Necessity is a MOTHER! I was deep into petsitting over Thanksgiving, and found myself in need of a new tool. Specifically a tiny shovel to lift out the used, nonclumping cat litter from a litter box. Frugally speaking, nonclumping litter is excellent, and it may also be safer for kittens and cats than the clumping kind. In the past I might have dumped the whole box and replaced all the litter, but this kitty 'uses' only one end of the box. Brainstorming as quickly as I was able considering the turkey I had eaten, I looked around and found a small, flat, circular metal 'scoop' with a tiny ring for a handle. Yep, a lid from a 6-ounce cat food can! It worked wonderfully to lift out the wet litter from one end of the litterbox. It even got into the rounded corners of the box perfectly. Serendipity, for sure! Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving, too!
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My Dad used to say, 'If you want something done the easy way, ask a lazy person!' (He meant himself, even though he was the least lazy person I've ever known. Now I try to live up to his example by thinking my way out of some tedious tasks....
So, today I took a carful of kennels and crates (two of each) and one litter box to the 'spray it yourself' car wash. (Funny that my car gets washed a lot less than the pet equipment!) I took a detergent 'squeeze' bottle full of soapy water and a spray bottle full of 1:32 bleach solution. Pulling into the bay of the spray-and-wash lane, almost all the way out of the building, I unloaded the dirty kennels and crates. I think of any cleaning job as three parts: clean, rinse and sanitize. So, that's what I did at the car wash, too. First, I pre-washed by squirting soapy water onto any dirty surfaces. Then, putting my quarters in the slot, I washed and rinsed the kennels thoroughly. After shaking the excess water off, I sprayed bleach solution over all the surfaces. A quick shake and partial sun-drying and I was done. Kennels back in the car, back home and unloaded in a half hour. For all my transport friends especially, trust me, it's the best $1.25 you'll spend this week. And, the water is recycled instead of going into the ground or the storm drain. All RIGHT! |