I moved to my new house back in July last year and was thrilled to finally have a utility room as it gave me a place for all the cat gubbins so my boys had their own private space to toilet and eat. However, the utility room also doubles as the entrance hall into the house and over the last 6 months I've realised when welcoming guests into the house that it's not entirely pleasant for them to have to encounter a litter tray and a load of food bowls when they first enter the house.
The setup also wasn't really all that private for the boys when people were coming and going.
I also had the age old issue of one of my cats "hovering" after eating to try to put my other cats off their food so he could steal it. This involved him sitting as close as possible and staring at their bowl until they got indigestion and walked off, allowing him to shovel down second helpings.
I embarked on a mission this weekend to come up with some solutions to make the room more welcoming and give the cats a bit more privacy and here's what I came up with.
IKEA HOL Storage Table - 100cm x 50cm x 50cm - £35 - This is the perfect size to fit a standard covered litter tray inside. I saw it on IKEA hacks and thought I'd give it a go.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50161321/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I lined it with a clear Variera drawer mat http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/80012853/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - £3 and cut a hole in the side of the table for them to enter - the wood is really thin so it was really easy to cut and I just sanded off the rough edges with a bit of sandpaper. Took about 5 minutes to make the hole
Due to Harvey's asthma I've removed the lid off the covered tray but as the HOL has holes it creates a nice visual cover for the tray but with lots of ventilation. It also makes for a much larger space for them to use as it's taller than a covered tray. They seem to be loving it and it looks so much better!
It also doubles up as a seat for me so I can put my shoes on more easily.
Not sure if these picture links will work so let me know if they don't and I'll upload them to Imgur
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 1c03fd257d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... e=5531CE91" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I then looked into how to sort out their eating arrangements and settled on a KALLAX unit.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/70307493/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - £30 77cm x 77cm. I opted for the 2x2 as it's all I could fit in the space and I wanted something low I could use as a side table. Ideally I'd have preferred the 2x4 on its side so they had 4 compartments as the current setup only allows 2 of them to eat at a time but Harvey rarely eats when I first put the food down anyway so it's not a big deal for my brood and I didn't have the room for a bigger unit.
I popped a couple of black fabric drawers (£2.50 each in IKEA) in the top two holes to store all their goodies and put their food bowls in the bottom two compartments. The bowls are nicely hidden and it gives them a private space to eat. The bonus is that only one cat can fit in a compartment at one time so they're now unable to stare each other out when eating. The result is that they are now all finishing their meals in peace without Clive hovering. He still hovers at the back but as they can't see him it doesn't put them off their meals. He goes in and eats the dregs once they're done but they're eating much better now with the added privacy. It also means that when I walk past they're tucked away inside the compartment so they don't feel like I'm stepping around them so I think it's a much nicer experience for them during mealtimes
https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... e=552A4B48" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is how things looked before:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/ ... bce2e2721d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and after:
https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... e=553A2BB9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
