I don't know about yours, but my cats scatter the litter box grit around the litter box. Not sure if this is because they throw it out or because it gets caught between their toes, but after a few days, we need to vacuum.
The Litter Box Ramp is an attempt to catch this. It is a tray that sits under the litter box and it extends about 12" beyond the entrance of the litter box with a ramp that slopes upwards away from the litter box. It has high sides to encourage the cats to walk away in the direction of the ramp.
I plan to build this. I will build the prototype from chip board sealed with epoxy, but a commercial version would be made from molded polyethylene and should be dark gray or black to camouflage the litter grit. I think this would be cheap to manufacture and I think there would be a market for it.
Please see the link for a drawing.
[update - Wed Nov 8 22:05:11 EST 2006] After several months of use, I can report that the first Litterbox Ramp does work to some extend, but it is not perfect. It catches perhaps half of the scattered grit. Initially, the cats left the ramp on the side, but after a few days they were seen walking down the ramp as they should. A next prototype should have higher walls to discourage this side departure.
[update - august 13, 2006] I have finished building this out of 5/8th" particle board, epoxy, silica, micro spheres and whole wheat. It's sealed with epoxy to protect it from chemicals. It's installed under our litter box and we've entered the testing phase.-- jmvw, Aug 13 2006 Litter box ramp http://punyprojects...litterbox-ramp.htmlPhoto's and drawings of the Litter box Ramp prototype [jmvw, Aug 13 2006, last modified Jan 30 2011] Check your local pet store. There are dozens of these sorts of things on the market.-- Galbinus_Caeli, Aug 13 2006 That's wht I thought when I read the title, but look at the illustration (nicely done); the ramp comes up from the opening not to it, and any litter will fall back into the device. Bun, good sir/lady.-- jellydoughnut, Aug 13 2006 Teach your cat to shit outside like the rest of us.-- Texticle, Aug 13 2006 I liked the red more.-- jellydoughnut, Aug 13 2006 Thanks, Jellydoughnut. I thought the red litter box was drawing more attention then it should. Besides, ours is Ugly Blue just like the drawing. I'm off to Home Depot first thing in the morning.
Anyone know techniques to mold poly at home?-- jmvw, Aug 14 2006 [BB]: I suspect the problem is caused by over-enthusiastic hole-digging and crap-covering, rather than simply treading the litter around.-- angel, Aug 14 2006 CatWobble.-- jellydoughnut, Aug 14 2006 [angel] YOu must not have cats then, I get little bits of litter all over the house.
[jmvw] Its tough to work with poly without the right tools, however fiberglass is another matter entirely. Build your mockup out of plywood athe due final shapping with body filler. Then coat in like wax or cooking spray then just layup a fiberglass shell. Pop it loose and you have you ready made mold to crank out your parts.-- jhomrighaus, Aug 14 2006 [BrauBeaton], I apologize. How about kitty litter that's attached to itself with tiny rubberbands?
[jhomrighaus], that sounds like a plan, but ultimately I would like this to be mass produced and inexpensive, Fiberglass is still fairly labor intensive.-- jmvw, Aug 14 2006 //Teach your cat to shit outside// So your neighbors have to put in hundreds of kabab skewers in their herb garden and get enraged when even that didn't work.-- Zimmy, Aug 14 2006 I'm building this out of 5/8" thick particle board. I added a drawing with cutout dimensions.-- jmvw, Aug 26 2006 [jmvw] I think with that last addition to the link - the dimensions & all, you might have to forfeit your amature status as a baker. ( I won't change my + vote, though).-- Zimmy, Aug 26 2006 [Zimmy] I would like to develop an idea or invention. Isn't halfbakery (among other things) a friendly place to test the possibility and purpose of an idea?-- jmvw, Sep 05 2006 I have finished building this out of 5/8th" particle board, epoxy, silica, microspheres and whole wheat. It's sealed with epoxy to protect it from chemicals. It's installed under our litterbox and we've entered the testing phase.-- jmvw, Sep 05 2006 Nicely built, [jmvw]. And full of fibre.-- wagster, Sep 05 2006 Dear sweet God, man! Are you telling me that you just went right ahead and built <shudders> this thing without running it through computer modeling with computer simulated cats to determine its viability in the real world? Are you mad? Have you lost all sense of common, er.. sense? May heaven help us for what you have wrought upon the earth.
Tell us how it turns out! :-)-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Sep 05 2006 Just looked at the picture- looks nice. I like how you rounded over the edges for cat safety, very concientious of you. Do you think you're going to need some astro turf on the ramp to help massage the excess liter out of the paws?-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Sep 05 2006 I don't know yet. I was thinking of a patch of carpet, but I want to try without first. It will be easier to clean without carpet or turf.-- jmvw, Sep 05 2006 Thanks, Braubeaton! Maybe I'll post my $20 stereocamera there.-- jmvw, Sep 06 2006 very nice, jmvw.
did you varnish the wood?-- po, Sep 07 2006 Thank you, Po. I'm sorry I didn't reply to this earlier. It's coated with a type of epoxy often used for boat building/repair. It's not a true finish (it can turn white), but it's completely waterproof. I overbuilt it and spent more time then was necessary.
After several months of use, I can report that the first Litterbox Ramp does work to some extend, but it is not perfect. It catches perhaps half of the scattered grit. Initially, the cats left the ramp on the side, but after a few days they were seen walking down the ramp as they should. A next prototype should have higher walls to discourage this side departure. I spent so much time on the first one, I may just leave it here, and that seems halfbaked to me.
I think this could be developed into a viable product. It could be mass produced as a polyethylene shell. I don't have the capital, knowledge and drive to do this, at least not alone.-- jmvw, Nov 09 2006 [jmvw], That looks to be very well made. I'd + again if I could.-- Zimmy, Nov 09 2006 random, halfbakery