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Cleaning Up:  Ideas for "hiding" litter boxes?  |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 29 2006 : 07:32:03 AM
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So, here's the dilemma. We have three cats--two large toms, and a female, and two litter boxes. Our home is small, and for a long while, I have had their litter boxes in the back rooms because they were in a state of "flux" with remodelling. So, the rooms are getting finished, and the cats have issues with pottying outside the box sometimes, and my husband is getting frustrated with the prospect of spending good money on fixing up the rooms to make them a giant litter box...Has anyone had luck with putting litterboxes in closets and leaving the door ajar, or making a "cat door" in a door? I know cats like privacy, and I thought maybe I could revamp my small utility closet in the hallway to house their box--and maybe put the other on the landing to the basement. It's really tough because I just don't have any "hidden spaces" nor much space, really, in general.
I've also thought about the bathroom, but as my grandma used to say, "it's so small, you can't cuss a cat", :) so I guess that's out...
Just think of all of the roads there are...all of the things I haven't seen....yet. |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Nov 29 2006 : 07:44:22 AM
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chile .. my only suggestion is OUTSIDE! we've had cats most of our lives .. and i just have NEVER found a convenient place for them. usually ended up in the basement though. ha .. love your grannie's saying! xo
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Nov 29 2006 : 07:55:17 AM
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I have one of the covered ones (looks like a cat carrier) in the corner of the family room and hate it!! We have two cats but only one who comes in and out. Since it is cold and snowy now she is back to using the blamed thing..I with there was a better solution. I don't have a hiding spot either. I do like the covered type better.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Nov 29 2006 : 08:02:29 AM
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You could remove the doors from a floor level cabinet and put the box inside then make a little curtain to cover the opening that way kitties can come and go. Never had a litter box. All our cats have been outdoor trained.
Jewelry, art, baskets, etc.
www.willowtreecreek.com |
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Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Nov 29 2006 : 09:05:11 AM
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When I had cats indoors, I made a cover for the litter box with another bigger box. I think I decorated it so that you'd not know what was inside was a litter box. Then I turned the opening towards the wall so that you couldn't see inside it unless you turned it around. Maybe you could try something like that? What about leaving the litter boxes in the same rooms they've been in, and put them as the "base" of some sort of occassional table- make a box covering (maybe covered in fabric)for the litter box, then use it for a nightstand or whatever. If you could build a basic box shape then that would work.
Good luck! That litter box thing is what's keeping me from having cats again. There's just no good place inside my house for a box.
Kim in NC |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Nov 29 2006 : 09:58:33 AM
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If my husband had his way, these guys would be history, but they were here long before he was. To be fair they have an equal hate/hate relationship--whe he moved in after our wedding, they pooped in his shoes for months, and after I took a bath or shower, before he got in, they would poop in the tub! They realized he was staying, but you can see how well things were going for awhile...
We tried outside for a while, and they loved it, my husband loved it, but they got into too much trouble, and ended up costing me a lot of money in vet bills. Did you know that a broken toe on a cat costs $600? Also, we have a neighbor--the same one I posted about in the family matters portion earlier in the Autumn, who is a murderer of neighborhood cats and I don't want to subject them to poison.
I think I'll try the bottom cabinet thing with a combination of the utlity closet. If I get down to one litterbox though, they all go on top of what the other has done and I'd be cleaning every two hours!
Thanks for the suggestions, all. I love them, but it's difficult to have them.
Just think of all of the roads there are...all of the things I haven't seen....yet. |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Nov 29 2006 : 6:34:07 PM
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I have one of the covered litter boxes too. It is much better than the open ones because our two male kittens are so messy. They still track little everywhere. I have the box in my launday room. I've always had in and out cats until now so the box didn't get used much except in the winter time. Now I'm scooping at least twice a day and it still smells like cat urine. Hopefully when they are neutered the smell will be better. I'd do two boxes except I don't have room for a second one.
