Automatic Litterbox Central

by **abbeytoo** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:08 am

I went to a local TAP plastic store and had pieces cut from a sheet of PVC type plastic. Very durable and waterproof. I used the weird 'glue' they used (its the consistency of water) and so far so good. Made the flap and attached it with plastic hinges from the same store. Now I just need to get the magnets so the flap will lift and I'll be set.

I had gone to the same store the day before I bought the stuff to get an estimate for them to manufacture the tray. They told me 120 for labor (to start) plus materials. I ran out of the store so fast. next day went back with the measurements to see how much for them to cut it. $17.40!!! that was the cost of the material and for them to cut it. The glue and applicator were added costs, plus I bought enough plactic pieces for 2 boxes. total was less than 50 but they will last forever.

Now, if I could just make those crystals..... :wink:

by **lowenbotten** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:18 am

Pics?

by **abbeytoo** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 10:09 pm

I finished one tray and it works beautifully! I took some pics but they don't show much, just looks like a white tray! pics can be seen here:

http://public.fotki.com/tutti/scoop_free_tray/#dsc00502

any questions, just ask

by **jeff** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:19 am

Oh my god, Sassy looks just like Lily. Adorable!

Thanks for sharing this. How much of a pain in the a55 did it end up being? What did you spend on it?

by **kozmocat** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:20 am

Thanks for the pictures - your kitties are so cute!

by **abbeytoo** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:52 am

jeff wrote:Oh my god, Sassy looks just like Lily. Adorable!

Thanks for sharing this. How much of a pain in the a55 did it end up being? What did you spend on it?

Thanks, they were too cute, I couldnt let them go!

I went to Tap Plastic and had them cut the pieces to my measurements out of some pvc material. The cost for the pieces and the cutting was $18 for one tray. I had them cut enough for 2. Plus the glue, which is as thin as water, and I bought 4 hinges which I didnt use because I used the flap from the cardboard one. All together I spent close to $50 for the 2 of them. I lined the pieces up and clamped them then ran a line of the *glue* along the edges. It seals almost instantly and dries just as quick. Super easy job. Great results. I filled it with water to check for leaks.

I screwed up on my measurements a bit, not thinking about the corners butting together, so I had to trim 1/4" off of the short sides. Other than that, no problems! Clamping is a must.

I thought it would have cost a lot more since they originally gave me an estimate for them to do it, of $120 for labor (to start!) plus materials. I want a job that pays 120 an hour!!! The material is very hard and unless you run over it with your car, it isn't going to break.

by **abbeytoo** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:03 am

kozmocat wrote:Thanks for the pictures - your kitties are so cute!

Thanks, Kozmocat. They were dumped at a vet's office when they were only about 3 days old.

I bottle fed them and took care of them with the intention of adopting them out. I have been working with a local rescue group and take the bottle babies in as fosters. When they start eating on their own, they go to another foster home until they are ready to be spayed or neutered then they get adopted out.

Well, these 2 stole my heart and I couldn't give them back. Actually, I tried. I dropped them off one saturday and they called me on sunday and said they wouldn't eat. I drove back and snatched them up and brought them back home. The bond that you develop with these tiny babies is incredible. They only know me as their mom! Sassy was the littlest one adn the vet really didnt' think they were going to make it.

There were 3 of them from the same litter, I could hold all 3 in one hand, thats how tiny they were. The feedings wore me out: every 2 hours around the clock for about 2 straight weeks, then every 3-4 hours. Whew. I was so afraid of sleeping thru a feeding, I barely got any sleep for 2 weeks. They could only hold so much formula then they were full. No room for error, A missed feeding could have been a death sentence. Now they are plump little cuddle bugs!

by **enghorn** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:36 pm

I love your ideas. I just bought a scoop free but I will probably wait a few days before introducing it to the cats. The reason is that (you may recall from my post in the introductions) one of our cats has suffered from non-bacterial cystitis. He is very skittish about litter boxes now and I dont want to ruin a possible transition by going too fast. For now I bought some crystals and have been slowly adding them to the WBCL I have been using in an open pan. So far they seem to be accepting it. If adding more and more works, then I will introduce the SF.

Anyway, if all does go well and we all like the SF as much as you all do, I have serious plans. Initially I plan to spray the cardboard cartridge with fixative. It is what artisits use to set their watercolor and other artwork. Then I do plan to also line it with the coroplast as you suggested. I already bought the coroplast ($3 for a 2ft square). Interestingly, I had some trouble finding a sign shop willing to sell me a piece of it without actually making a sign on it!

At a later time if things are going according to plan, I will make a permanent tray like you have. I am extrememly impressed by it! I do like the plastic that you used, but I have a sneaky idea...my husband just bought a new TIG welder and wants to get some practice welding on stainless steel. I am wondering if there is a opportunity here for me to hand off the whole project to him! We'll see.

If I were to do it out of plastic like you did, could you provide these details:

1. how did you find the plastic supplier? google? yellow pages? what exactly did you look under?

2. when I call them up, what do I ask for? is there a proper name for the plastic sheets or do you just ask for pvc plastic sheeting? what is the tihickness of your plastic? Same for the glue--any particular name or description on the bottle you got?

As far as your making them and selling them, I think it is a great idea. I think $25 plus shipping is reasonable. The shipping shouldn't be too expensive because it can't really weigh that much...

Regarding your hinged flap, I guess you feel that the salvaged one from the original cartridge is sufficient--what a great idea to simplify things!
If it turns out that it does wear out at some point though I was wondering if you could make a flap out of your coroplast. You could score it at the edge so it folds over to make the lip, securing it at the sides, and perhaps hinge it with duct tape or by glueing some type of sturdy fabric. ---Ever since I bought that piece of coroplast I have been thinking about all the cool things it could be used for! I hope I can get them to sell me more when I want it! Thanks again for your great innovations!

