apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

It's cute but...it's a profile cutout. Now I keep picturing a cat doing the litter box electric slide, or walking in like an Egyptian cat.

I'm not sure about this one. I think that the "entry" is too big, which can only lead to more mess being kicked outwards.

It also seems like a lot of effort (and commitment to having a cat-shaped hole in your cabinetry).

I would like to see other ideas for this problem though. I was accustomed to keeping my Matilda's box in the bathroom, but the bathroom in my new apartment is tiny and also very humid. Not a good environment for a litter box. Since the box will be moving into my coat closet, I need to find something that can keep the smell and mess completely enclosed!

Like it.

Love the idea! Too bad I can't execute it... my cats like to ambush each other and would use the counter as a launching pad.

Cat people and their kitty cat things would like this.

I love this. so cute!

I've always wanted to be able to cut into a cabinet door to stash the litterbox, but I don't think I'd go for cat-shaped. it's cute in theory, but cat decor just makes me think crazy cat lady (and I'd like to be at least 60 before I take on that role...).

I actually did something similar to this. Because of the size of my apartment, my cat's litter box has to be in the living room. I decided to make a combination litter box cover, radiator cover and side table. I drew out a simple design and got some wood, a jigsaw, screws and two door hinges. The cat entrance is toward the wall with the window, but the lid lifts up easily for cleaning. The smell has never been an issue (which I definitely worried about because of the close proximity to the radiator), and any litter that gets tracked out ends up behind the table, rather than on the rug. There is plenty of room for my cat to get in between the couch and the chair. This makes it easy to vacuum up any stray litter with a dust buster.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/sueconnors/Litter%20Box%20Cover/DSC06793.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/sueconnors/Litter%20Box%20Cover/DSC06805.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/sueconnors/Litter%20Box%20Cover/DSC06808.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/sueconnors/Litter%20Box%20Cover/DSC06803.jpg

These pictures are from when I moved in a few months ago, and were originally taken to document my first attempt at carpentry. I have since added a lamp and removed the clutter from the top of the table :)

That cat door is cute.

As a dog person who finds cat litter boxes especially offputting, I'm all for diguising them (and containing the smell). But do cats really use these dark enclosures? I would asume they'd need a nightlight in there (don't laugh... all the cats I've known were fussy things).

The best solution I've seen is a cat door into a small utility closet (with a small light). The closet was still usable for mops, brooms and cleaning stuff. The smell was contained, as was the dust. It was all very discrete. The cat like it.

tinyleaf: That is brilliant! I've been contemplating something similar. Have to ask though- when your cat uses the box, don't you find the noise disturbing? My Tildy likes to rearrange, and her scratching noises drive me crazy. Do you have that problem at all?

Forestdweller: Cats are definitely lurkers. Mine loves to squeeze herself into the darkest corners of the apartment and sulk. I think that a dark, private spot like this would be her dream come true.

Thanks shockthebourgeois! The sound doesn't really bother me. Yes, I can hear the scratching faintly when she's in there, but I would say I only notice it a couple of times a week. She doesn't linger in there for long, so I may hear it for 10-15 seconds if I happen to be sitting on the couch at the time, and it isn't very loud. I think the covered litter box and the table probably help muffle the sound somewhat. Like I said, I don't have many options for the litter box location. So, I definitely prefer the sound of scratching in the living room every once and a while to an exposed box in my tiny bathroom or hearing the scratching in my bedroom.

You mentioned doing something to keep the litter box contained in your coat closet, and I think something like this would work really well for that. It's really just a simple box with a cutout to the side or back and a lid that lifts up. It would definitely help out with the smell and mess. Good luck!