Pegleg Starfish

Warning:  Cat Owner related post/product alert

You may remember this post:

http://peglegstarfish.com/2008/04/30/im-a-good-parent/

I wrote about this issue about Hurley eating litter.  He has a nasty, bad habit of eating clumps of litter.  Yes, I said eating.  I knew we had to do something about this.  First of all it’s gross and secondly it can’t be good for Hurley’s health.  

Living in a tiny apartment means that I have one spot to put the cats litterbox.  I keep it in the laundry room.  The litterbox is behind the door.  If this was in my own home, I would (T would) install a little cat door on the laundry room door.  But it would have to be one of those fancy ones where the cat had a sensor on her collar so that only she could get in the door.  Or else I know Hurley would be going in the cat door because he’s like that. 

Plan B.  My Mom bought one of these litter boxes for her kitties at home.  The reason she bought it was to keep the litter tracking under control.  Here’s a pic that will help you see what I’m talking about:

It’s called the CleverCat Top Entry Litterbox.  Clever indeed.  The sticker on the front says that it’s dog proof.  Then in parentheses next to that statement (for most dogs).  It was a risk, because I knew Hurley would probably fall into that category of devil dogs who figure out how to get into the box.  But it also made me feel a little better since I’m obviously not the only one with a dog who enjoys getting into their cats’ litterbox. 

I bought this a couple weeks ago at PetSmart. 

And…so far so good.  Hurley apparently doesn’t have the brain power to figure out how to get into the hole.  Problem solved.  For now anyway.  It has also helped the litter stay within a one mile radius of the actual litterbox.  

Now for all you frugal/engineer types your probably thinking that you could have made one of these a lot cheaper for less than $31.00.  It’s true, the CleverCat litter box looks just like a Rubbermaid tub with a hole cut in the top.  But you have to remember that the Rubbermaid tubs have grooves on the bottom.  If this box had grooves that would make scooping almost impossible.  Plus, the top has deep grooves to catch all the extra litter.  But, I suppose you could try to make your own.  More power to you.  

Verdict:  my cat loves it (see below) and my dog keeps his nose out of (because he’s dumb like that).

MC loves her private new potty.  My Moms kitties also enjoy the potty, but they don’t exactly step out onto the rigged lid after using it.  Apparently they just launch themselves out of the box and down onto the floor.  So she’s not exactly experiencing the litter control capabilities as I am.   

PS:  If you happen to be the inventors (why didn’t I think of this!) of the CleverCat and would like to reimburse me for this advertisement, please feel free to do so.  :)