DIY Litter Box

We all know it's a part of life... everyone does it, all creatures, big and small, but that doesn't make it pleasant and certainly doesn't make it smell any better.  That's right, folks, I'm talking about poo.  And those two kitties of ours are like little poop factories.

How many of you out there despise dealing with a litter box?  I mean, is there really anyone who enjoys dealing with kitty litter?  I think not.  That scoop is so gross, and you have to go in there, stirring up all those disgusting smells, digging for buried treasure, i mean turds...ick.  Then you have to try and find a place to put them where they won't smell up your entire house...it's just nasty business.

Well, I came up with an idea for a self-sifting litter box that negates the need for a pooper scooper.  It makes kitty litter a little simpler...still not very pleasant... but simpler.  My idea was to have three nesting trays with holes punched in different spots on all three trays (so that none overlapped) so when all three trays were stacked it would make a solid bottom where no kitty litter could escape.  However, when only one tray is lifted, the litter is able to sift through to the next layer, leaving behind the clumps which you can simply toss in the trash.  Then you simply take the empty pan and rotate it to the bottom of the stack, so you have a continuously rotating litter pan system, free of scoops.

I've seen similar self-sifting styles but there's only 1 sifting pan and 2 solid pans so you have to sift your litter, then empty the clean remaining litter into a new pan, then put the sifting pan back in, then transfer the clean litter back in to that pan... just seems like a lot of extra, unnecessary trouble that could be easily remedied.  Plus, those models are between $20-$30.  Way too much for a plastic tub that holds poo.

Here's how we did it, Two Broke Bruces style:

I started out shopping for plastic containers but soon realized that those wouldn't work because they don't sit flush with one another due to their shape.  I almost gave up until I walked through the kitchen aisle and saw those throw-away tin lasagna pans.  Those sit flush to one another, were super cheap, and I figured they'd be easier to punch holes through anyway.

Then, I purchased an inexpensive plastic bin with high sides and a lid to put the tins in so that when the cats scratch and dig, the litter doesn't fly out all over the floor.

We started by laying out a grid pattern that would be divisible by 3 so that we'd have an equal number of holes in each pan, color coordinating them so that no pan would have holes drilled in the same place.

We then punched small holes in the top/guide pan, with the pan to be drilled underneath.  These holes were small enough that no litter could fall through, it just gave us a guide so we'd know where to punch the bigger holes. 

Next, Daniel matched up a drill bit to the same size hole as our pooper scooper and started drilling bigger holes in our pre-punched pans.

That made the edges a little ragged, and I didn't want our little kitties scratching around in there and getting cut feet, so we found that the hole punch worked better.  It pushed the tin out toward the bottom so the surface where they'll be standing is nice and smooth and all the jagged edges are on the bottom where it won't matter.

Once we had all the holes punched, we did a test to make sure that: A) the holes were big enough for all the kitty litter to sift through; and B) that when two pans were stacked together the kitty litter would not escape.

Bob was very interested in this part and actually jumped in to take full advantage of his shiny new loo... We had to transplant him to the old one so we could finish the project.

Success!

The next step was cutting a little kitty door in the plastic bin so we could keep the lid on and it would be like a little enclosed 'outhouse' for the kitties.  It also makes it a lot easier to move.  Daniel simply drew a door on the side with a sharpie and then used his multi-tool to cut the opening.

Ta da!

The kitties were very interested in our progress.  They took right to it, investigating every inch of it once it was all finished.

The next day we tried it out after the kitties had been using it all day, and it actually works really well.  Bye-bye pooper-scooper!  It's just like panning for gold, except in this case, instead of getting shiny gold nuggets, you just end up with a pile of crap.  Tee hee hee!  I crack myself up...

Simply throw the clumps in the trash and place the newly emptied pan on the bottom of your stack and start the whole process over again... a self-sifting, rotating system for under $10.00!