Inside The Box, Peeing Out

[tdonline]

Yep, ordering from Chewy...one litter box and puppy pee pads. The second box Chewy doesn't carry and it's an extra large with a cover. I'll have to order from Amazon. The covered box is next to a window and the cats use it to look out the window. There is a drawer next to it that they use primarily but I think it would be good to replace one cover box with another.

 

[margd]

Hey, your post about sitting versus standing was very helpful and may be on the money! Her sister sits to pee and with high sided boxes, that means zero chances of any liquid going out. J though, now that I think about it, stands while she pees. Or more accurately, doesn't sit all the way down like her sister. Her sister really squats down (it's almost funny she really presses down!) Now I'm racking my brain to remember if J has always stood or if she's only started doing that this past year. If so, that totally makes sense why the stream now goes out. So she's situated exactly where she's always been to pee...but now that she's standing, the stream goes over the entrance. Whereas I was thinking she, for whatever reason, was refusing to scoot up a little bit like she had in the past. But may be that's not the case at all!

This would make so much sense. My late cat Wesley began standing up in his box when he was about 10 or 11, right as he started developing arthritis. I had to buy a new box with very high sides but even then he sometimes hit the floor. Then the pee would get under the litter box and agh. Yuck.

Changing the boxes sounds like it really might help. You'll have to let us know if it works - I know I'll be curious to know.

 

[tdonline]

I went the DIY litter box route. Picked up a couple of Home Depot 80 quart clear boxes with lids. I carved an opening that is 8 inches high for one of them. This is the uncovered box in the bathroom. The cats have to high step in and out of the box but they can do it without having to jump. D, inexplicably, used the entry to step in but would jump over the high side to get out. Yesterday, I saw her going in and out via the entryway so hopefully she's figured it out. So far, so good! J is keeping the liquids in.

I only replaced one old box as I didn't want risk the trauma of the cats losing both old boxes instantly. But since installing the new HD box, they stopped using the remaining old box. So today, I installed the 2nd new box. This one I carved an opening in the lid and intend for it to be a covered box that they jump in and out of..eventually. For now, I have left the cover off. The box is located next to a mini-cabinet that is only slightly taller than the litter box. Both box and cabinet are in front of a window. The cats jump onto the cabinet and use it as a window perch. I'm hoping they will use it to jump in and out of the litter box too. Eventually I will put the cover on. I have carved a large circular opening. If my cats do not take to this, I will carve a side entrance so they have two ways to enter/exit. And if that doesn't work, the lid gets chucked.

Other than the cats not liking the boxes, my concern is the durability of the boxes. They are ultra-thin and very flexy. I'm not sure how they will hold up to a good scrubbing. And probably will be unwieldy to wash in the tub. The plastic is brittle and cracked here and there as I carved into it. I'm using electrical tape to reinforce the cracks. Luckily they are not big enough to cause failure, but who knows if they will spread or not. I bought these boxes because they clear, the right size and most important, they have flat bottoms. The surface is silky smooth. Scooping is a pleasure, lol. The clumps slide right off the sides and bottom. I'm not sure if this will remain a thing once the boxes get scratched up and scrubbed. But it's great for now.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Sounds like a good experiment!

I actually picked up one of a similar (but smaller) clear plastic box as you, last summer when my kitty was recovering from knee surgery. We needed to make a homemade litter box with very low sides to put inside of her canvas "crate", since she couldn't lift her knee very high. I remember cutting that clear plastic, lol -- it's much thinner than a normal plastic used for regular litter boxes. It becomes "windy-bendy" when you try to pick it up, right? Be careful-- I'd recommend sliding the litter box onto a piece of wood (or a large baking sheet-- those really large ones) when you are trying to lift it into the air to clean it somewhere else. (Did that make sense?) That way, the flimsier plastic won't bend on you and dump the litter all over the floor!

Also, electric tape won't stick for long. We used industrial duct tape.

 

[tdonline]

Good tip! I have large dog crate pans--I was using them for J's wayward stream. I'll use them to move the boxes around.