For those with cats, here's our new Litter Box mod.

[back2nature]

We have two cats and our BigHorn is just a few months old. At first we put the litter box in the closet where the washer/dryer would be and made sure we left the sliding closet door open a few inches. But it left us not being able to use 1/3 of the closet for our clothes. And I didn't like the smell that happened when kitties used it at four in the morning and we were in bed.

So we figured how to adapt a tunnel into the basement area. It took a bit of doing to re-route the PVC vent to the black water tank, and move a few wires, but we completely enclosed the area, so the cats can only go in the litter box area. We did have to shorten the bottom drawer in the step about 6 inches (I found the exact same drawer slides at Lowe's, only shorter) and we covered the entire area with vinyl floor tiles (for easy clean-up). We made a sliding door I can open from the basement area. It's an open, grated panel that will give them some fresh air and they can see out when we have the slam door open. Also, I found a very small marine LED light that I can leave on all the time for them. Takes almost no power at all. With the slam baggage door closed it would be very dark in there. Oh yeah, we put a cat door in the kitchen wall next to the stairs. Found a brown colored cat door, only on the internet. We are very please with the result and no more stinky litter box inside the RV. I think it should be an option that Heartland can make. Maybe the "Kitty Deluxe" option.

 

[danemayer]

Very nice job. Piper and Jet are blessed to have you.

 

[TravelTiger]

Very good mod! Nice to know there's this possibility. Been thinking about taking the cat with us sometime, and litterbox is the part that stops me.Thanks for sharing!

 

[aatauses]

Thanks for the pictures, they really help---one question---do you have a central vac? It looks like where you have them going into the "kitty area" is where our central vac attachement is (right next to the stairs)?
al

 

[back2nature]

Thanks for the pictures, they really help---one question---do you have a central vac? It looks like where you have them going into the "kitty area" is where our central vac attachement is (right next to the stairs)?
al

Central vac, No. We specifically ordered from the factory without the vacuum system because we knew we wanted to put a cat door there. Although, we were surprise when we got the 2011 model that the floor hamper was gone and they installed drawers under the stairs that took up all the space. There were also a bunch of wires there now in the space that was empty space in the 2010 model that we saw at the dealer. We had to do a "work-around" but we still got it made.

 

[SilverRhino]

That's a very practical modification.

Now if I could just figure out away to modify your modification so that the Beagles could come and go to their outdoor "play yard"!

Travel Safe!

 

[RanCarr]

That's a very practical modification.

Now if I could just figure out away to modify your modification so that the Beagles could come and go to their outdoor "play yard"!

Travel Safe!

Whoops. I found them.

 

[back2nature]

If you had pictures attached, they're no longer showing.

I see them online if you click the file name. Don't know what happened to the thumbnails. I can't re-upload as I am traveling and the photos are home. Try clicking the file.

==============
Oh, now I see them. dunno.

 

[back2nature]

That's a very practical modification.

Now if I could just figure out away to modify your modification so that the Beagles could come and go to their outdoor "play yard"!

Travel Safe!

Yeah, a little bit of fencing, a ramp, and the slam door open, there you got a Beagle corral.

 

[ParkIt]

Nice modification, trying to think of where we could do the same since we have 3 kitties. Its a constant battle of the sand inside instead of outside the 5er!

 

[Nabo]

I'm impressed!!! We don't travel with our cat but ya'll did such a great job cleaning up all the ickiness behind the basement wall and opening up more storage space. That would be a great area to put things that are not needed all the time but seems to be always in the way in the basement. Now if I can get hubby on the same page (haha)