I designed and made my own kitty litter trap.

It’s similar to a tea tray base with rubber grated tiles.

I made 3 because I have 3 litter boxes.

Here is a video:

https://youtu.be/JG79WvUMeu4?is=sTJJq0pCaTkrHTqn

Here are more pictures:

https://imgur.com/a/k6RZ5ks

And here are the instructions:

materials: plywood and ~1/2 x 1.5" wood planks with 3d printed framing (other framing would work though) plus rubber tiles that were 11 x 11 inches.

I clipped off some of the connectors from the tiles using clippers commonly used with 3d printers. those little ones that are common.

the 3d parts i designed in tinkercad. I made them 1cm thick.

You could use 1cm wooden square dowels instead or some other trim or framing that’s similar thickness.

Steps:

First: measure two tiles. measure your framing width. Multiply by 2 and add that to the tile size width and length. And that’s how big you need to cut your plywood piece to be.

Then cut two “legs/base” pieces that are the length of the short side of the plywood piece. I suggest using pretty long screws and to drill out a counter sink so the screws are flush. otherwise your framing won’t lay flush.

Also if you use really thin plywood or mdf, maybe make a 3rd base leg to help the warping which is worse in thinner wood/mdf. Put it in the middle between the other two oriented the same direction.

The only downside is you have to buy the tiles in packs of 9 or more so if you only need 2 you will still have to buy 9.

The design works very well. I’m looking forward to less litter all over the floors.

  • daannii@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    10·
    22 hours ago

    So the jumping I think is caused by two potential things.

    1. The texture of the mat may be uncomfortable

    And 2. The entrance to the litter box is high so it’s easier for them to jump in and out of rather than try to walk over the lip.

    I think my design can help with the second potential cause since it’s essentially a step.

    And it’s big enough so that they are going to have to make at least a little contact with it.

    But if they find the texture of the grid too uncomfortable they may still try jumping over it, and if they can’t. … They might find somewhere else to go.

    I have 2 cats. One big. One regular sized. They both are walking on these traps I made. But there are a lot of differences in cat preferences out there.

    I did specifically use a rubbery tile. I’m not sure if all tiles like this are rubber. But this one advertised it was flexible in the product listing. So it’s likely more comfortable than harder ones.