The Kitty Loo

I'd posted before about my grand plans for getting the litter box out of the house. Turned out, the execution of these plans was much simpler than I'd anticipated. Score!

I started by priming and painting the toy chest with some leftover paint.

Action shot! First one I think. 

I then read the directions for the cat door at least three times. They didn't make much sense to me, but I decided to jump in and blindly follow along. First up drilling some holes:

Measure, mark, drill, take picture.

Then, using a jig saw to cut from hole to hole.

I love me a jig. Dance or power tool.

Attached the door, plopped down a plastic container that fit (I stole it from the pantry and now have one shelf in UTTER DISARRAY. Or not.), and put in a mat to catch errant litter.

Directions worked! Behold the Kitty Loo

I ordered a patio pet door, which took two weeks to arrive and came broken in a million pieces, thanks to the huge footprint on the box about 2 inches under the 'Fragile' warning.....smooth move UPS.
Luckily I had enough random stuff on hand to macgyver a pass through for the cats which doesn't let too much air in or out. I am SUPER glad that it's held up for a couple weeks, as the temps have been hovering around 100, and the second door doesn't get here for a few more days. If it arrives broken again, the macgyver door will have to last even longer. And UPS will be getting a good amount of in-person flack. I aint afraid of no ghost brown shorts.

Packing blocks + Gorilla tape + plastic bag = cat door play toy

"Imma stick my paw through here and see what happens...
Attack!! Ah! I did NOT see that coming!
Oh wait. Yes I did....
let's do it agaaaain"

In the winter, I will make some sort of a connecting tunnel between the box and the door opening. To ensure there's no smell or errant litter in the house, I'd really like to avoid putting the box right up against the door opening. We shall see.
I thought I'd have to do a similar tunnel year round because of one cat's allergies, but he seems totally fine with the setup thus far, and probably just didn't do well to whatever pollin was floating around before.

Moral of the story: you cannot smell the litter box inside at all anymore, whether it be a new 'present' or the scent of the litter. Praise the Flying Spaghetti Monster



-Lindsay

Hide the litter-box plans

Even 'cat people' hate litter boxes. I don't know about crazy cat ladies, I don't associate with any....wouldn't want it to rub off.

I have been trying to figure out the best and least stinky/dusty/grit on the floor way to have my cats' litter box in my place. Ideally, I would get a sliding door pet insert and put it out outside.

$137 at home depot

The box would be off in a corner during any non-freezing cold weather. My test run of this plan was foiled by little man Mr.Beans who has acute allergies, asthma, and cystic fibrosis (among other health issues), and instantly reacted badly to so much time out in the pollen filled air.

a bad Beans day. the ears say it all.

He does ok with open windows from time to time so, I'm going to have to make a more enclosed outdoor solution that prevents him from lounging out on the balcony for hours on end.

It needs to look better than the setup above, as it will be visible from inside and not hidden away in a garage that I don't have.

nice s*%t box

I've seen some Ikea hacks, but ultimately, I was waiting for a cabinet to materialize in a cheaper manner than buying brand new.
My upstairs neighbor, who was renting and is moving out, threw an obscene amount of stuff in the dumpster yesterday, including a great toy chest I am now scheming on how to use for a cat box.

just like this, but without handle holes

I am both thankful for the bounty I found next to the dumpster and her impending absence. She was not very friendly or considerate. While we all can appreciate Billy Joel from time to time, she would blast it at 3am on a Tuesday in her bedroom right above mine, and screech along loudly with a friend (notable quotes I could hear from above 'I must not be good, cuz I didn't die young: I'm old and still aliiiiive!'). This is just one example in a battery of charming behaviors involving various repetitive loud noises, perma-junk/trash on her front balcony, and offensive incessant smoking. But I digress and will put away the hater-ade for today.

I'll use the chest in a similar manner to this Ikea hack, but with the lid opening on the top:

Fatum Kitty Loo

I'd like to perhaps make the back wall plexiglass to allow more light into the box, but will experiment before cutting a big hole for that in the actual box.

Other than that, all I anticipate needing is some paint: to shine up the scratched n dented outside/seal the inside from potential out-of-box incidents, and a cat door

Pet Door, $20 from Home Depot

So it'll be a pretty nice little project, I'll go to Home Depot, maybe trim out the thing with pallet wood, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.

Frank