SAVANNAHGANS® Magazine DIY: How to Make A Bargain Pine Pellet Sifting Litter Box For Big Cats

October 30, 2020 Keri Libbe

This DIY project came to light after bringing our F2 Ronin home last year. Ronin was litter trained with pine pellets, and I'd never used them. I got the rundown on how to clean the waste from Stacee Dallas, Ronin's breeder, which entails sifting out the solid waste and the pile of wet sawdust while salvaging the good pellets (using the sifter) and dumping the remaining wet sawdust. It seemed as though I was either spending too much time trying to keep the box clean or dumping out and wasting a lot of pellets. I looked online for a sifting pine pellet box and couldn't find a good, large-box solution, so I made my own. I've been using these boxes for more than a year now, and they work very well.

I use two (2) 12-gallon, clear-plastic "Sterilite" bins (23 5/8" L x 18 5/8" W x 9 ¼" H).

You can use any size containers; these are what work well for us. In one of the bins, I drill randomly placed ¼" holes (putting the holes between ¼" and ½" apart). Here's the time-consuming part. Set your drill on a high torque and use a sharp drill bit to avoid cracking the plastic. Cracking happens if the holes are too close together or if you push down too hard to start the holes. A few cracks are nearly unavoidable but won't comprise the bin. You'll also have some shards of plastic hanging onto the holes after drilling. I periodically wipe them away with a gloved hand.

To use, place the bin with holes on top and the other beneath it. Fill with a layer of pine pellets. To clean, scoop the solids and initial wet sawdust pile (from urination) out, shake the bins. The residual sawdust will fall through the holes, leaving the clean pellets on the top. I remove the top box with the pellets and dump the wet sawdust from the bottom bin, hosing it out afterward, as needed.

I also like to keep the litter from being kicked against the wall or other areas I don't want to constantly clean. We made plywood boxes to contain the pellet and clay litter boxes we have around the house to remedy this. We also use the boxes for travel. Some examples of these are pictured. I also keep diaper bins near my litter boxes for easy cleaning.

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