KC inventor rolls elevated litter box to market (and cats already are making the leap)

Amy Leiker can take criticism and feedback, the Lenexa-based LoftyLoo creator said, noting she couldn’t have survived a career in corporate marketing and health care without it. So when it comes to her elevated litter box invention, she’s quick to jump to its defense, but open to making the product even more user (and cat) friendly.

Amy Leiker, LoftyLoo

LoftyLoo features a cabinet design topped by a litter box that allows cat owners to stay off the ground while tending to their pets’ bathroom business.

“Everything else on the market is enclosed or covered,” Leiker said. “Nothing is raised and elevated to make it easier for the actual owners.”

The design provides safe, pain-free cat care at the perfect height, especially for older owners — allowing elderly wheelchair users to maintain their independence and care for their cats without unnecessary strain or risk of injury.

“They say, unless your cat literally is blind and has two legs, they should be able to use this,” said Leiker, noting the product is compatible with ramps, ladders or other climbing apparatuses, if users felt the add-ons needed. “The height is perfect. It’s so perfect with every cat tree or ramp.”

To the suggestion an older cat would have trouble accessing the box, her quick response: “Like hell they can’t! They still want to be up high.” 

Click here to shop LoftyLoo.

An outside-the-box problem

Leiker herself is not a cat owner but came to the idea of effectively transforming the litter box market thanks to a friend of a relative.

Her aunt, Jody, was living in Florida and she had a neighbor who was hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic. He had a cat; the aunt is an animal lover and volunteered to check in on it while the neighbor was recovering.

“When she walked into his home, she quickly noticed the house was a complete disarray. The cat litter box was a disaster,” Leiker recalled. “We’re talking urine, cat feces on the man’s bed all over the house. It was terrible.

“Men … are hesitant to ask for help,” she continued. “But the gist of it was he wasn’t physically able to bend down to the ground to take care of the cat’s litter box.”

Her aunt called Leiker thinking she’d know of a good solution, and Leiker — referring to herself as a “queen shopper” who “loves a good find” — got to work.

Clearly, she thought, her aunt just hadn’t looked.

But, as Leiker hunted, trying an array of search terms — “raised litter box,” “elevated litter box,” “litter box with storage,” “litter box organizer” — nothing came up.

LoftyLoo co-founders Amy Leiker, right, and her aunt Jody; courtesy photo

In search of invention

Leiker’s background is in healthcare and in marketing, she said. She’s worked for venture capital firms, built and scaled companies, but her whole life, Leiker said, she’s wanted to invent something.

“How am I now inventing a cat litter box? It’s hilarious how God works,” the LoftyLoo co-founder alongside her aunt Jody said. “It’s so ironic how sometimes life works out.”

Leiker dug in, researching dimensions, materials, aesthetics, then sourcing the materials, locating a manufacturer — first overseas, but eventually in the U.S. as supporting domestic businesses is important to her.

Once she had a prototype, she didn’t go direct to market — she went to experts: veterinarians, cat cafes — anywhere that would talk to her and give her product a try.

“I walked into this cat cafe, and they have between 30 and 40 cats at a time,” Leiker said. “When I walked in, this woman was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor. They have 30 litter boxes just lined up, and I have my box, and I’m looking at this woman on the ground — on hands and knees, scrubbing litter boxes.” 

Leiker said she rolled her LoftyLoo in and that attendant said her days of bending down were over. 

A leading cat expert weighs in

Arden Moore, a certified cat behavior consultant, educator, author and host of the “Oh Behave!” podcast, said she’s “never seen a product that provides the accessibility and functionality offered by LoftyLoo.”

The market “is saturated with litter boxes that are either low to the ground or entirely enclosed, requiring pet owners to bend, crouch or open cumbersome doors,” Moore added.

These requirements, she said, are “not feasible for individuals with arthritis, limited mobility, or other physical challenges.”

LoftyLoo allows 360 degree access to the litterpan, which, combined with the pan’s height, “allows cat owners to clean and maintain the litter box from any angle without bending or straining,” Moore noted.

And, the design just matches cat behavior. 

“It aligns with cats’ natural behaviors,” she said. “Cats are territorial animals that prefer open, unobstructed spaces for their litter needs, as it allows them to feel safe and maintain awareness of their surroundings.

The adaptive LoftyLoo elevated litter box; courtesy photo

Back to the cat cafe

Cat owners are wont to grumble about how messy and disordered a cat area can become as there are several components to cat care: the litter box, the litter, food storage and feeding, etc.

LoftyLoo was in part designed to help on the storage front as its vertical design creates storage underneath for a lot of the accessories required for the caring-for-cats life. 

But, one more advantage: a LoftyLoo buyer could also choose not to assemble the bottom doors, leaving the bottom area open so as to accommodate another litter box.

“It could serve as a double decker,” Leiker said. “So, that cat cafe can have six LoftyLoos but 12 litter boxes, and that saves a lot of space.” 

Plus, though not a cat owner (yet), Leiker’s learned that cats like things the way they like them, whether it makes sense or not.

“Some cats want to pee in one litter box and poo in the other,” she said. “Whatever they want, this setup can pretty much deliver.” 

Balancing big retailer rollout with customer need

Leiker’s next priority is to list her product on Amazon, but she’s moving forward carefully. She’s been deliberate about each step — design, manufacturing, logistics and now retailing. 

One aspect of development, however, that she’s not taking her eye off of: Customer and expert input. She is adamant that she’ll stay connected with the veterinarian community, the cat specialists, the animal behavior specialists — the people that are dealing with cats every day.

“I am so blessed that I have gained overwhelming support from doctors and veterinarians saying litter pans do not belong on the floor,” Leiker said. “I’ve got veterinarians that are using it for their own personal cats at their own homes.” 

“But one thing that I’m so proud of is to be able to lead the charge of bringing accessibility to pet care,” she added. “It just makes sense.”

Click here to follow LoftyLoo’s journey on Instagram.

Haines Eason is the owner of startup media agency Freelance Kansas. He went into business for himself after a stint as a managing editor on the content marketing team at A Place for Mom. Among many other roles, he has worked as a communications professional at KU and as a journalist with work in places like The Guardian, Eater and KANSAS! Magazine. Learn about him and Freelance Kansas on LinkedIn and Facebook.