this litter box is out of sight
Super Cool Pets caught my attention with a cat box that recently won an Editor’s Choice award from Cat Fancy magazine. The Out of Sight Litter Box is slightly similar in idea to a litter box we wrote about here before, but with a very cat-person-friendly twist: a built-in ramp helps get stray litter off the paws before kitty returns to your rug, an elevated platform means no leaning for cleaning, and a door not only hides an unsightly box, it keeps it away from curious pooches! Read more about it here, or purchase it from outofsightlitterbox.com, $200-220. — Mary T.
I dream of having something like this to hide the cat liter, but $200 is just too steep for me. I guess I need a “live in handyman” like the lucky DIY Pot Rack reader to make one for me out of one of my many vintage finds. Hmmm, not such a bad idea – off to the drawing board!
Tyna, if you do, please share with us! : )
I love this, but I wonder how it actually works for the cat though… Do they naturally go up in there and find the box? I have a cat who really doesn’t enjoy enclosed spaces. I really wonder if she or other cats would even go up the ramp and then turn up into it to get to the liter box….
It would be nice if someone had one and talked about it on their website.
I just purchased this and it should be here in a week or so. I have a 12 year old large cat who is finnicky about her litterbox. It has to be in our bedroom or else she starts to have problems. Gross, I can’t wait to get this and get her box hidden. I am worried about her not using it. If she doesn’t, at least there is a money back guarantee.
My older cat probably could not do this. Just put a shaggy rug in front of your litter box.
Clevercat Top Entry Litterbox: A less expensive alternative that works for me and my 2 cats. I have very little tracking and I can keep this in the guest bathroom without feeling bad for my guests! It basically looks like a small storage bin and the cats wipe their feet on the top before they run all over the rest of the house.
I have 5 cats. I don’t know if it would be economical for me to use one this size. I need one the size of a desk.
(a) one of my cats won’t use a box in any enclosed space;
(b) both cats kick huge amounts of litter out of the box and certainly would with this one
(c) I don’t want a cat box in any public spaces, so it doesn’t need to look stylish.
A big dishpan in the far corner of the laundry room works best at our house.
you’re just begging for bad litter box habits with this thing. cats need to see around them when they go to the bathroom…it’s a territorial thing. ask any legit cat behaviorist. get ready for pee outside the box, and it won’t be your kittys fault. but, if sacrificing another living beings comfort and security so your pretty little eyes don’t have to gaze on a box is your thing, go ahead.
I love the idea but $200. are you serious. I have 5 cats and 3 litters. It will be nice to hide but like I said $200 is just two much for 1 box.
The best litterbox I have ever bought is the Omega Paws Roll Away. It makes scooping a breeze. My 2 cats love it! $35 retail
i realize that if you can’t spend $200 on a litter box, you probably won’t spend $300 on one, but….
i got the cat genie in november after thinking about it/researching/reading reviews for months. it’s over $300 but worth every penny!! hooks up to your plumbing. all you have to do is every couple months, buy new cleaner and 4-6 times a year, do a thorough cleaning – which doesn’t involve you touching anything gross!
i have 3 cats and one cat genie is enough for us. the biggest benefit is having no cat litter smell. the 2nd biggest is never having to clean it – i haven’t cleaned a litter box in like 3 months. the biggest negative, after you get over it and save up to handle the costs, is that the cat litter gets tracked on the floor… so you sweep a lot. but that’s true with most litter boxes….
http://www.catgenie.com/
You can build a cabinet for much cheaper or order a cheap kitchen cabinet from IKEA. Check out http://www.litterboxsolutions.org for DIY litter box solutions.
Out of sight but not out of smell…
They should make the upper floor a screen instead of a solid floor so the litter drops down into the lower area. I am either buying or making one of these immediately: http://j.mp/cNdxBh
You could just make one of these. Looks like about 7 pieces of pressure treated board, a little time with a router if you want it to look nice and decorated/cut some hand holes, a staple gun, and some 1/4 size hinges.
STOP BUYING THINGS YOU CAN MAKE!
With 10 cats indoors I could use a different idea for a litter box, but since I’d have to purchase 4, don’t guess this is it1
“Why does your lamp stand smell like cat crap?”
