Yep, our cat has her very own onboard loo room, which has worked absolutely spot on........
Topsy has always been an indoor cat and cats, like all of us need to use the loo. Its no exaggeration, when we were in our house this lovely little lady could create quite a stink throughout the whole downstairs.... hence why when we moved into our van in 2017 we knew that having her kitty litter in the shower room or passenger foot-well of our van was a massive no go for us - not only would it be totally impractical, we are a family of 4 plus pets living and travelling full time, we didn't want to inflict this inevitable stench repeatedly on ourselves, nor did we desire our whole van and belongings to smell of the cats toilet...... for anyone wanting to travel with their cat - check out our set-up, its been a total winner for us!
....'this litter box is made from 95% pre-consumer recyclable materials - what a find! '
We didn't find any ideas we thought would work for us researching online, so came up with our own, to put a cat-flap through to the garage and house Topsy's litter here - we could not find anyone else that had done this for feedback on their experience - it seemed to fit well with what we wanted to achieve, so we gave it a go.
....'we have never ever smelt the litter once, at all since living in the van - this little set-up has been such a winner and we have one happy cat!'
After a good measure up we looked for potential litter boxes - eventually we came up with the perfect fit (50.8 x 38 x 38 cms (20 x 15 x 15 inches)), a Top Entry Litter Box by Petmate, not only did it measure up spot on, this litter box is made from 95% pre-consumer recyclable materials - what a find!
Topsy had never used a cat-flap nor a top entry litter box, so we hoped for the best.
.... 'the litter box never has to enter the living area of our van.'
We wanted to make sure everything was all good before making holes in the van - so once the litter box arrived we could check all this out and cracked on with fitting the cat-flap. Fitting the cat-flap was pretty standard - we took a trip to Pets At Home and grabbed PetSafe Staywell Original 2-Way Pet Door for £9.99. We cut through to the garage under the rear lounge seating - as you would fitting one to any door in a house, just ensuring its in the right place for Topsy to step on and off the top of her litter box.
Using MDF fibre board from Wickes, we measured up, cut to interference fit size - meaning we wouldn't need to put any additional screw holes in the van itself. We used silicone sealant to seal the edges and hold the structure in place - this keeps the garage and Topsy's loo room totally separate - keeping the garage clean and Topsy safe.
From B&M store we got a battery powered movement activated light, which is totally brilliant for giving Topsy some light as a when she needs it.
Before moving into the van, we swapped Topsy's litter box for her new top entry one in the house, it was like she has always used it and has happily done so ever since..... and what a bonus - this is a cleanest litter box we have ever had, no more litter been dragged out everywhere!
In the van Topsy also took to her cat-flap like a pro, we initially propped the door open to allow her to get used to where her litter box was and then dropped it down - we helped her the first couple of times by showing her the door pushed open (not sure we needed to) and she's got it!
To clean the litter box out is so easy, grab it straight out the garage door..... meaning the litter box never has to enter the living area of our van. Plus, we have never ever smelt the litter once, at all since living in the van - this little set-up has been such a winner and we have one happy cat!
