cat ages. Switch promptly if you see hovering at the entrance, toileting beside the tray, or sudden avoidance; those are the cat voting with its feet. Any cat who strains, cries, or produces little despite effort needs a vet urgently, whatever the tray style.
Recording which tray your cat uses and any misses in KinsLe Care Teams, with cleaning duties assigned and timestamped when done, keeps the experiment honest and the winning setup maintained by everyone at home.