Better Cat Litter Box

Three things inspired this build; the fact that my cats leave a huge mess in the basement every week from their litter boxes, my wife getting on me about getting the cats something to put their litter boxes in, and that wood seems to be one of my favorite materials to work with.

The idea of this litter box was to be a better litter box than any other one you can find on the market and one that had some innovations that made life easier for the cat owners. I wanted to have a glass top for easy visibility to see when the litter if full and needs to be changed. Also, the glass top would have the added benefit of giving the cats some added light and visibility which I think would make the cats happy.

Another, feature of the litter box was that it needed to fit two litter box in one space. I thought this would be easier to clean and take up less space as a 2 in 1 solution.

Then finally, the main feature is a cat runway that leads to the litter boxes. On the runway there is a rubber carpet, or you could use other type of material to catch the cat litter off of the cats feet. Essentially, this will work like a cat welcome mat for them to clean their paws before going into the house and hopefully prevent them from dragging litter with them.

• 10 2 x 2 boards
• 1 1 x 4 board
• pencil
• tape measure
• 2in wood screws
• 1in wood screws
• plexiglass
• wood planks
• saw
• screwdriver/ power drill
• cat litter mat
• Sandpaper
• hinges and locks

Optional

• spirit level
• ruler
• eraser

Time to get to measuring. My cat box was 40 inches wide, 24 inches long and 26 inches tall. This is going to be the frame of the cat box.

In this section you will need:

• tape measure
• saw
• pencil
• sandpaper
• 2in wood screws
• power drill
• 2 x 2 boards

1. Take the tape measure out and measure the 2 x 2 boards to 40 inches and 24 inches.
2. Use the saw to cut the measured board.
3. Use the already cut boards to measure and cut 3 more boards 40 inches and 7 more boards 24 inches.
4. Sand all of the cut boards as to not have any splinters out.
5. Use the 2 inch wood screws and the power drill to screw in all the cut boards to make the skeleton of the cat box.

Required

• 1 x 4 board
• 2in wood screws
• 1in wood screws
• pencil
• saw
• drill
• wood plank
• sandpaper
• 2 x 2 boards

1. Time to build the runway. Make the runway to your desired length. I just used some leftover wood that matched up so no boards went to waste. You are going to assemble the runway. Then trace it with a pencil on your wood board.
2. Screw the runway to your frame using 2in screws and then cut out the runway floor and secure it to the runway using the 1in screws.
3. Right now you will take the 1x4 board and measure our the width of the of your box. Cut the board to the right dimensions and screw it in to create a divider wall between the two litter boxes. Screw in using the 2in wood screws.
4. Take the wood plank and an end piece of the 2 x 2 board. Sketch the outline of the posts like i did in the pictures and cut out the dimensions to let the plank fit inside the box to serve as a floor. Screw in the floor using the 1in wood screws.

1. Time to put in the plexiglass. Take some cut wood plank making it about 4 x 24 and put it on each side of the top of the box and drill them in using the 1 inch screws.
2. Place the plexiglass on the top of the cat box and cut the 1 x 4 board to 24 inches so that it fits on the top of the box.
3. Screw the two 1 x 4 inch boards over the plexiglass to secure it to the top of the box. You cannot drill through plexiglass or it will break so this is how you will secure it to the top.
4. Now that the top and front is done you have to complete the bottom and the back.
5. Simply take the wood planks and outline the box. Once outlined you will cut them and screw them into the bottom and back of the box using 1 inch screws.

1. Time to put on the doors. First you must measure out the size of the door. You can do this one of two ways. First, you can trace the door hole onto the wood plank and use that to cut yourself a door. Or second, you can measure the door dimensions with the tape measure and cut your door that way. I just traced the door.
2. You will need to get your hinges and some bits of wood.
3. Line up the door and the hinges how you want them. Screw the hinges to the frame of the box then, screw the hinges to the door. The plank is not thick enough for real support so use the bits of wood to secure the hinge to the door. You will screw into the door and then into the piece of wood and tighten until the door is in secure.
4. Attach one part of the lock to the frame of the box and the other to the door. Line them up. You can also use magnets for this part but I could not find any at my local hardware store.
5. Test to see if the door works.

1. Use the 2 x 2 boards and make a door frame for the cats to go through. Make one more copy of the door frame for the front of the door. Once you have made the door frame it is time to set up the walls.
2. You will slide the wood plank behind the door. If you have not yet secured the door frame in you will take the frame and trace the dimensions onto the plank. Take the plank and cut a hole into it using the dimensions of the door that you build.
3. Once you have the door secured to the box you are going to slide the plank behind the door and screw the plank to the door frame and the to the rest of the box using 1in wood nails. For securing the board to the frame you want to use the smaller screws to not crack the 2 x 2 boards.
4. Place one more piece of 2 x 2 board between the two door frames and screw it into the frame to provide more stability to the door frame.
5. Now measure out the dimensions of the door frame and cut the plank to those dimensions. This will serve as your cat runway.

1. Take cat litter mat.
2. Cut to your dimensions
3. place inside the runway.
4. let the cat enjoy.

• I drilled holes into the back for the cats to get extra ventilation.

Improvements i want to make:

• I want to paint the box and I think it will make the box more inviting.
• Finally, I want to polish up certain bits like make the carpet fit a little bit better with the runway.