Those that have cats in smaller houses - where do you put the litter box?

[azmomtoone]

Just curious as to what others are doing because I'm not coming up with a good solution. We got a new kitten last week.

The litter box won't fit next to the toilet on either side, which had been my plan.  So right now it's in front of the toilet, turned sideways so it's lengthwise against the wall.  Which is ok but not really great because we have to move it (usually just to the hall) for showers/baths or step over it wet which tends to be a mess.  (also a mess anyway 'cause this kitten digs like crazy and gets litter everywhere - will be getting one w/ a lid but got one without hoping it'd fit next to the toilet).

Growing up, the litter box was always kept in the utility room - which had a cement floor w/ the washer/dryer, furnace, extra freezer, and some canned goods.  We don't have one of those in this house, or even a laundry room, we just have a "laundry closet" in the hall -- ie, just barely enough room for the washer/dryer, with accordion doors that open into the hallway to use them - nowhere for a litter box.  Except maybe on top of one which doesn't seem very practical.  Furnace/AC here is in the garage  (no actual furnace just the AC runs in reverse, doesn't get very cold here) ;)  Which does have plenty of room for a litter box but then we have to leave the door to it open, and heat/cool the garage all year, or the cat can't get to it.

I don't really want to put it in the living room or kitchen or a bedroom.  Cat's food/water is in the kitchen.

So anyway, sorry for the rambling -- just looking for what everyone else is doing -- maybe something I've missed or maybe convince me it's ok to have it elsewhere. 

[elsie]

I like this idea : http://www.therefinedfeline.com/cat-litter-box-furniture.htm

You could probably even make one with an ikea cabinet and a saw.

[BCFD]

I made this one:

http://flic.kr/p/55t3LJ

http://flic.kr/p/55oRzF

Got the instructions from this site:

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2007/08/simple-ideas-for-cat-litter-boxes.html

[lucyem]

Can you install a cat door from the house to the garage?  We did that once to the basement door.

[RiverSky]

As the PP suggested, we had cat doors installed on the door from our house to the garage.  Worked like a charm!

[PatioGardener]

I have one with a lid.  It stays in the hall closet.  But now I feel the need for a trip to Ikea...

[azmomtoone]

Thanks!!  I showed my DH the Ikeahack, and the expensive one -- he says he can probably build something like that. =)

I did think of the cat door to the garage.  Worry about her running off though, if we don't realize she's out there, and then getting hurt or sick.  Or pregnant, she'll be fixed, but I think she's not old enough yet. (Thinking they have to be like 6 mos? In any case she has a vet appt next week and we'll find out then)

[Ellien C]

I think the new thinking about cats is to get them neutered as early as possible. We adopted 3 kittens at the age of 3 months from a rescue and they came spayed. I think you can get your cat done now. I was really glad too because they got out a few times the following spring and I was REALLY afraid one or the other was pregnant. Then I got their vet records and found out they had been done before they were adopted out. You can get yours spayed now, of course, but I don't think you have to wait until 6 months anymore. 

[eckmannl]

I regularly foster kittens for a local animal shelter.  At our shelter, they have to be 3 pounds and then they can be spayed or neutered.  This is usually somewhere around 3 months.

[treeoflife3]

In my experience, even if you have a lid on the litter box, you will still have litter all over the the area around it.  My mom keeps her litter box in the bathroom closet and I always feel gross showering there because I'm still stepping on litter so I never actually feel CLEAN.  Granted, none of the cats I know have ever been willing to use the door on the lid that helps keep things from getting everywhere and the lid DOES lower the litter amount in the area, but I still have never been able to keep our kitty's litter box in the bathroom or any area we spend a great deal of time in.

Currently we have a spare bedroom that I keep the litter box in when it is cold and it goes out to our sun room when it is warm because we have a window from the main house to the sun room I can leave open so she can access the room with the door closed.  This way even if there is a mess from her kicking litter out of the entrance of her covered box, the mess isn't where we are showering or eating or playing or sleeping.

I sincerely have no idea what we will do next year when we will probably be moving to a place that won't have a guest/spare bedroom for us to stash a litter box in.  We lived in a place once for three months where the best place for it was in the dining room... that was awful... Man I wish she were toilet trained!

[Momsteader]

When my grandparents lived and traveled full-time in a small RV with two cats, she had a lidded box with a handle on top. She kept it in the bathtub. She'd just lift it out into the hall for showers.

[Kreeblim]

Here is a cheaper one.  It's available in 3 finishes and costs about 100 bucks with free shipping:

http://www.americas-pet-store.com/merry-products-night-stand-pet-house-cat-washroom-litter-box-cover.html

If you search you can find them elsewhere on-line as well.  My mom has this one and she uses it as a hiding spot, not a litter box.

We have a little windowed sun porch, and we installed a cat door between that and the living room.  In the winter we weatherize the windows and put a space heater in the room, and in the summer we open all the windows so the cats can sun themselves in the breeze.  They are indoor city cats so they have it pretty good all things considered.  We keep their food out there too so the dog can't eat it, and we have shelves at window height that we keep cat-specific blankets on for them to cuddle in.  It's probably 4 feet at the widest, but it's L shaped around the corner of the house with one lenth being about 5 feet and the other about 4.