Design: Niko and Macy's Shoji Litter Box
Price: ???
Name: Serra
Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn
Pet's Name: Niko and Macy
Pitch:
"Here is a litter box I built using a Shoji screen I sawed off and affixed on a rolling platform. It fits in my art studio under my work bench and I wheel it out and lift the top when the box needs to be cleaned. I put a drawer knob at the top for a handle and a few hooks on the inside for the litter scooper and a small dust pan/brush..." [more below]
The cats enter through four of the squares on the side which I have cut out to create an opening. They really like it because it's never stuffy or stinky in there; I have also attached an air freshener in the inside.
Both cats wear clear nail "tips" (the ethical alternative to declawing: http://www.softpaws.com/) so the scratching on the sides of the box is minimally effective (so far just the back side, see behind the blue dustpan). I figure if the scratches get very bad I can just replace the rice paper, maybe even with a nice colored rice paper or fabric
-Serra, Niko and Macy
A few more pics if you want to see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexuma/sets/72157594171358941/
Copyright © 2007 Apartment Therapy
i love this. it's perfect - you've thought of everything! i especially like the fact that it's on wheels, which is so convenient. also, the cut-out entrance/exit looks like it'd be good for keeping tracking to a minimum - does it help?
Didn't we already vote on this one?
You gotta love that overhead pic. Niko (or Macy) seems to be saying "Can't a feline get a moment alone?"
Hopefully they'll stay svelte, cause the door seems alittle tight. Given cats' preponderance to become 'fatcats' you may have to saw away another 3 boxes.
How did you get the three of them to sit still long enough to apply the Soft-Paws?!
Pixie, you probably saw this when I posted it a while back in an open forum, when someone was showing the headboard they had made out of a woven/wicker type of screen - I posted a link to my Flikr site to show the litter box at that point.
Rocknrope, yes, Niko is extremely annoyed at me in that shot because I basically put him in the litterbox and blocked the door and just kept trying to get him to look up at me. Macy is a little chubby, but she can still squeeze through the hole and it kind of scratches her back and belly when she walks through and I think she likes it.
Jean,I got Niko and Macy as kittens and started the soft paws early (had the vet put them on first when they were put under to get spayed/neutered). They are AMAZINGLY mellow and let me clip and reapply - they have been dealing with it for like six years now...It's only hard for the initial application, after that, they only fall off one or two at a time and that is managable even with a squirmy lil' critter.
-Serra026
Thanks Serra- I thought it was deja vu all over again.
The cutout seems a bit narrow. I'd widen it one more 'square.'
Nice idea.
But I actually want to ask, how does one create a rolling platform? I'm not super handy, but I'm willing to take instruction and I really would love a flat rolling screen in my living room.
Depending on the type of castors you end up using, you just affix them to a square or rectangular pice of wood...easy peasy.
J, if I made the rectangle into a square you would see inside the litter box and it would take away from their privacy...this size is just discreet enough, I think - and they fit in there fine.
Mindy, yes, tracking is kept to a minimum - although still present, infortunately.