Materials: FAKTUM Wall cabinet, Applåd white door, BESTÅ Push opener, litter box, cat flap, self adhesive vinyl roll.
Description: My husband and I recently moved to a new house and the living area is the only place where we could fit the litter box. Obviousy, we wanted to disguise the litterbox as much as possible, especially because it's just opposite the main entrance.
Tiff & Chad's Besta Kitty Loo was my inspiration.
I wanted a contemporary, low white cabinet of about 100 cm in length, but BESTA only comes in either 60 cm or 120 cm, so after much looking we chose a FAKTUM wall cabinet, positioned it on its side.
1. We assembled the FAKTUM frame and used a jigsaw to cut out the access hole for the cat flap, following the template included with the cat flap.
2. The FAKTUM frame has holes on the top and bottom shelf, and since we positioned the cabinet on its side, these were clearly visible and ugly. My husband covered both sides with white self adhesive vinyl, and he also used it to cover the inside of the cabinet, so that litter wouldn't fall in the holes.
3. We fixed a BESTA push opener to the cabinet, to make opening the door easier. We also screwed a hook to leave the litter scoop in the kitty loo.
4. We bought a narrow litter box, and placed a plastic ribbed mat between the litter tray and the cat flap, to avoid spillage of litter on the floor. We also put some bicarbonate of soda in a small container inside the cabinet, to help absorb nasty smells.
6. Access to clean the box is easy by simply opening the cabinet door.
We left the cat flap open for a day to help our cats familiarise with their new loo, and they took to it very quickly.
We're really pleased with this kitty loo: it blends in well with the rest of the furniture, the nasty smells are gone, and the cats love it.
See more of the kitty loo.
~ Cristina C., Chipping Norton, UK
My cat is obese too.
ReplyDeletethumbs up for that one! clap clap clap
ReplyDeleteingenious! I did it with Abstrakt cabinet but didn't think it's through as thoroughly as you did. Next time i will do it your way! great job!
ReplyDeleteI love this! I've been wanting to do an enclosed litter tray for our kitty for a while, but wasn't sure where to start. This looks like the perfect solution!
ReplyDeleteBookmarking this one for sure! Well done!
ReplyDeleteFaat caat. XD
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your comments!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Sid is not that fat, just a bit overweight...I'm afraid my photo is not too flattering :)
I live in the UAE and cant seem to find catflaps here. Is there a website where I can order them from? Good job by the way!!
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous: You might be able to buy a door flap on eBay; otherwise any pet site sells them, like PetSmart.com or PetCo.com and others. Another place to check is a home improvement store, like Lowe's or Home Depot. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteThis design did not work for my cat. 50% of the time she would pee over the side of the litter tray and wet the walls and floor of the cabinet. Even with a pet mat down the pee soaked the board via the holes for the shelf supports and swelled up. I used a VIKA ALEX cabinet but I don't think a FAKTUM would have survived either. Perhaps, metal or plastic would work.
ReplyDeletemaybe you could line the interior with water resistant contact paper or something similar, or even use a lid on the litter box inside the hideaway if kitty really likes to tinkle all over.
DeleteIf you're looking for this cabinet in the US it's called "AKURUM" instead of "FAKTUM".
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the US equivalent - will be trying this out!
ReplyDeleteCat boxes, even those with tall lids, are just made too shallow. Some cats pee standing up, drenching the sides of the box, sometimes spilling over the sides of the box or between the box base and lids. Many cat boxes simply are too small for large/tall cats.
ReplyDeleteTry using a large ordinary deep plastic storage box with a U-shape cut out on one side (from the top edge) for the cat to walk through. The lid can still be used or discarded. Heavy duty scissors, metal/tin shears, or a utility knife will cut through the plastic box side to create an opening. Be sure to make the U-shape smooth and not too deep (so the litter won't spill out).
We used an inexpensive Sterilite plastic box from Target (without the lid) to put an end to our large male's stand-up pee over the side routine, but Rubbermaid brand works, too. I'd never go back to a regular cat box again. The semi-transparent sides were also of benefit for our 2nd cat, who didn't like when the older dominant cat snuck up on her while she was using the box.
I use an underbed storage tote, as well as a concrete mixer tray from Lowe's as litter boxes. The tote is large, but unfortunately has a ridge all the way around that is sometimes tricky to get wet litter cleaned out.
ReplyDeleteThe mixer tray however is PERFECT! The sides are slanted, so no more digging out wet litter in tight corners. It's high enough to mostly prevent my fuzzybuttZ from putting their business on the outside. The plastic so far has not been damaged by pee either, which always happens with real litter trays. If that's not good enough reason to try it - it only costs about 10 or 12 bucks!
Ok, this comment has nothing to do with the hack, which I really like by the way, but with the bannister for your stairs. is there any chance you could send me a picture on which I would see more of it. I took off the ugly one we had in our little condo and I really like the idea of not having spindles but I am wandering how it is attached further up: email me if you can at : ikeaideas@hotmail.com
ReplyDeletemany many thanks
what is the size of the faktum?
ReplyDelete