Lastly, I would like to know what you will choose to fill your new tray. Do you like the FS crystals? If so, are they sold separately? I thought someone might have said go to WalMart for them. Can you confirm this? Any other ideas you have about the refilling would be welcome. I am crystal ignorant. thanks.

++++++
Oh yeah, your babies are darling! The cat we have with the litter box issues is a tuxedo as was the 19 year old we put down in March. Therefore, you could say I am biased, but I sure enjoyed the pics of them!

by **abbeytoo** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:01 pm

Hi enghorn

Thanks for the encouragment! :lol:

Using coroplast for the flap is a great idea! And I so agree with you about the coroplast. It's great stuff! I have used it for a million different things. I came across someone who had 25 4' x 8' sheets for $10 per sheet and I scooped them all up. Thats a lot of coroplast for a good price. Some sign shops are weird about it, as you discovered. I think if you told them what you wanted it for, they wouldn't have hesitated in selling it to you. They don't want you competing with them making signs. A better way to get it is to do some research into guinnea pigs. Find the gp people in your area. They use it to line the cages and have resources to obtain it. I found a great link for suppliers and if I can dig it up, I will include it. I originally made a tray out of the coroplast but gave it up. I'm going to try again with it because I have another idea simmering.

I used the cardboard flap because the plastic one was too heavy for the magnets to pick it up properly. Those cardboard trays are very well put together, I might add. They are glued all the way around-i had to dig to get the flap out. It is working perfectly.

I thought about using some sort of metal but opted for the plastic because of the weight. You will be emptying, not throwing away, the tray and I wanted it to be fairly lightweight.

Your idea of spraying the tray.....well.....in theory it sounds good, but if your cat digs, it wont work. They will scratch right thru it and the cardboard will get wet. I tried it. I also tried spraying some plastic stuff that you spray on rake handles to weatherproof them, thinking that would work. Same thing. Cat scratched right thru.

As far as finding a plastic supplier, I have bought stuff from this company for years, so I just knew. Look in your phone book under plastic fabricators or something similar. This company makes all kinds of stuff (AND does signs) out of plastic.

Here is a link to what I used and where I got it. They ship it too! Mine is 1/4" thick.

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=343&

and the glue

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=133&

and the coroplast link-just click on the coroplast button and find your state in teh drop down box

http://www.guineapigcages.com/where.htm?

keep us posted with your progress!

oh, I almost forgot....you can buy the litter just about anywhere normal litter is sold. I usually get it at PetSmart, but walmart may have a better price. I'm not a big walmart fan, tho.

ab

by **enghorn** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:25 pm

Hi Abbeytoo!

Thanks for all the info you supplied. I will check those links! What a score on the coroplast!

As previously mentioned, I have to make sure the SF is accepted by my kitties before I fabricate a tray. For now I am just going with the coroplast lining. Just to be clear I did read a previous post you wrote about waterproofing the cardboard and the cats scratching through it, but there was a reply expressing concern about urine possibly leaking under the coroplast. My idea is to spray the cardboard to help prevent damage in the event of a leak, but then use the coroplast on top of that.

As far as the litter, I have looked for fresh step crystals at my nearest PetSmart and Petco and didnt see it. That is why I was looking for confirmation that it is actually available. Are you specifically using Fresh Step crystals for your refills or do you prefer another brand? If you can confirm that it is available and what you prefer I will keep looking for it. Thanks!

by **abbeytoo** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:10 pm

I think spraying the tray would indeed protect it for a while if the coroplast liner was on top. I haven't had any incidents yet of the pee getting underneath the liner tho. The crystals pretty much absorb it don't they?.....I just went and checked the box that still has the cardboard and no pee under the coroplast. If you are finding it, by all means, try the spray. You could also slip the tray into a garbage bag and put the coroplast on top of that. That would surely keep the bottom dry.

Gee, I thought the fresh step was a common thing. I looked at some sites and most just have the fresh step clumping stuff. I went to fresh steps website and found them but apparently they don't sell them off of their site. I wrote to them and asked where to get.

here are 2 places that carry it: (I despise stores and crowds so I try to buy anything I can online :lol:

)

http://petchauffeur.net/Merchant2/merch ... EP/FS03073

http://www.petguys.com/-044600030730.html

I don't see why any other even sized crystals wouldn;t work. Fresh step has teamed up with the scoop free peeps and I think that it is one of 'those kind of deals'. Shouldn't be a problem with another.

by **jfs1234** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:35 am

Most decent pet stores will have Crystal Litter. It shouldn't matter what brand, as long as the size of the crystals will work in the machine. Cheapest On-Line Crystals I could find were at Petfooddirect Thru Amazon:

Crystal Litter

The 12-lb pail is $13.67, if you order 4 of them it is $54.68 plus shipping. For me (Alabama) shipping is $16.27. Total $70.95 for 48 pounds. Comes to the same as $11.82 for standard 8-lb bag. Might be cheaper in a local store if they have it.

by **Cleo** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:25 am

Abbytoo, the ability to use a plastic tray really makes the Scoopfree an attractive option. Thank you for taking the initiative with this and for offering up your sources of materials, etc. Could I ask that you post your "bill of materials" by size. For example

I piece 6" x 20"
1 piece 12" x 20"

I am making up these dimensions for illustration only. It would help us to go to our local plastics store and get the right parts. I know that we can measure the tray, make allowances for material thickness, etc., but you have already done so and can save us from making mistakes.

thank you

Barry

by **abbeytoo** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 5:43 pm

the material is 1/8" not 1/4" thick

by **Cleo** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:52 pm

Thanks! That will be a great help!!!!

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