Wow what a treat! Thanks for featuring my project

-Fred

This is awesome.

Wow. Fred is a genius on many levels. This set up is not only beautiful but well thought out on many levels.

So... when is Fred gonna come by and help me duplicate this!? LOL.

M@:

Oddly enough, my house is up for sale so, if you're thinking of moving to Denver, the project is done :)

The next one will be even better!

wow awesome

Not sure, but I think there is a risk that this would dry out your plumbing trap. Is this connection above where your vent meets the stack?

DC Home Inspection:

Interesting observation. The trap is about 4 feet below the junction. I would think that most air will flow upwards and not swirl around over the water in the trap which holds about 3 inches of water on either side. Since the shower is used daily I would be surprised if I lost enough water to open it up.

Actually in this house that line drops down to a sink in the basement and the trap is a branch off to one side. -I think I'm fine but that's a legitimate concern when designing the system. Glad you pointed that out.

The whole project looks neat - but I am with the above posters wondering if this will affects your plumbing.

Did the cat recognize this as "the place to be" right away or did you have to put it through rigorous training first?

Very cool project. Excellent execution and use of the space.

Just curious. Is there any lighting for the kitty doing their business? If not, A couple of LEDs would make a very nice addition to this great project. It would be easy to hack one of those motion sensor air fresheners to turn on a few battery powered LEDs when a cat enters.

Just mentioning it because while cats don't need much light to see, they cannot see in complete darkness. A little light would probably make it more comfortable.

I'm also curious, how many cats? Did you have any trouble getting them to adjust to using the small space or did they take right to it? I've got three large males myself and know the reactions to new things and group dynamics can be very hard to predict.

I spent some time looking at the plumbing issue last night and I'm fine in this house. I was slightly mistaken about the vent stack. The vent of the shower is part of the tub itself. The stack I am tied into doesn't see water below for more than 12 feet. Even it if was 2 feet away, there's not enough pressure from the fan to "blow out" the water and the flow is all up the stack and out the roof. This was built about 7 months ago. We have been on vacation for two weeks and I think I would have noticed by now if there was an issue.

Cats figuring it out:
Instant. The trick was to have the box outside long enough for them to use it once. Then I put it in the drawer, stuck them in the hole and they got the picture immediately.

Lighting: I was wondering the same thing but, there seems to be enough light going down the "hallway" to help. Based on "evidence", they are definitely getting all the way in to do their thing. I have also heard them digging in there in the middle of the night when there is no real light to speak of. Might be from memory.

The height of the box is higher than the plastic covered boxes you can buy, so it's not too cramped. Cats tend to like small spaces.. I guess this is not an exception.

I had considered the motion detection thing but, as I mentioned in the details, the fan itself really is not needed. There must be a natural draw pulling the air up the pipe from the box. Sometimes I kick the fan on after cleaning just for the fun of it. I wanted to keep it simple and motion detection was overkill. Cat's don't freak out if I turn the fan on while they are in there. There is a grate that protects them from the fan.

We have 2 male cats (That's Ashton in the pictures). They "tolerate" (ignore) each other most of the time. They both use the box. I have read you should have one box per cat but, my home is too small. They do go outside but get this: When I let them in, they occasionally run to the box. We also have 2 Labradors

The bathroom is a great place.. I have seen projects where people put the box in living room furniture and that just weirds me out. Laundry, closet, basement would be my next choices.

really cool. the only thing I think i would have done just to make it easier would to skip the whole sliding out on rails thing and just make the front of it a door with the hinge on the bottom. so it just opens up, pull the litter out. etc.

your way works much better but also takes a bit more work to make it all happen

I totally get the outdoor-cat using indoor litter box. Many times I wake up in the middle of the night to see my cat returning from outdoors to use the litterbox and then immediately go back outside to roam some more. I used to think, "you little stinker!"

Your cat venting project is brilliant. I would only add that as your cats becomes elderly it becomes important to observe your cats' activity in the litter box to determine their health. It was my cat's frustration in the litter box one weekend that I realized something was very wrong and rushed him to an emergency vet. He lived for 7 more grace days.

While I'm lucky enough to have an outdoor cat, when we got him he had a litter tray and I would have moved heaven and earth to have a contraption like this. What a great piece of design. Patent pending I assume?

Wait, it's only a matter of time till readers start commenting in rage about how this is so going to traumatize the cats.

@Fred. Sorry - put down roots in LA. Best of luck on the sale - I can't imagine it not going quickly if the whole house has touches like this. (of course, winter in Denver is not a big house-buying time...)

what a great design! not sure how I can reduplicate it, it will be one of my AT cure projects. Did you cat accept it at once
?

