Outdoor litter box ideas

[brubst00]

I care for a colony of about 20-25 cats which have been TNR'd and vaccinated - all but 1 female (who I've been trying to catch for 2 years to no avail) and a few males. I live in a small town and the cats travel to other yards to do their business. I would like to provide an area for them in my yard to eliminate or at least cut down on them going elsewhere. It is a pain to constantly be stepping in "land mines" and I know my neighbors aren't happy with me. They have yet to confront me, but have stopped speaking to me. (I do understand their frustration).

I googled "outdoor litter boxes", but am only finding enclosed outdoor structures for indoor cats to use. I would like to somehow construct an area somewhere in my yard, and fill it with sand(?) to entice them to use that rather than the neighbors yards/gardens. I have several questions that need help with:

1. How do I construct something like this?
2. How big should I make it? (keeping in mind this is for a large number of cats 20-25)
3. What should I use to fill it? I am questioning sand as I am sure that will get wet and matted down.
4. How do I maintain it? Does it get scooped like an indoor box, or does the waste just deteriorate. Also, should I change the "litter"? How often? Where can I dispose of that much litter?

I'm hoping there's someone else out there in the same predicament that can give me some advice. Thank you!!

 

[detmut]

you basically want an outdoor covered 'garden' without plants. i would put down topsoil. how big is your back yard? is it covered in grass? 

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• detmut
• Mar 15, 2015

 

[ondine]

I made one of these out of a raised garden kit.  I got the four corners, which are metal, and pounded them into the ground.  I had trex boards cut at Lowes so the whole thing is 2' wide, 4 feet long and about 2 feet high. I filled the bottom with about three inches of drainage rocks, then topped it off with about four to six inches of sand.    I use a heavy duty metal scooper for regular scooping and a garden strainer and small shovel to deep-clean it every month or so.

The only problem is when the sand gets wet.  It also freezes in the winter and is pretty useless.  But I have a regular litter box inside the small chicken coop my outside cats use for their headquarters.  They use that pretty exclusively in winter.  There's straw in coop for beds as well.  When the weather is bad, the cats eat in there, too.  You might think about putting up a small shed to use for this and maybe cut cat doors in it for access.

One of our posters has an outdoor potty filled with aquarium gravel.  She also had a roof over it.  I'm sorry I can't find the thread - hopefully, someone else better at searching can find it.

 

[ondine]

Found it!

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/265743/outdoor-potty

There are alot of good ideas here.

 

[brubst00]

Thanks for the ideas...I never thought of using aquarium gravel. That would work much better than sand. And using a raised bed kit is a great idea as well. Thanks again for your help. I'll have to let you know how it turns out!