straddling the line

More cat stuff.

27 May 2011 1 Comment

by straddletheline in craftables, crafts Tags: crafts, DIY, furry dependents

One thing about pets is that they create extra dirt, fur, smells, etc. to clean up. I am what some might refer to as a neat freak. Although I care less about tidiness (unless company is coming over) and more about hygiene and getting rid of germs and odors (ESPECIALLY if company is coming over). I have been to enough bachelor/frat boy pads that have grossed me out, that I want to make sure no one ever comes to my house and wonders when the last time I cleaned was.

Anyways, cat litter has been a recent nemesis of mine. I cheaped out in August and didn’t buy one of those covered cat litter boxes because it was more than twice the price of the regular or high-walled boxes. So I bought my boys a box with higher than average walls, foolishly thinking that would keep the cat litter inside. When I found out that didn’t work I went to Walmart and bought a small rug to put around the box to hopefully catch excess litter. That improved things, but I still found litter in places I didn’t want it. However, the covered cat boxes were still just an expense I couldn’t participate in. I know, my frugality is getting a bit excessive but I couldn’t bring myself to buy another one when I had one at home that sort of did the job. Besides, by now I had already bought a rug. I couldn’t let the high walled box win.

Enter grand upcycling idea number one!

One of my favorite storage devices are those Rubbermaid storage bins. I used them to move here and still keep some excess stuff in them. However, I have a few empty ones laying around. I thought they’d make a perfectly suitable covered cat litter box, and I seem to be right.

My picky cat has already used it once and the other one has snuck inside for a peek. I now have more rug available up front, since the sides are covered, so hopefully my days of endlessly sweeping up litter are over. Not likely, but maybe I can cut down from everyday to every other day. I can also put stuff on top of this one so even though it is bigger it didn’t cut down on garbage area storage space.

These boxes run about $7 or so at Walmart, and if you don’t care about colors you can get some super cheap red and green ones on Clearance post-Christmas. I would recommend using one that is fairly tall. I tried a medium sized one at first and it ended up turning into a cat bed that will likely go unused after today. However, I still am happy with the end results.