make your own disposable cat litter box?

OK .. instead of making yourself crazy with all of this go out and invest in a self-cleaning litter box (initial cost may seem high but believe me, it’ll pay for itself in odor control and ease of changing) .. since it self-sweeps every time a cat uses it there is no lingering odors and all of the waste is trapped in these plastic boxes that close themselves with their own lids so you don’t come in contact with any yucky stuff …

You can actually buy pre-made disposable litterboxes at the pet store and online.

I have 4 boxes — one is in the living room — I scoop them at least once, sometimes twice a day– and they don’t smell.

You might be able to resolve the problem that way — and of course, you definitely need more than 1 box — the rule of thumb is one box for each cat ou have — NOT that they will use ONLY that one box, but that it will definitely keep the smell down becuz they have more choices.

I use Yesterday’s News litter– it’s cheap — the cats are fine with using it, and I scoop out about 1/2 the litter each time I scoop the box (I only put down abut inch or two thickness of litter)

Get beer/soda boxes (the short ones with sides) from a store, put them in a 13 gallon trash bag (or whichever size they fit in best, having the opening of the bag on the bottom which you can seal with a piece of tape), then line it with aluminum foil overlapping the sides.

Or use the same boxes but cut a piece of acrylic plastic sheet to fit the bottom. You don’t have to use anything else. Just throw the box away, wash the plastic sheet off, and do it again.

get a covered litterbox and litter box liners and you can dispose of the litter when you feel it’s appropriate, also if you scoop it every day at least once and use some good litter like arm and hammer super scoop unscented it will keep the smell down. you can wash the box itself from time to time if they tear through and it gets in the box itself.

I have 2 cats and we have the litter box in the kitchen and most of the time you wouldn’t even know it.

You can buy disposable cat boxes at PetSmart and similar places. http://www.nextag.com/disposable-litter-box/search-html

Also, if you buy cases of canned pet food in the cardboard tray those make a nifty temporary cat box. Put a sheet of plastic on the floor under them just in case of leakage, but the whole thing can be tossed out when it gets soiled. We get cases of soft drinks and dog food and different things that are on cardboard trays with low sides so anything like that can work as a temporary cat box.

And yet another idea… go to a dollar store and see if you can find a plastic container of a close-enough size. It’s amazing what you can get for a buck in those places.

I am probably not going to help very much, but if I were in your situation, I would not waste that much money on throwaway stuff. I have 11 cats in the house and I have two large tubs (like you would use to store clothes in). I fill them half full with scoopable litter and I scoop about 5 times a day. (If I walk by and they look like they have been used, I scoop). My litter boxes are right off of the living room and I never have a problem with smell. Oh (I almost forgot) I keep a sealed plastic file box with locking lid right next to litter box and scoop (debris) into it and reseal. I have an 8 gallon trash bag in there and every day, when I take out the trash, I take debris bag.

If you keep the litter box clean it won’t smell anyway. I use a covered one with filters built in and I use the litter made from wood chips, it is biodegradable and safe to use, it keeps the smell down and if you change it regularly it should work much better than disposable litter trays.

What I would suggest for you instead would be to purchase large plastic tote boxes and cut a hole in the side of each box for your cats to climb in – or just leave the lid off, setting a step next to the boxes for them to climb in easilyhttp://www.sterilite.com/Category.html?Section=Storage&ProductCategory=33##
I use the 18-gallon size for my cats and leave the lid off.

Rather than throw them away every few days as they become soiled, there are simpler steps you can take to stop odor more effectively. First, before you fill each box with litter, spray it with this stuff: http://www.stinkfree.com/a-la2.html . That will help keep the plastic from absorbing any litterbox odor. Use a scoopable cat litter, and scoop the solid & clumped waste from each box twice daily. This page has good instructions for keeping the box clean and odor-free: http://www.catinfo.org/litterbox.htm
(it even has a video showing how quick & easy the cleaning is)
Whenever you spot-clean an area, respray it with the stink-free spray – that will help prevent the box itself from absorbing odor. Respray the box each time you wash & dry it.
Scooping twice daily & spot-cleaning soiled areas will help keep odor down far better than letting a box fill up & then disposing of the whole box. You may want to replace the used litterboxes every 6 months to 1 year, as they become scratched up on the inside. The spray will help prevent odor absorption, but it can’t stop it entirely – it may gradually build up in scratched areas. The boxes are coded for recycling, if you have plastic recycling in your area.

For four cats, you should have a bare minimum of three boxes. The ideal number of boxes is 1 for each cat +1. I’ve been able to get away with 3 boxes for 4 cats and they do fine, but I scoop each box twice daily, and clean them regularly. If any of your cats develop box aversion issues, it’s a good idea to go up to the ideal #.

Hope this helps!