Ooh, Ooh That Smell*

*Ronnie Van Zant not included.

We have two cats. They provide us with joy, affection and hours of entertainment. They also provide us with lots of poop. In order to combat the smell, and the kitty litter they track all over the house, we have gone through several litter boxes trying to find the right one.

Our most recent litter box was great at keeping litter at bay, but it did nothing to mitigate the odor. With two cats, no amount of baking soda or frequent scooping could keep things smelling fresh. It got to the point that the litter box smelled so bad we couldn't stand to be in the same room with it.

Deciding where to put the litter box was the easy part - move it to the hall bathroom so the exhaust fan could suck the smell out - but keeping the bathroom guest friendly was the tricky part.

After lots of thinking, the hubby and I designed the following solution:

In the hall bathroom, the litter box is now tucked discreetly under the sink. The cats access the litter box by going through a cat door into the linen closet, then they pass through the wall - the hole is framed out with a duct fitting (below) - into the inside of the vanity. The odor escapes through a vent by the toilet.

duct fitting, as seen from bathroom vanity

The bathroom door remains closed to maximize the efficiency of the exhaust fan. When a guest is in the bathroom they are none the wiser to our new set up. The changes are also discreet enough that a future buyer might not even notice it - how often do you get on your hands and knees to look at a linen closet?

The best part is this project was fairly cheap and easy. We spent less than $35 for the cat door, duct fitting and vent. Then the hubby cut some quick holes with a saw (already owned) and he popped everything in place. Voila!

We've had this going for almost a week, but we noticed the difference immediately - no more stink!