Merry Products Cat Litter Loo Bench review: a stylish box with real trade-offs

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The Merry Products Cat Litter Loo Bench (White) is a reasonable pick if you want a low-cost piece of actual furniture that hides a litter box and doubles as a side table or entry bench. It won’t work well if you have a large cat, multiple cats, or a household sensitive to litter box odor, since the MDF construction and enclosed design create problems on both fronts.

Who it’s for

This bench suits someone with a single, small-to-medium cat who wants the litter box out of sight in a living room, bedroom, or hallway. The magnetized doors and side towel rail give it a genuine “furniture first” look, and at a budget price point it’s one of the more affordable ways to get a bench-style enclosure rather than a plain covered box. If your priority is disguising the litter box as decor and you’re willing to stay on top of scooping, it does that job.

It’s a poor match for multi-cat homes, cats over roughly 16-18 inches nose to tail, or anyone dealing with a cat who already has litter box aversion issues. The interior footprint (built to fit a litter box up to 18.5 inches wide by 16 inches deep) is on the small side once you account for the curve and walls of a box placed inside it. Vets and behaviorists generally recommend a litter box at least 1.5 times your cat’s body length, so a 16-inch cat needs roughly a 24-inch box. A furniture enclosure sized around an 18.5-inch footprint isn’t going to comfortably house that, and shrinking the usable space is one of the most common mistakes buyers make with this style of product.

What stands out

The bench genuinely functions as a bench. Reviewers and the product’s own design treat the top as sturdy enough to sit on or use as a side table, which is the main reason people choose this over a plain plastic hood. The removable interior divider is a smart touch: pull it out and you gain storage space for scoops, extra litter, or waste bags; leave it in and it helps corral a smaller box in place.

Assembly is generally described as straightforward, with clear instructions, which matters for a piece you’re building at home rather than having installed. The magnetized doors are a nice idea in concept, letting the cat push in and out without a swinging door catching or slamming, while keeping the box visually hidden when closed.

Where it falls short

The cons here are consistent enough across owner reports that they’re worth taking seriously rather than dismissing as one-off complaints.

MDF absorbs urine. Medium-density fiberboard is porous, and if a cat misses the box or urine splashes against an interior wall, it soaks in rather than wiping off. Once that happens, the smell is effectively permanent, because there’s no way to clean odor out of fiberboard the way you can seal and scrub plastic. Industry guidance on litter box furniture generally recommends avoiding unsealed fiberboard for exactly this reason.
Assembly quality is inconsistent. Customer reviews on Walmart and Chewy describe misaligned pre-drilled holes (off by as little as an eighth of an inch), missing hardware, and cam-lock fasteners that don’t fully secure, leading to a wobbly final build in some units. This isn’t universal, but it shows up often enough that you should budget time for troubleshooting during assembly.
Magnets loosen over time. Multiple owners report the magnetized doors don’t hold shut reliably after repeated use, undermining the enclosed look that’s the main selling point.
Odor control is limited, not solved. Owner feedback describes the bench as not covering much odor unless the interior box is kept extremely clean. That tracks with what Cornell’s Feline Health Center and the AVMA note about covered enclosures generally: they trap ammonia from urine and hydrogen sulfide from waste inside a confined space, so the cat experiences a much stronger concentration of smell than a person sniffing from outside would guess. Aggregate satisfaction data on related Merry Products models lands around 72% positive, with roughly 28% of owners dissatisfied, which lines up with a product that works fine for some setups and poorly for others depending on cat size, cleaning frequency, and litter type.

How it compares to plain covered boxes and open trays

Against a basic covered plastic litter box, the Litter Loo Bench wins on looks and doubles as usable furniture, but loses on odor management and cleanability. Plastic doesn’t absorb urine the way MDF does, so a spill or miss on a standard covered box is an inconvenience; the same accident inside this bench can create a permanent odor problem.

Against a fully open, uncovered tray, the comparison is more nuanced. A 2019-published study out of Ross University (Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery) found that about 70% of cats showed no real preference between covered and uncovered boxes, so an enclosure alone won’t guarantee stress or avoidance. But for the subset of cats who are sensitive to enclosed spaces or already have elimination issues, an open tray remains the safer default, and it’s dramatically easier to keep the interior surfaces truly clean since there’s no wood cabinet trapping smell.

If odor control specifically is your top priority over furniture aesthetics, a self-cleaning box or a simple high-sided open tray with a quality clumping litter will outperform this bench. If disguising the box as furniture matters more than maximizing airflow and interior space, the Litter Loo Bench remains one of the more affordable ways to get there.

Does covered furniture actually control litter box odor better?

No. Covered and furniture-style enclosures generally concentrate ammonia and odor inside the box rather than eliminating it, according to Cornell’s Feline Health Center and the AVMA. Controlling odor comes down mostly to litter choice, depth, and cleaning frequency, not the presence of a cabinet around the box.

What litter works best to manage smell in an enclosed box like this one?

Clumping clay litter kept at 3 to 4 inches deep is generally the best-performing option for odor control, according to multiple litter studies. Shallow litter lets urine reach the plastic tray bottom immediately, where it pools and produces ammonia right at the surface; adequate depth lets urine clump and get absorbed before reaching the bottom. Scented litters are worth avoiding too, since research has repeatedly linked scented litter to litter box avoidance problems.

Does baking soda actually neutralize litter box ammonia?

No. Ammonia is a base with a pH around 11, and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is also basic, so it can’t neutralize ammonia the way it neutralizes acidic odors. Activated carbon, which physically adsorbs odor molecules rather than trying to chemically react with them, has been shown to outperform baking soda by a wide margin for litter box odor control.

The bottom line

The Merry Products Cat Litter Loo Bench is a reasonable, low-cost option if you have one smaller cat, you’re diligent about scooping and cleaning, and you value the furniture disguise more than maximum interior space or airflow. It’s not the pick for multi-cat households, larger cats, or anyone who’s had odor or litter box aversion problems already, since the MDF build and enclosed design amplify both risks rather than solving them.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Merry Products Cat Litter Loo Bench big enough for a large cat?

Probably not comfortably. It’s built to fit a litter box up to about 18.5 inches wide by 16 inches deep, while vets generally recommend a box at least 1.5 times your cat’s nose-to-tail length. A cat over roughly 16 inches long will likely find the interior box cramped once the bench’s walls and any divider are accounted for.

Will the MDF material hold up if my cat misses the litter box?

Not well. MDF is porous and absorbs liquid, so urine that hits the interior walls or floor of the bench soaks in rather than wiping clean, and the odor can become permanent. This is one of the most consistently reported issues with fiberboard litter box furniture, including this model.

How does this compare to a self-cleaning litter box for odor control?

A quality self-cleaning box will generally outperform the Litter Loo Bench on odor management, since it removes waste automatically instead of relying on you to keep the interior clean and depending on a covered wooden cabinet that traps ammonia. The bench wins on furniture disguise and price, not on odor performance.

Do most cats mind using a covered or enclosed litter box like this one?

Research is mixed but leans toward it not being a big deal for most cats. A study published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery found about 70% of cats showed no preference between covered and uncovered boxes, though cats with existing elimination issues may have stronger preferences worth testing individually.

Divider	Removable interior partition
Features	Side rail for towel hanging
Material	MDF with painted finish
Door Type	Magnetized
Dimensions	18.5 inches wide × 16 inches deep (fits litter box up to)