Litter box questions

[Emeraldgreen]

I just posted in that thread and then saw this one. I was talking with my husband yesterday and saying how I wish they would make litterboxes with super high sides because our foster cat Barney has a habit of getting in the box but peeing over the side. I don't think he means to but he likes to hug the sides. lol
So I asked my husband if he would cut a hole in a rubbermaid container about two sizes bigger than Barney on one of the sides. I got home and it was all set up and it's working great. Here is a picture of the box. My husband just grabbed a beat up rubbermaid that he was using for kindling so it's dirty. I didn't want to complain though because he did such a good job setting it up. I will clean it up when I change the litter.

[catmandu]

I PUT NEWSPAPER AROUND THE THREE RUBBERMAID BOXES AND THE STANDARD BOXES, AND THEN LIFT THE BOXES UP AND POUR THE CLEAN LITTER BACK IN.
I HAVE NEVER USED THE PINE LITTER, BUT I HAVE TRIED THE FRESH STEP , AND IT WORKS WELL, AND IS A LOT LIGHTER TO CARRY.
AND THE 7 POUND BAG LASTS AS LONG AS THE 40 POUND CLUMPING LITTER , AND IS EASIER ON THE ENVIROMENT

[Catlady711]

I use these. 29 gal Rubbermaid storage container, only mine is clear not blue like the one in the pix. I don't cut the sides down on them as I have cats that stand on their tiptoes when they pee. Given the ages/health of my cats, they have no problem getting in/out of the boxes.

I use Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter but that is a sort of clay based litter. Does the cat have an allergy to clay that you're switching to pine?

[jenluckenbach]

I've never used storage boxes for litter boxes, but I have thought about it.

I have used pine pellets though. You scoop out the poops and the urines dissolves the pellets into sawdust. Since the pellets do not go through the scooper's holes I would dig down to bring the poops to the top, drop them off the scoop and then scoop only the poop up with a minimal amount of pellets. (hope that made sense)

I also found that if you want to get rid of some of the sawdust before you actually dump the whole pan you can do this:
Take a scooper full of litter but instead of shaking it over the litter box, shake it over your garbage bag. The sawdust goes through to the garbage and the whole pellets stay in the scopp and can be placed back into the box.

My primary litter though, is SCOOPABLE pine! I like it because it is much lighter to carry than clay based. (both bringing in the fresh bags and taking out the used clumps to the garbage). And (as long as the cat covers) the odor control s quite good. But beware, it does track out of the box.

[LionHart]

I just posted in that thread and then saw this one. I was talking with my husband yesterday and saying how I wish they would make litterboxes with super high sides because our foster cat Barney has a habit of getting in the box but peeing over the side. I don't think he means to but he likes to hug the sides. lol
So I asked my husband if he would cut a hole in a rubbermaid container about two sizes bigger than Barney on one of the sides. I got home and it was all set up and it's working great. Here is a picture of the box. My husband just grabbed a beat up rubbermaid that he was using for kindling so it's dirty. I didn't want to complain though because he did such a good job setting it up. I will clean it up when I change the litter.

I really like this... this is one of those things when you say, why didn't Ithink of that! Thank you ALL for sharing.

[catnapper]

I have a HUGE plastic storage bin as a litterbox in my one room. It works well, except Allen STILL tends to use the floor next to the box instead of the inside of the box

[MBones]

We started using the storage boxes as well; they are about 2' high so we just cut holes about 5" up for the cats to get in and out of. This makes it a bit more difficult to fling the litter out of the box! I've also got one who for some reason would pee over the top of a standard litter box, so this keeps everything contained. The walls are high enough that I don't need a cover for them, which the cats like.

We got ours for about $4 each at BigLots. Works much better than the $20 ones at Petsmart. I highly recommend these!

[cassiesmom]

Dominick's supermarket had a bargain on Yesterday's News litter, so I went for it. $7.69 on sale for $5, and the bag had a coupon on it for $2 off ... so I got 14 pounds of Yesterday's News for three bucks. (For comparison, a 10-lb bag of clay litter costs $2.49.) We've never used it before; Cassie is a trouper and doesn't mind when I switch litter types on her. I threw a little pine over top of the Yesterday's News. Here is my question: do I change Yesterday's News every week, like clay; or every 3-4 weeks, like clumping?

Thanks,
Elyse

[katladyd]

I use regular litter boxes and clumping litter. I have always liked the clumping litter because it is easy to clean and it keeps the smell to the nonexistent point. What's funny is that Ming is a very large cat, over 20 pounds (his nickname is Waddles). Mac is on the small side, around 7 pounds. Neither of them has a problem fitting into the box in the kitchen, no litter is scattered and they never "thinks outside the box". In my son's room, we have a different story altogether. The litter is scattered everywhere. I put down an old bed sheet and they still kick litter outside of that. Plus, I find tootsie rolls on the sheet all the time. Go figure.

[allmycats]

I have used the plastic storage boxes like in your picture for litter pans, for years, actually the ones I use are a little longer. they take more litter, but for several cats , seems to work out well. Actually I just bought a regular sized litter box at the grocery store for only $3.49, at petsmart the same size is around $10.00. I am going to see how it goes, I still have some of the other ones around.

I use Tidy cats litter.

[K2QC]

My daughter uses storage containers for her two rescue cats (they are both adults) and use the same litter box.

She cuts a hole in the TOP of the container lid.

We all know how cats love to climb so it is no problem with them figuring out the opening leads to the litter box. When they're getting out, any litter stuck in between their toes usually winds up on the "lid" of the container, resulting in very little litter on the floor.

[jenluckenbach]

Here is my question: do I change Yesterday's News every week, like clay; or every 3-4 weeks, like clumping?

Thanks,
Elyse

It will be more like clay than scooping. The pee will not clump, it "dissolves the pellets". You scoop out the poop regularly and dump when it gets low on pellets (or it smells, whichever comes first.)

[Cataholic]

EmeraldGreen, you and your husband are genuis'!!! I have plastic garbage bags taped to the box on 3 sides and then taped to the wall (box is in closet) to keep the over achiever pee'rs from perfecting their craft! I will get those large storage containers and leave the lids off of them. I might have to build something to have the kittens step up on temporarily.

What a great thread I stumbled into.