Earth Day & the Eco-friendly Cat Litter Box

I've posted before about the catio (cat patio) we made for our kitties. But since then I've made some cool updates that I thought I'd share. Catio sand pit + pine litter indoors = an environmentally friendly, low-maintenence alternative to the cat litter box.

I felt bad about the environmental issues with cat litter but I seem to have found a solution. I built my cats a catio (cat patio) outside. They exit the house through the fireplace clean out (don't worry, we never have fires) and enter the catio where they can climb and perch. It is enclosed, so I know they're safe and can't kill birds. I dug out the floor of the catio and prepared a drainage layer of lava rocks covered with erosion control cloth and then a deep bed of sand. The girls do their business out there and nature takes its course breaking down the waste. Even standing next to it, you can't smell anything. I sift it now and then, but there's surprisingly little waste when I do. Indoors, I've switched to pine litter which I can compost. The girls don't really care for it, but they will use it in a pinch when it's stormy or wet out. I know this setup might not work for everyone, but we love it!
More pics of the catio here.

A Catio Post for Lexi

I finished everything on the catio so far except for staining it. This
post is for you Lexi, hope you enjoy it!

Catio Enjoyment

Zilla demonstrates proper catio use. Her favorite technique is to strike a comfortable pose and supervise as the help toils over the lawn.

Catio Under Construction

Here are Aaron and Jennifer-my indispensable Cat Coop construction crew. Aaron manned the circular saw and Jennifer provided logistics and quality control. By the end of Saturday we had the structure built and the hardware cloth stapled on. On Sunday I made the two doors on my own which involved conquering my fear of the circular saw. It really wasn't that bad. Yesterday I added sand over a bed of lava rock for drainage on the left side and today I added sod so the kitties will have some grass to chomp on and frolic in. Now I just have to build the 'hallway' to the fireplace cleanout, build perches and stain the whole thing.

Bye Jennifer and Aaron!

Although you can find a lot of things on Craigslist, I never expected to find friends. But years ago that's exactly what happened when Aaron and Jennifer responded to an ad I posted for a housemate. Since then we've shared all kinds of adventures; teaching in DISD, searching for diamonds in Arkansas, learning to snorkel, and of course countless nights watching The Walking Dead at the Angelika.
They've helped us out so many times I've lost count. They helped Jeff fix our cars, helped me build the catio (cat patio), helped us out when we found a kitten with a laundry list of ailments. Once they showed up for an entire day to help us drag out fallen limbs when a freak snowstorm turned our street into a disaster zone. FEMA also showed up for that one!
We're really gonna miss you guys! We wish you all the best, happy house hunting and stay in touch!

Foyer to the Catio

I'm posting this so you can see how the cats come and go through the
fireplace clean out. The fireplace clean out door is used on the side
of the box and there are also two cat flap doors to keep bugs and
draft out.

The Cat Garden

This is the future site of the "Catio" (cat patio or cat garden). The cats will enter and exit through the fireplace cleanout. It is the little door at the right. I had to remove hydrangia, oleander and nandina bushes - all are poisonous to cats.