Automatic Litterbox Central

The only other DIY materials I can think of are sheets of aluminum and copper. Aluminum is easy to work with and not too expensive. You can't weld it (as far as I know), but since it's fairly soft you can make tight crimp joints with it. If you were willing to put a tiny amount of silicone caulk in them, the joints would probably last forever.

Copper of course is really expensive and I've found it's hard to get unless you want to buy a whole lot of it, at least around here. The big advantage is not only is it easy to work with but you can solder the joints and they would last forever. It wouldn't look good for very long since the puddles of urine would quickly give it what you might call an "uneven patina" (unless you oxidized it with chemicals).

People have made entire litterboxes out of exotic materials like this for their cats. What do you think people spent $300 on before automated litterboxes were invented?

Scott Larson wrote:What do you think people spent $300 on before automated litterboxes were invented?

I don't know what I would do without this litterbox, much less before there were any!
OT: What was the first automatic litterbox?

What do you think people did before modern cat litter and boxes? People used sand and newspaper in wooden boxes that must have leaked and stunk and not lasted very long. People with extra cash or were cat freaks like us bought fancier dishes were made out of cast iron or procelain (they usually had cats painted on them so no one accidentally served dinner in them!). The really fancy ones were made out of orinmental brass and copper to match their expensive snobby cats.

There have always been people who were willing to spend a lot of money on litter boxes even if they just looked nice. Afterall, if you spent a thousand bucks on an expensive breed of cat, would you have it whizz in a wooden box full of newspaper?

Just a word of thanks to the original poster.
Put together my own box using your design using pvc and goop, with a lid for the solid waste section made of coroplast.
Works like a charm.

Many thanks!

You're most welcome! Sure beats the cost of the disposable ones huh? IMO the company was foolish not to have thought this thru and make reusable trays. Someone must have been napping at their meetings.