Handmade delights at www.rusticcottagecreations.com
Visit my blog! http://nwfarmerette.blogspot.com/ |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2006 : 06:58:19 AM
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| When I was a kid, our cat's litter box always stayed on the basement landing. Our current cat likes to kick litter out of the box. We are lucky to have an attic. I keep his food dishes on the landing and his litter box at the top of the stairs, and I only go up there once a week to change litter and sweep up. I like the bottom cabinet idea. We have a built in dishwasher in our kitchen that has never been used (I'm afraid to try it because the plumbing looks scary in the basement - HUD house, so we couldn't ask the former owner if it worked). I'm thinking about pulling out the dishwasher and putting the litter box in that space. But I would need to build some sort of wooden cover to put across the front (with a cat opening) to contain the flying litter. Personally, though, I like the basement or attic best for these things if you've got one. Out of sight (and smell), out of mind. |
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summerbreeze
True Blue Farmgirl
277 Posts
Laura
WA
USA
277 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2006 : 6:11:42 PM
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I have several friends who did a great job with the cat box. One was able to cut a little door under the bathroom sink, the other but a oval in her utility closet. She then painted a very cute mouse above the entryway.
Laura
You only live once,if you do it right once is enough. |
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beckels
True Blue Farmgirl
237 Posts
becky
warrington
pa
USA
237 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2006 : 7:10:23 PM
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Tell your hubby the kitties were only testing him by pooping in his shoes...When my parents would go away for a vacation, my dad's female cat Sable pooped in his work boots. Normally he would throw a hissy fit but he grumbled and looked at her and said did you miss me?
p.s. she had him so well trained that she would mewo next to her favorite blanket and he would go wait a second and go sit down in the lazy boy -put the blanket on his lap and then she would jump up and sleep (when I was a kid cats stayed outside till these two adopted him)
Another idea to hide the cat litter buy a nighstand - take off the bottom door (or put a hole in the door/hand a curtain across the bottom and put the cat litter box inside
beckels |
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Hideaway Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1553 Posts
Jo
Virginia
USA
1553 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2006 : 7:13:50 PM
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Hammacher Schlemmer's Christmas 2006 catalog has, for the tiny sum of $99.95, something called 'The Discreet Litter Box Cabinet" ... Looks sort of like a nightstand, painted white and has an opening in the front of the lower cabinet door. There is a two-shelf built-in top, so it can be used for a table top or other use (cat bowls, perhaps?).
This is something easily made by a handy farmgirl or DH, I should think. Unless you have $100 buckaroos to spend...
Jo
"There are no strangers here, only friends you've yet to meet." |
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KitchenWitch
True Blue Farmgirl
98 Posts
Kristina
Santa Fe
New Mexico
USA
98 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2006 : 7:27:29 PM
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I'm currently "staging" a home on 18 acres that is regularly shown by area realtors--I have to keep my cat (and her litter box!) incredibly discreet. My kitty took to the "hiding-the-litter-box-in-the-closet-and-leaving-the-door-slightly-ajar" approach that I use with no problem.
That said, the best situation ever was when a particularly industrious boyfriend put something like a cat door in the linen closet of my guest bathroom. I had the litter box on the floor just behind the cat door in the closet and it worked flawlessly. I don't think guests ever realized what was hidden down there!
My understanding from a vet friend is that cats often act up when there is change in the home. You might share with your husband that the kitties' shenanigans could just be a response to the construction/disruption. It's not uncommon for cats to get, uh, "irresponsible with their litter" when new people are coming and going or the walls change color. Maybe that will help assuage your husband's annoyance. 
Good luck, whatever you decide to do!
Live deliberately, simply, abundantly. Remind your neighbors how to thrive. |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2006 : 04:59:22 AM
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Here's an interesting solution shared by someone on my horse board. She went and bought one of those large Rubbermaid tubs. She put a few inches of cat litter into the bottom of the tub, and cut a hole in the center of the lid big enough for the cat. She showed the kitty what it was, and kitty jumps up and in, and uses it. No more tracked litter, no expensive catbox, and it's tucked away in a corner where nobody has to see.
Of course my cats are outside cats and live in the barn. Sometimes they poop in the stalls, and then the horses lie down on it and get cat poop on their blankets. Yeesh. |
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Cleaning Up: Ideas for "hiding" litter boxes? |
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Ideas for "hiding" litter boxes?