A fantastic idea! Very creative. It’s something that would come in handy for my 17 year old tom :)
Hasn’t anyoe heard of Littermaid? It costs less than half of this outrageous $220+ prices at Walmart and it scoops the litter every use electronically and deposits the “scoops” into a sealable plastic box. It comes with a fabric covered “ramp” that cleans the cat’s paws upon exit. It also has an optional “privacy tent” if you just want to hide it. If you have a bad back and can’t bend over to pull the little plastic box out and replace it with a fresh one (instread of scooping which requires alot more bending more often), you can do as a friend of mine did….She put her Littermaid on a table she got from a garage sale – bigger than the box so place for cat to wipe feet on fabric/carpet cover she placed on table first. The cat loves being able to jump on her own table without any reprimands and my freind uses a “tent” she bought from the Littermaid catalog to hide the box/table in the spare room. She also placed a coat hanger on the top of the door so it can never accidently closes, keeping “Darling” out. My cat’s Littermaid is on the Lanai (a screened outdoor room) and my baby goes out through the “kitty door” to her fun room to use the box. No box in the house!
I have 3 cats and 3 boxes. I use large storage bins and put rugs in front of each. then you just shake the rug off outside periodically…oh, and have a mini shop vac handy so you don’t mess up your vacuum.
$200 is insane.
psh. I like my cats self cleaning rolley litter box WAY better. all you do is roll it and all the poop goes into a compartment then you take it out and throw it away. there on ebay for like 20 bucks
Okay, I gotta ask: where are you all coming from? I posted this back in January and this week we suddenly keep getting comments! Thanks to whoever referred you. (I agree that the handy among us could make this box.)
^stumbleupon
We have two cats a huge Mainkoon and a very slim shorthair positive_negative. They use the cream/white Bubble type with self clumping litter. Its made by “BOODA”. http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-1909 It is excellent. All sort of biometric and rounded inside. I invested in an aluminum scooper MUCH better than these crappy plastic ones with a longer handle. Just wish they would make one with a matching curve to the kidney shaped inside. There is like an inside wall that makes it impossible for gravel to shoot out when they are digging .Price around 31C$. The access ramp has a textured path. I cut up one of those rugged plastic carpets to increase that ruggedness and put one of these rugged carpets in front … There is sort of in inside center top chimney where you place carbon filters that work very well.
A friend has the self cleaning/washing ones it is a A PAIN ..as it never dries up in time and the cat hates the wet gravel and it sticks to their paws. etc. I love the one within the box one floor up and that should be easy to DIY for a 1/10s of the price. and inside one could place any type of litter. As long as there is light I had cats all my life and they do NOT need to sit and look around. Its us humans who think they like that. Actually cats like privacy as we do. As long as there is some filtered light it’s good enough. Thanks for reading this far, for your reward visit our cats at
http://visualsenses.smugmug.com/PRIVATE-GALLERIES/Chanel-Kouture-Kitty/9029737_vfcYb#600864612_FVWk2
Mary, someone tagged this in stumbleupon.com, and all of us stumblers are now being sent to it.
I agree. there are much better ideas than this…but this idea can be modified by the average handy-person. each person has different cat needs and number of kitties. Hope each finds a working solution. PS. I find this via Stumble and pages seem to travel that network sometimes. Anyone else find this this way?
Stumbleupon! ;)
I think someone must have put this on stumbleupon because that is how I arrived.
I don’t know how I would ever get my cat to use that. It’s a good idea but, it’s almost impossible to train cats for most people so,i don’t see this working out very well.
Ah, thank you, Stumbleupon person! Welcome, all! Hope you stick around. : )
I’m not sure putting it next to the air conditioner intake is such a good idea!
$200?! Are the people who are selling this nuts??? It doesn’t hide the smell, and why would you want to set nice things on the top right above cat crap?
I love this…pure genius. Our cat would totally use it too :)
Wow, that’s a pretty neat invention. The only problem with boxes like these is that if it’s out of site and out of your nose range, then your risk forgetting to clean the box.
I guess it would be a great box if you are pretty strict in your cleaning schedule. Most people forget though. Litter boxes should be cleaned a minimum of twice daily to keep cats happy. I think everyone who owns a cat knows that if she ain’t happy with it… she’s not going to use it.
Just remember to clean daily!
OMG! yes please! anything to keep my freakin’ DOG out of the litter box!!! G-R-O-S-S!
