Some cats do not just have a favourite litter tray — they have a spot. The corner behind the utility door, the end of the hallway, the space beside the washing machine: that cat will cross the house to use it, ignore nearer trays, and sometimes sit near it afterwards as if on duty. Trying to relocate a cat with that strength of preference usually fails, so the practical question is what her fixation does to the other cat and to the corner itself, and how to design around it.
Problems that grow around a single claimed corner
The claimed tray becomes a bottleneck. The other cat may queue, get stared down or pounced on as she leaves, and eventually choose a sofa corner, a rug, or a quiet bedroom instead — accidents that look random until you map them against the favourite corner's location. The corner tray also fills faster than any other because it serves the devoted cat's every visit and sometimes both cats, so it is the tray most likely to be found dirty, which is precisely when the devoted cat herself may go beside it on the floor rather than in it.
Step one: upgrade the favourite corner instead of relocating it
Accept the geography and improve the station. Give the corner the largest, lowest-sided open tray that fits there, filled with the litter that cat already chooses, at a consistent depth, and scoop it more often than any other tray in the house — twice-daily attention is realistic for a tray under this much use. Make sure she can leave the corner by two routes if possible, even if that means moving a storage box, so being cornered by the other cat on her way out does not sour the spot she loves.
Step two: build the other cat a station with its own appeal
The second cat does not need the leftovers of the favourite corner; she needs a first-choice station of her own. Place her tray in a different room, on a different route, near where she actually sleeps and spends her evenings, with the same litter at first so only the location is new. Let her find it in a calm moment, keep that area free of the corner cat's bedding and feeding spots, and praise her use of it quietly. The aim is two cats each convinced their own station is the good one, not one winner and one cat making do with the tray nobody wanted.
Step three: watch the corner for guarding, not just mess
Once both stations run, observe the in-between behaviour for a week. Does the corner cat still loiter there after the other cat has a good alternative? Does the second cat relax, cover properly, and stop having accidents? Note the times incidents happen — ambushes often cluster at predictable moments, such as straight after meals or evening play, and shifting play sessions away from the corner at those times can dissolve the last of the conflict. Note any floor accidents beside the corner tray; a devoted cat going next to her own tray is usually reporting it was too full or too small.
When a corner fixation needs a medical look
Have either cat checked by a veterinarian if tray habits change suddenly — straining, frequent tiny visits to that beloved corner, crying, or blood in the urine are medical signs no matter how territorial the household is. A cat who abruptly abandons a lifelong favourite spot also deserves a check, since pain getting in and out of the tray often shows up as a sudden new preference. Ask for behaviour support as well if guarding escalates to injury. KinsLe Care Teams helps you run the two-station system reliably by assigning each tray its own scooping and litter-top-up duties, with every completed task timestamped so the high-traffic corner never quietly falls behind.