Cat Box on a Boat
Furbabies. Four-legged children. Companions. Fluffies. Jerks. Assholes. We all have special names and terms of endearment for our leggy loved ones. One such term for our pets that fits our lifestyle is Barnacle Baby because they never grow up, they are completely dependent on us, they latch onto us (and we onto them) and never want to let go, and to a certain extent, they are parasites. But we couldn’t be happier to have them onboard our floating home. We love them.
Our furry family brings a unique perspective and challenges to boat life. One of those being, where to poo? Bella, as a dog, gets walked at least 4 times per day. Brizo, as a cat, needs a cat litter box. For a while, we used a repurposed storage/organizer tote kitty litter solution that worked well.
The old storage/tote solution was an affordable DIY answer to a top-entry cat box. Take a regular plastic storage tote and cut a hole in the lid (heart-shaped, of course). Adhere carpet remnant to the lid to control litter kick-out. The lid pops off for easy cleanouts. Top-entry keeps the doghter from snacking on Kittie Roca. However, after over 5 years of service from the tote, we decided we needed an upgrade.
Before we purchase most things with a sizable price tag we like to do our research. Sometimes we spend more time on the research than we should, but when prices of everything seem to rise every day, we want to make sure we get good value for our dollar. And let's be honest, most of what we buy right now is for our boat where quality & safety are the number one priorities. And buying nice things and keeping things nice usually saves money in the long run because we only need to buy one good thing one time, not replace cheap things multiple times. This philosophy and our research prior to purchasing apply to most things in our life. And our research led us to the Modkat Modkat Litter Box which has fit our needs and has decent reviews.
And after a few months of use we can report the following:
Pros:
Sturdy build
Clean & modern looks/design
Liner bags can be washed when dirty or replaced if needed
Holes in the top allows any litter kickout to drop down into the box
Taller than the garage tote, giving Brizo more room
Cons:
Expensive (but the build quality should help it last a long time)
Tries too hard to do too many things. It can be set-up as either a top entry or side entry. When using it as a top entry the plastic insert to cover the side entry hole is flimsy.
A little heavy
The Modkat cat box does come with a separate plastic scoop. And after many years of using this fantastic Wirecutter recommended scoop we were skeptical of the plastic one that came with the Modkat.
However, we can see now why the Modkat comes with the plastic scoop. The softer edges of the Modkat scoop are slightly rounded and is made of plastic the scoop is less likely to puncture the liner of the Modkat litter box. It’s made of thicker wall plastic so it feels just as sturdy as the metal one.
Of course, a litter box is only as good as the litter that’s in it. Cheap quality litter will not help with the mess or the smell. So we purchase what we feel is the best: Fresh Step EXTREME - Hawaiian Aloha scent (EXTREME !#%@).
When we first were prepping to spend more time on the boat we read horror stories about live aboard cats whose litter would instantly clump due to the moisture & humidity in the air. We can confidently say this hasn’t been a problem for us and Fresh Step has held up well.
Overall we’re happy with our litter box choice in the Modkat and would recommend it for someone who has a smaller space but needs a litter box that helps control the mess, can be easily cleaned & refreshed when needed to keep the smells down and looks good while doing it.
It is more work living with these barnacle babies than if they weren’t here. Walks four times a day. Constant litterbox cleaning to keep the smells down. Never ending dependency. And they will forever be a toddler in their needs & ability to communicate. But by putting in a little extra research and spending a little extra money to make sure our barnacle babies are happy (and that we’re happy with them onboard), it’s worth it. It’s worth it to see these small improvements in their day-to-day and in ours. We love them and we know they love us. It’s a yacht of love.
Youtube Video link: https://youtu.be/KMcEHehRuAs
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