Last spring we got a kitten, which we named Tebow (you might remember from this post). He happens to have 7 toes on each side… which makes his front paws look like huge mittens. Yes, he is absolutely adorable in every way.
This is how we looked when we first got him… awww…
Although he can’t help it, his 14 toes have caused some trouble around here. We have been thinking about getting him declawed and would you know his extra toes would cost more? That is total discrimination (ha-ha).
Here’s what our sweet boy looks like now…
Isn’t he adorable? My sister laughs because our pets match our home… (they both match our Striped Wall in the Living Room).
In addition to the extra toes helping him to swat at our sweet dog Bentley with more power, they have created a mess in Tebow’s “room”. Since we didn’t have a good spot for his litter box (I didn’t want to put it in our enormous pantry because that’s just gross, the laundry room isn’t wide enough and we don’t like him to go in our garage), we had to put it in our guest bathroom upstairs. I like super clean bathrooms (and an entire house), so this just kind of gets on my clean freak nerves.
Plus, with Tebow’s extra toes… he makes a huge mess every day. He manages to get his litter in the bath tub and all over the room… gross, gross, gross. I try to explain to him that his mommy is a clean freak, but he just doesn’t care!
I made a declaration to Kevin that he was either going to buy a litter box furniture piece so we could hide the ugliness of this litter box or we were going to have to make one.
Well, we made one. Actually my dad did! I wanted a litter box that looked a bit like a furniture piece. That way when guests do come, it looks neat, tidy and still “pretty” in there.
Materials:
– MDF Board
– Trim Pieces: Ogee Molding
– Nails and Nail Gun
Here’s a little how the process looked…
1st, the fine folks at Gorilla Glue offered us a box chock full of goodies…
Next, I painted it with some of the awesome paint I received from Dutch Boy… Yes, of course it is an aqua color… It is actually called Bull Frog.
We love it- as much as you can love a litter box! The best part is, the lid comes off and we Kevin can clean the litter with ease! And Tebow keeps the bathroom clean…
Tebow likes it too…
Want your chance to win an entire box full of Gorilla Glue goodies? Well, come by tomorrow and enter the giveaway… there will be two winners this go around! So… come by and enter!
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Great idea! I’ve seen something similar in catalogues for much more than you spent, and I think yours is really charming. I’ve often wanted a better way to contain my cat’s litter as well, so I may follow your lead here. I hate litter on the bathroom floor, but there hasn’t been a better place for it to go!
Thanks for the step by step instructions!
He is precious! Please, please don’t declaw him 🙁
I have 3 cats and two boxes… one cat is a special needs kitty who can’t manage to enter and exit the box through one of those openings, so we had to get rid of our covered boxes. I am vacuuming constantly and I wish I could build a box like yours! But they are my babies so they’re worth it 🙂
Great job.
I have two cats and 4 boxes, as I have one cat who is very particular about where he goes. We customized some litter box covers too.
What a great idea!!! I have two kitties and their liter box drives me crazy…but I love them so much I live with it. I love the idea of incorporating it into furniture! 🙂
HI ! Stopped by because I was searching for litter box solutions!
Noticed you mentioned you might get your kitty declawed. I HAVE to try to talk you out of that. Please do a google search on DECLAW and read up on it. It’s a horrible, brutal surgery that is actually OUTLAWED as inhumane in 7 countries. And It could very easily change your sweet kitty into a biting, angry, aggressive cat. (I work in cat rescue, and I see it happen ALL the time. People have great cat, they declaw cat, cat starts biting, becomes aggressive, and starts peeing all over the house because the litter hurts his paws).
IT’s not worth it! Just trying to save you from making these discoveries the hard way, and save your kitty his toes! Poly dactyl cats are SO COOL, please let him keep his feetsies as-is. Lots of good alternatives to declaw. (Soft Paws claw caps, for instance).
Ok, I’ll hush now! Please do some research and I hope you decide that you like your kitty as he is. 🙂
With love!
Julie
Declawing cats actually cuts off their toes at the first joint; similar to if you were to cut off the tips of your own fingers…
We didn’t declaw him… we think he is great the way he is!
Thank you so much for not declawing him.
I would like to second Julie’s opinion on declawing. I volunteer at a cat rescue and am saddened to share stories about declawed cats. One common behavioral problem we see in declawed cats is inappropriate elimination. We also had a purebred ragdoll surrendered due to behavioral problems. His surgery was botched and he ended up losing a leg. Sweet boy that did not lose his spirit. This would make your oh-so-cute litter box hider irrelevant. The sofa or rug you are trying to save from Tebow’s claws will be ruined faster if he pees all over it.
Thank you for not de-clawing him! 🙂 Good job!
Great job! I’m sure your cat loves it. I like to think they like have a private place to go, plus I don’t step on litter anymore.
Check out the one we made a few days ago- http://allgrownup2011.blogspot.com/2011/12/smelly-kitty-litter-box-part-1.html
Where can I get the step by step instructions for this, like the dimensions and sizes? Thanks!
Would you be willing to share the dimensions? I absolutely love this & would love to try & make one myself! 🙂
I’m just wondering how you use this litter box. Do you line it with a bag? and how is the clean up?
Ps. Very cute.
<3
I absolutely love this idea! So much cheaper than other ones out there AND you get to personalize it around the litter box you already have.
Your cat, by the way, is adorable! We only have one cat (Ozzy) and he isn’t declawed either. Only time it can become a downfall is when he scratches you, but other than that you’d never know!
I saw this on a buzzfeed list and saved it to Pinterest to do later. Getting just about tired of vacuuming up the litter when our kitty kicks it out. He’s messy. I even sewed a fabric box reinforced by trim peices as a quick fix and the box is only open on one side, but he still gets litter everywhere. So, soon, I will be looking over this in more detail as we get ready to create a better litter box hider.
What I really wanted to say here though was that a), your kitty is adorable, and b) he IS our cat! Well, our kitty isn’t polydactyl, but the coloring is exactly the same. My husband made me try to show our kitty the picture of yours on here (kitty wasn’t interested) because it was crazy how similar they look. Hope the box works as well for our cat as it does for yours. I’m also glad it can double as a side table – there isn’t room in our small bathroom for a litter box, so the box is in our dining room/utility and laundry room – so I am always worried about a mess if people are vising and might eat in that room. This should help a lot with the litter mess.
I’m currently in college and have been really wanting to get a kitty of my own because I miss mine at home so much! The downside is I still live in apartment type housing so the litter box would have to go in my bathroom… I thought this was a great solution as far as looks go, but was wondering if it also helped with smell? Of course I would clean it as often as I could to help with that as well, but just wondered if it helped dimenish the odor a good bit too?
Thanks!
The coolest hand made litter box I’ve seen. Problem is no dimensions to complete the instructions. Didn’t expect Tebow to look so much like my sweet affectionate Allie who passed three years ago. Shed tears for months until I rescued a tuxedo and named her Ava. She is a diabetic which means she uses the litter pan more often than normal and her poop has a stronger odor . So it is good to be enclosed….if she will use it.
Hi!
I know this blog is a bit old but what are the dimensions?
Thanks!