Great question . No good answer.

I got a great question from Monica today. Monica is an American in Stockholm who has a problem with her kitty litter box. She says "it's not a very pretty sight and my cat is so old he hates the enclosed versions now.  The other is my golden retriever apparently doesn't think I clean it out enough and 'assists' me sometime - yuck!"

Yuck indeed.  I'm afraid I don't have a great answer... I did think about the litter box a lot before we got our cats three years ago but it turns out Mini and Bonus prefer doing their business outside (hopefully in our garden and not any of our neighbours) nowadays and only use the litter box in exterme circumstances, like 20 degrees below Celcius.

We do have one though and when the cats were young they did use it a lot. Ours is sitting out in a corner in the kitchen. I got the most discreet one I could find, it's square in milky white plastic, here's a nice round version. I also got the best cat sand available. It clumps and is super easy to scoop. When Mini does use the box she's a pretty messy lady so I keep a broom and dustpan right next to it.

One idea I had when I was getting ready bring our kittys home was to hang a small curtain infront of the counter top in the kitchen. It would have hidden the box and provided a little bit of privacy :). Maybe that could be a solution for your cat, Monica? That space is actually Mini and Bonus's eating nook now. The little towel is there because the cats usually barge in through the kitty door in the livingroom and run straight into the kitchen. If their paws are wet the towel dryes them as they eat their dinner. On the counter top there's a glass jar with cat food, really convenient and not too ugly.

Like I said, I don't have a great answer. Maybe some of you have had the same problem and can help Monica out with your solution? Please leave a comment if you do.

By the way, I love getting comments and e-mails from you and if you have a question about organizing or any other topic you think I could help you with, pleeeeeeeease let me know. Even if I don't have all the answers (which I don't ofcourse!) somebody out there might! I can post about your problem and at least show you how I deal with the same issue in my home. That is if you would like me to. I'd love to.

Comments

[Danette]

Oh how fun! I have a lot of organizing issues. I will pull one together for you. Well, for you, but ultimately for me, I guess. Thanks for offering that to your readers, it is very generous of you.

I have the litter box dilemma as well, right now it is upstairs in front of the neighbor's back door---long icky story---don't ask.

I did have a friend who made a little hinged screen out of plywood and then painted a garden scene on it, it was a little too cutesy for me, but very clever, I thought. I suppose you could cover it in a graphic wallpaper or even paint it the same color as your wall so it blends into the corner a bit. Does that make sense?

[Ana]

Toliet train your kitties...

My cat is trained and a friend is halfway through training. I swear it's easy and you will NEVER look back.

Here is what I used

http://www.citikitty.com/

[Chitra]

Hello there,
Just wanted to let you know that i have been visiting your blog for couple of days now. Very impressive. Will keep visiting.

Cheers
Chitra
PS: I love the way you have organized your house. Lovely !

[Kristie]

I can't wait to see more answers to this question. I hate kitty liter, but I love my kitties.

[Lindzi]

Now I know 2 things I need your help with...

How to keep the storage of the waist you recycle, as most of us do in Sweden. For me it wouldn't be so practical to run to the garage every time I want to throw away a plastic container or an aluminum can. How do you keep yours? I assume you are environmentally friendly ;-)

How to store all the kitchen utensils in a pretty way. Do you have a good solution?

Hugs from Lindzi

[mayalu]

We have in effect one of your suggestions and recommend it whole-heartedly.We love our cat and appreciate his "outside" habit, but we have a kitty litter right off the kitchen for cold winters and weekends away (when we keep him in). We have put up a curtain to hide litter and food...creating a closet effect. He enjoys his privacy and we enjoy not having an eye-sore.

[Benita]

Thanks for all the comments. The City Kitty sounds great, Ana!

[Monica]

Love all the ideas! Now I'm toying with the idea of putting it in the bathroom - it will 'just' fit - and putting some kind of bench or something over it, in a way.

Thanks for all of your help!!!

[Norea]

hej,
jag har en matchande blå kattlåda med tak i badrummet i en hörna-det finaste jag kunde hitta som matchande mina färger i badrummet...men det finns massor av fina "litter cabinet" eller "litterbox furniture" eller "litter box cover" bara att Googla på dessa ord så öppnar sig en hel värld av idéer...

bl.a på dessa sidor finns det lite att kolla in

http://www.catsplay.com/kitty_condos.php3#litter

http://www.sparklecat.com/Store/litterbox-furniture.shtml

PS. Hittade hit via Amretas blogg by the way. DS.

[Benita]

Tack för tipsen Norea!

[Alex in DC]

Benita,
I recently discovered your blog and am catching up on all your posts. Even though this is from two years ago), I thought I make my first entry on this subject because if there is anything related to cleaning in which I am 'Benita-like', it is the litter.
I have two cats in a small city apartment on the 8th floor and thus no lawn .... so when I got them, making the litter work was really important. I decided there where three things that litter boxes needed to be:
1) easy and attractive for the cats to use
2) easy for me to clean (and remember to clean)
3) to be completely smell free (of course)
4) relatively inexpensive (because I'm just throwing it away)

I put my litter boxes in the bathtub - which I see every day (so I never forget) and is out of the way for their privacy, plus the shower washes any litter that is thrown out of the boxes so there are not bits tracked around the apartment. Your litter location is great, outside the main traffic pattern but within easy view to know when to clean. A tub may not work for an older or sick cat, particularly if the climb over the tub is too much and sometimes an older or sick cat needs more than one box (in different locations).
I use two boxes, one for each cat, but could easily get away with one - it just seems nicer to give them each one. The boxes are small (I use Ikea's Slugis box - 2 gallon size) - this is key to my approach. I put about 1/4 inch of litter into each box and dump the whole box the next day into a small plastic bag, refill the box. Because boxes are so small and light weight, they are easy to pick up, dump and refill. The daily process takes about five minutes. On my way out the door, I grab the bag and take it out to the trash. Done!!
I wash the boxes at the very least once a week with diluted bleach (1:20) , rinse really well, dry and refill (about ten minutes). Bleach mix is stored in a well labelled spray bottle stored in the bathroom.
The type of litter does not seem to matter - I've used, clay, corn, wheat, recycled paper, crystals - it all works. Right now, I'm using crystals -- they are a bit more expensive but absolutely smell-free.
I know it sounds a bit crazy, but with minimal effort on my part (basically I'm flushing for them once a day) I have a clean smelling apartment and happy cats. Interestingly, I use a less litter this way than the 'traditional' method - so it's actually less expensive.
Hope this idea helps someone!!