DIY wood pellet litter box

DIY Litter Box, Wood burning pellets

Now that I found my perfect litter (wood burning pellets).  I knew I needed an appropriate litter box to match.

Feline Pine makes a litter box designed for wood pellets which I would love to try. But I was eager to start right away so I made a DIY wood pellet litter box.

 

Feline Pine Litter box
Another version from Martha Stewart Pets
Martha Stewart Sifting Litter Box

I bought two plastic containers of the same size. My criteria was a box with a flat bottom, one without lots of ridges and design. As well as the right size. I needed it to fit inside my Ikea Hol chest that I was planning on using to disguise the box.  If I would do it again I would look for something with thicker plastic as mine is a bit flimsy. But it has lasted over one year with no problems.

DIY Wood Pellet Litter Box
DIY Wood Pellet Litter Box

I drilled as many holes as possible on the bottom of one box. The more holes the better because this will allow more used litter (sawdust) to fall through. Because my plastic bins were a thinner plastic I could not make as many holes as I wanted due to fear of cracks. I did encounter a few small cracks but nothing major. I reinforced the cracks by using hot-glue on the bottom of the box. I then had to use a plastic scraper to scrap all the excessive plastic carvings off the back side of the box. This took about an hour to complete.

DIY Wood Pellet Litter Box
Stacking the boxes inside each other naturally leaves the perfect amount of space at the bottom of the second box for the used sawdust to collect. I put wine corks in the 4 corners and the middle for extra support due to the weight of my cat and litter. I keep a small amount of unused pellets in the bottom box near the center in the most used places so it can immediately absorb any liquid that may fall through.
DIY Wood Pellet Litter Box

Maintenance routine:

Daily I scoop the poo and flush it with no pellets attached. This is easy to due a raw food diet. Or you could put the poo in the trash (Note that flushing the poo may not be suitable depending on where you live). Then every other day or so I sift the sawdust into a secure lidded container using a normal scooper. Give the boxes a shake so more sawdust falls below. Then about once a week I  empty the bottom into the plastic container and later into the compost. I then put a few scoops of pellets from the top into the bottom. Refill the top with pellets as needed.

Et volià. I could not be more happy with this system. Almost zero tracking, only occasionally a couple pellets which are easily picked up. No odor. And most importantly the litter never gets stuck on my cat’s long hair. And of course its so cheap, about $10 a year for one cat.

wood burning pellet diy litter box

So there is Cornelius on his box. We had guests stay for a weekend and on the Sunday they asked if Cornelius was trained to use the toilet because they couldn’t see, find or smell a litter box anywhere in our 100 m2 apartment.

Anyone else use this system? I would love to hear your comments and questions!

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7 Comments

  1. Brittany
    March 15, 2017 / 3:07 am

    What size drill bit did you use?

    • March 15, 2017 / 6:17 am

      I’m sorry I can’t remember the size. But I compared the drill bit to the size of the pellets and used something about half as narrow (smaller) than the pellets. Hope that helps. Let me know how it works for you!

      • Brittany
        March 15, 2017 / 12:33 pm

        Okay thank you. I have never tried pellets before so I am going to see if they will use them before I go making this.

  2. Dave
    December 7, 2016 / 2:27 am

    Hey. I love the idea and have been pondering doing something just like this. I have one tip, put some blue painter’s tape on the bottom of the box before drilling to help keep it from cracking. Cheers!

    • December 7, 2016 / 6:49 am

      Excellent, thank you so much for sharing!

  3. January 4, 2015 / 11:58 am

    What a clever idea and a beautiful cat. I’ve posted this on the facebook page blogging for blogging sake which you might want to check out.

    • January 5, 2015 / 7:38 pm

      Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed :-)