The only problem I can see would be needing to open up the door every few hours to check for evidence.
In my case it's 'out of sight, out of mind' and if I didn't have the box staring me in the face every time I went to the bathroom I would likely forget to clean and change it.
Also my Tiger doesn't appreciate having to use the box when there's already something in there!
Still, this is genius idea and it would be excellent not having to deal with the smell.

Ingenious! I have this project bookmarked and filed in my 'future home idea' folder. TFS :)

BOOKMARKED. seriously, i bet people are bookmarking this even if they don't own a cat. ingenious.

You need to be able (with more than one cat using the same litter box) to observe WHO is doing WHAT in the litter box. My cats are older and even more important. If a cat is "straining" or visiting the box often and only leaving little "piddles" the cat may have a health problem.

Also, evidently, you are not using clumping litter. You don't want to ever put clumping litter down the toilet.

Ashton is a beautiful cat.

First: Thank you to everyone for the kind and constructive words. didn't expect this much feedback.

A few of you asked questions i addressed earlier

Boozie: Understood. As I experienced it, frequency is the thing to watch. Ashton himself did have an infection once and we observed him visiting the old box all the time.. also trying to go all over the house. I'm not certain any litter box would help unless you were standing over it.
I use the recycled news paper pellets. '#2' doesn't stick to it so I can sift and flush. When enough #1 builds up, I just turn the bag inside out, toss it and replace everything.

Ashton is not only a cute one, he's a cuddle bug as well :)

Segway:
Ashton and Gordon (the other cat), will be featured this spring on a new Animal Planet show called "must love cats". We were boarding the cats at a cool place in the mountains and they just happened to be filming when we picked them up.

I expect all this attention will go straight to their heads!

What an excellent design! We have variations on the theme that work for us, but this is the best engineered version I've ever seen! You should install them for people for a nice fee!!

Fantastic. I rent, but will be sending this page to my cat-lovin' pals who own. Covered boxes can obscure kitty activity, too. We all have to be watchful. If I were in Denver and looking to buy, this would be a big big plus. Good luck with the sale. And Ashton is a looker!

I'm one of those who doesn't have a cat, yet booked marked this project. I see a cat and many DIY projects in my future, this is a beautiful solution

Great idea, fabulous execution. Kudos! (I'm a renter in NYC (where our kitty lives), so I'm unable to do what you've done.) If kitty ever comes back to our place in SC, I'm DEFINITELY going to "borrow" your idea. Bookmarked, for sure!

Hi Fred - Thank you for answering my questions. Given your responses, I think it's definitely worth taking a stab at this project. If you come up with any refinements, please let us know. It sounds like there are an awful lot of people very interested.

By the way, I just saw your instructable over at http://www.instructables.com/id/Built-in-self-venting-Cat-Box/ . Thanks again for the great ideas.

@loondawg

The only refinement I might add is NOT connecting to the vent stack but if you are really involved in a project like this, go ahead an run a separate stack.

In my case the existing plumbing in the house will prevent any issues brought up here and elsewhere but, I I see the legitimate concern related to possible problems in other homes.

I would also skip the fan altogether. A 1.5 or 2 inch pipe is all it takes to start a gentle airflow out.

While the venting is one of the top benefits, the hallway down the one side adds the most value after that. I see a lot of DIY projects like this that have direct access to the box. That means litter in the home and (in my case) dogs getting in there. I suppose small children could also be a concern.

IMPORTANT: Do NOT tie into the sewer line vent stack!! Please see an updated version of the instructions here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Built-in-self-venting-Cat-Box/

-Fred

Very cool, Fred. My husband came up with this solution for our 3 pussycats 10 years ago and many people remark that they can't smell cat.

Our box is positioned just inside the laundryroom with an opening thru the wall at the base of the stairs. The opening goes into a box with a motion detector that turns the fan on -it vents for 10mins. The stink is pulled thru one of those dryer foil tubes across the laundry room, over the workshop and out the window. We don't have dogs, so we don't have to worry about big lab heads getting treats. ;) The box stands on 2x4s so I can clean the boxes at waist height.

Can't wait to see your next solution!
@ecstewart

Thanks Lisa. I sold the house in about one hour (happy to say they new owners have cats as well). I'm already making plans for the next big litter box plans (odd thing to say). Might be another year or so before I can address this particular project but, it's going to be a whole new level over this one so keep your eyes open!

Fred

best idea ever!