Pets provide us company, friendship and loyalty. After a day’s work, our pet helps relieve our stress. For growing up children, one way of teaching them a sense of responsibility is by letting them take good care of their chosen pet. Pets however need extra attention, including making a litter box for them.
To get started, here are the things to consider in making this project.
- Get a plastic container with lid. The size will depend on how big your pet is. A box made of cardboard is not advisable as it will soak up the urine and eventually become torn.
- Lay out the opening of the litter box with a permanent marker.
- For soft plastics, a utility knife would be enough to cut the opening of the box. For hard plastic though, it would require at least a hacksaw or even better a power tool like a jigsaw.
- Make a sifter with a plastic container that would hold the pet’s litter. The size should be a little smaller than the litter box itself so that it will fit in to it. A sifter would save you from scooping the pet litter when cleaning. A sifter could be an old dish strainer.
- For a pet cat, the components of the litter are sand, baking soda, dirt and salt. Sand should be semi-milled and you will need about two to three kilograms, depending how big your litter box is. To contain the odor, if not totally eliminate it, baking soda is the answer because it absorbs odors. You will need about two cups of moss dirt. Dirt provides texture and will also act as an odor deflector. A cup of salt will make the cat litter gritty so that the droppings will adhere to it. This also helps in controlling the smell of the litter. To make it more pleasant, which also helps in the smell of the litter box, you may add herbs. The herbs would provide a nice scent to the litter box. Lavender, basil, thyme, orange or lemon rind are good sources of scent.
- Cut the opening of the litter box and put the sifter inside.
- Mix the ingredients of the cat litter and pour them over the sifter.
- Cover the box with its lid and place it where your pet would normally go for its needs.
Making your own litter box is one way of showing concern and affection for your pets. More than that, training your pets to make use of their litter box makes life easier for everyone. Litter boxes are readily available on the market however, it can be a little costly and may be hard to find exactly what you want for your pet. Making the litter box is very easy and cheap, and uses all-natural ingredients to take the best care of your pet.