Dusty’s Got a Bathroom Door.

Step 1: Cut hole

Our cat Dusty who is now 15 years old is getting lazy.  She has always been an outdoor cat and has never had any health problems.  She can still climb trees and is very good at catching mice and moles and sometimes chipmunks.  She would always go outside to “do her business” although she prefers it when I’m out there with her (especially in winter).  The only time we set out a litter box is when we go away for a few days and our neighbor Martha comes over to feed and check on Dusty.

Previously if Dusty wanted to “go” she would let me know because she can talk.  However this summer I would go downstairs in the morning and sometimes notice cat pee and perhaps more on the dining room floor.  It seems Dusty got the notion that this was the area to go even when the litter box was not here. We tried many things to break her of this newly formed habit.

First, I tried holding her nose close to the scene and yelling in a deep voice…bad, no, bad Dusty, I would tap her on the nose three times and put her outside.  This did not work.

Second, we have this plastic owl I traded for at a Yankee Swap Christmas party a few years ago. The owl has a motion detector so when someone walks by it the eyes flash bright green and it bleats out a rather loud WHO…WHO,  WHO…WHO, etcetera for 20 seconds or so.  It seems that the owl and the pussycat have a pact however.  Dusty would step in front of the owl, do her business and the owl never let out a peep until we would walk by it.  It didn’t matter what angle or position we put that owl it was not going to give her up.  

Third, Lauren read or heard that cats don’t like the sound or feel of Aluminum foil under their feet.  So we began to foil our floor in this area.  It was very shiny and… it didn’t work.  Dusty considered the foil a perfect spot to do her business.

We finally gave up and set up the litter box in the utility (furnace) room off of the kitchen.  Although it’s a fairly warm room because of the furnace we did not want to keep the door open all the time so it was time to install a “cat-door”.   This was relatively easy to do.  First, cut a hole the right size through the door and then install the door.  This particular cat door has a clear plastic flap with a magnet on the bottom that holds it in place until the cat pushes against it.  Dusty does not understand this concept yet.  Even though we would open the flap a bit for her she would not push against it to go through on her own.  I have seen her pull full size doors open with her paws but this plastic flap confounds her.  So I took off the flap (for now) and she jumps through the hole when she needs to.  For this I could have just left the first hole I cut in the door as is and saved $25.00

Next I should think about putting a door on our bathroom.  That’s a story for another day. 

Step 2: Install Cat Door

How to Move a Large Granite Block (and install a free step)

When we bought this house the steps were a mix of large uneven stones which caused you to step up higher than you normally would and they looked like this:

We knew we had some larger pieces of Granite on site which were sort of symmetrical and decided we could use one of them to make a new step for free. The challenge was how do you move it from where it is to where you want it when you don’t have a bucket loader or backhoe? The answer is you need the following tools:

A big heavy duty crowbar (5 feet long and 18 pounds in weight)

Assorted rocks and blocks

A heavy duty wire cable with a hook on each end

Three steel pipes (all the same diameter is best)

Long wood planks

An Automobile

A cold beer

* I just need to mention here under the Principle that Desire Moves that I did not have the steel pipes I needed, but I KNEW that I could get them for free somehow. Sure enough my Mind’s Eye led me to the pipes I needed at the dump just one day before this project. There they were, just waiting for me in perfect condition and with no cutting required.

First assemble all the tools (excluding the beer) near the piece of granite. For those who have not had much experience using leverage you will learn fast. The longer your lever (crowbar) the easier you can lift heavy objects. Place a smaller stone or block about 4 to 5 inches high very close to the piece of granite and then put your crowbar between them getting the tip of the bar under the granite and then pull or push down on the smaller rock which is known as the fulcrum. Sorry if I’m sounding too technical here for such as Caveman job but I want to help educate fellow Cavemen and women when possible.

Once you get one end of the granite lifted have a helper (carefully) put some blocks under it and then wrap your cable around the granite and hook the other end to your car. If you have a trailer hitch good if not, attach it to the frame under the car. Next, lay one end of a wood plank under the granite and as the driver “very very slowly” moves forward, put the pipe pieces under the block of granite which will now roll along with such ease that you’ll feel like building a pyramid for your next project. As the last pipe rolls out the back of the granite block return it to the front. Turn the planks and the pipes in the direction you want it to go and with a little pushing or pulling she’ll make it to the destination. Our granite block was only 30 feet away from our step but we did have a small incline to get it over initially. It took Lauren and me less than 2 hours to complete the task start to finish and now we have a nice granite step for free. Oh yes, now it’s time for the beer.