Okay, got your tools? Your caffeine? Your phone with 911 on speed dial? Sweet. First thing you want to do is figure out how big/fat/tall your cat(s) are. If you have little cats, like most people, then you can make the hole fairly small, but make sure your cat can get in and out easily! A cat that struggles to get into the poop box will just end up going somewhere else. If you’ve ever smelled cat pee, you know this will make you have a BAD TIME:

Now, my cats are huge. Okay, THREE of my cats are huge. The giant black & white cow Jackie is 22 pounds. It is like living with a moose in your house, except this moose thinks he is a kitten still, and he has a genetic or magical superpower that allows him to step on your genitals every single time he thinks he is a kitten and gets in your lap.

So since I have six cats, and three of them are huge, I am going to make 3 litter boxes, and all of them are going to have entrances that are big enough for any of the cats.

Another very important thing to remember when measuring out and drawing the lines for the hole you will cut is that you want to stay at least 5″ above the bottom of the container for your hole. If you cut lower than this, disaster will eventually strike you. Most of the time you are supposed to use 2″ to 3″ of litter in the box, and 5″ before the hole starts gives you some protection against cats kicking/scraping the litter out of the front of the box. The other benefit is your litter box will last longer. You also want to make sure you do not cut the top of the hole too close to the top, or you’ll end up with a weak box that will start to come apart whenever you move it.

I move my boxes outside every time I change to fresh litter. I dump all the old/dirty litter into big garbage bag inside a big garbage can, then prop the boxes up and spray them out really good with the hose. I have a scrub brush specific to this purpose as well, but I do NOT use any cleaners except for some mild dish detergent. Cats do not like perfume/scents (unless it is catnip or tuna…).

Measure twice! Cut once! Also known as: Don't Do This Drunk!

Measure measure, draw draw. Straight lines help.

Because the last picture maybe wasn't clear enough that Jeff was measuring and drawing!

Right. So. If you have done a decent job of measuring and drawing, your stuff should look somewhat like this:

Look ma! I kin draws gud!