Yeah, with the DOG of the picture, eating the kitty pooh…..but unfortunately, $200 is just way, way, out of my price barrier. I’m gonna have to get friendly with a handyman, handylady, or try n take my hammer, nails to some wood. Ooohhhh, now that’s a bit risky!
love the idea though. And to get the litter off their little paws, so when they jump up into bed, they are litter clean, great idea.
thanks
Dawn
The intent of this design is not to keep odors down. The intent is to inhibit tracking litter throughout the house. This product seems to have a good vision of the problem and a nice solution. But $200!? Really. Ridiculous.
[...] Shelterrific I found this rad litter box hideaway. What makes Out of Sight more than just a box hiding a litter [...]
I just ordered the very expensive out of sight litter box. I have a Booda Ball on a very fluffy flokati rug, 3 cats. There is no odor, but the tracking is driving me mad. I have to vacuum the entire house every day. If it works as described, it’ll be worth it.
WOW! My ears are burning! I’m the guy that invented, patented, manufacturers and sells the Out of Sight Litter Box. I do understand that $200. seams like a lot. We use the highest quality materials and we are made in America! Add up all the time you spend cleaning up tracked litter from all over your home, daily and weekly. Our price is a great value!
The Out of Sight Litter Box hides the litter pan and litter mess, STOPS LITTER TRACKING and yes, keeps dogs (and kids) out of the litter pan. As for odor… odor is caused by not cleaning any litter pan. My patented design raises the litter pan up to a second shelf, so you walk up, lift the top lid, scoop and walk away. Takes only a minute in the morning, and a minute at night. Also our cabinet has large vent holes in the back panel for good air circulation.
Take a minute and read our customer comments and look at the photos THEY sent in… our cabinets are, next to the owners bed, in the living room by the couch, in the kitchen…
What I am hoping is, if you have a cat, please don’t let a few negative comments above keep you from going to look at and learn more about the Out of Sight Litter Box. Compare it to all the “other” litter box cabinets on the market. Look at pricing and what they do… hide the litter pan… then look at the Out of Sight Litter Box – it really does work. You have to make the “value” choice for yourself.
Mary T (whoever you are)… thanks for your kind and positive write up.
Love the idea, but have a request. I have two dogs. I can’t keep one of them out of the kitty litter or the cat’s food. (Cat food is very bad for dogs.) How about a new design that has the litter box on one side and a feeding station on the other with seperate enterance. vented on a different side (no litter smell near food). Little bit larger storage area for litter and food bags. I would pay up to $300 for a product like that.
Well, I have had this for 3 months. It went together extremely well. Two of my 3 cats used it a few times and it stops tracking 98%. Not 100%. And now none of my cats will use it. I don’t know why. They will go on a rug rather than use it and these cats have NEVER gone outside the litter box.
Ow ow! It’s so ugly it hurts my eyes! I wouldn’t want it in my house even should you pay me!
You could get a much prettier box by dividing a smallish cabinet or storage box (ca. 60 cm deep, min. 60 cm wide – even a cheap kitchen unit could be made to look better than this ugly box!) with a panel that creates a 20 cm wide “corridor” – preferably carpeted – that the cat must walk through before/after her bathroom visits. Add a proper cat flap for entrance on the short side of the cabinet near the back through which you put the nozzle of the hoover for cleaning or through which you pull out the carpet to shake off the litter. The litter box itself is of course placed in the bigger space near the door/s of the cabinet facing the opening in the panel that leads to the litter-catching “corrodor”.
I just got the Out of sight litter box. I bought it because of all the great reviews it has received. However, the assembly is not as easy as you would think. You are provided with all the parts, but you actually build the cabinet. It took me a very long time to put together. There are 15 steps, 22 nails to bang in, numerous screws, dowels, etc. They have a good return policy, but frankly, there is no way I could get this thing apart again, which is what I would have to do to return it. So, I’m hoping my cat really likes it, otherwise it’s almost $300 down the tubes. That price consists of the litter box, the litter pan they also sell, and the postage to New York City. Very expensive, especially considering the product is made of some sort of pressed wood. (I had to get two new side panels because the original ones were chipped on the corners.) Out of Sight’s customer service is absolutely excellent and they sent the side panels very quickly. Even so, I now wish I had bought a solid wood litter cabinet from Hidy Tidy. Although approx $150 — $200 more, Hidy Tidy’s litter cabinets are solid wood and come fully assembled and seem to be good quality pieces that look like furniture.
Hope this helps.