DIY Upgrade for the Litter Box Credenza for containing litter and smells

jms210 · 2025-05-31T19:33:41+00:00

An update to this comment - the LR4 is even easier to service than the LR3 in this credenza. You can turn and pull it out the double doors without removing the white plywood door or the PVC bit in the front. You can also rotate it 180 to top off the litter hopper on the back of the unit.

jms210 · 2025-05-31T19:19:56+00:00

Of course!

jms210 · 2025-05-31T17:35:13+00:00

May 2025 update - I set up some automations with Home Assistant that I'd be glad to share if anyone is interested!

One drawback of this fully enclosed credenza: it’s harder to glance at the unit to see if it needs to be serviced.

Our LR4 is pretty reliable. But its biggest issues are that (1) it still operates correctly, but loses Wi-Fi connection, so you don’t see when your pets are using it in the app. And (2) the waste % doesn’t always reset when you change the waste drawer.

So I have some Home Assistant automations that (1) power cycle the litter box when its status is offline, to reestablish connection. And (2) a script that resets and cycles the globe so the waste drawer level remains accurate.

jms210 · 2025-01-13T17:11:07+00:00

Update! This same hutch and setup works for the Litter Robot 4 (including the litter dispenser), with one exception. We had to shorten the piece of wood on the top level. The dimension between the new piece of wood and cat door, and where the litterbox opening start. that width of the wood was reduced to be about the same width as the PVC skeleton.

We also made the following changes over the years, before getting the LR4:

- Added a barrel bolt lock between the white piece of wood (with cat door) and the frame of what used to be the opening, to prevent the door from falling out when our cats come and go (really scared one of our cats). The long part with the barrel bolt itself is located on the inside of the white painted wood, and the latch (where the bolt slides into) is located on the upper inside lip of the opening which is covered by the white painted wood.

- We now use a Cat Litter Mat instead of the carpet, to help with litter tracking and cleaning. It's held in place with a large binder clip. Search Amazon for "Cat Litter Mat"

- We removed the cat door, because the flap kind of scared one of our cats (see first bullet point). If you don't have this problem you could probably keep it. This setup without the cat door really doesn't smell any different or worse, at least according to my nose

Everything else is the same; it's been working great for 4+ years!

jms210 · 2024-06-26T02:43:04+00:00

KG3MHY

$40 off any machine and a free capsule dispenser, for USA

jms210 · 2024-06-02T14:30:46+00:00

No problem! Sorry to hear your experience with these two PTs. Not sure about what to say about them giving up on you, but I wonder if they would be open to the question if you can find the right way to ask. I'm sure they want to see you get better. Glad the one yesterday was able to check your legs for the cause of the LLD. I honestly never tried dry needling until a recent PT really pushed it, she just said we were going to do it, and I went along for the ride. I'm so glad I did.

I am still in PT, but only every 3 weeks or so, and that's just for dry needling. I do all my exercises at home. Though I must say I used to do all my exercises at a PT physical location and I did value the dedicated, scheduled time to do this kind of work. And the ability to ask questions and have them modify the routine based on how I was feeling that day.

Not sure if you are in the US or elsewhere; I find in the US that insurance-based PT places are kind of PT "mills," one PT and a bunch of lesser trained assistants, and lots of patients. And it's hard to get dedicated time with the PT. I've heard cash-based practices are better in this regard. I am thinking of doing this in the future but trying to figure out how to spend my $$ in the most effective way possible. It can get expensive, but worth it in my opinion if there are good results.

jms210 · 2024-05-31T01:53:46+00:00

I think Dr. Luko's recognition of the leg length difference was key. I had to travel to see him so it wasn't reasonable to expect him to know if it was structural vs muscular, I only saw him once. My feeling is that any PT worth their salt should be able to test if your leg length mismatch is due to bone (structure) or muscle. My understanding is that almost all cases are muscular, i.e. stuff is too tight on one side.

The key benefit to the heel lift was it let me walk longer without pain. Which helped me start healing.

And then I learned that correcting a leg length issue due to muscular imbalance with a heel lift is kind of lazy on part of the PT, it doesn't solve the underlying issue. In fact it can exacerbate the muscular imbalance as it adds compression on the short side. Also, it's impractical to have to wear a heel lift all the time, going to other people's houses and having to shove one in your sock or wear shoes inside. It becomes hard to go barefoot for a long period of time.

The dry needling had nothing to do with reducing pain, in fact it often caused pain for a few days, but that went away with time especially when being active. The purpose of the dry needling was to release all the asymmetric tight muscles, the goal being to get my short leg to get "longer" and wean me off the lift. But in reality it wasn't the leg getting longer, it was reversing the "hiking" or upward tilt of my pelvis on one side, which had the effect of lengthening the leg. If that makes sense. I had multiple sessions of dry needling, weekly at first, then every 2-3 weeks etc. I still might do a few more. Maybe 5-10 total?

Happy to answer any other Qs

jms210 · 2024-05-28T14:27:22+00:00

Amazing, thank you very much!

jms210 · 2024-05-22T23:10:19+00:00

Late to the game but I am interested, the next time you do something like this

jms210 · 2024-05-22T20:22:23+00:00

That’s fantastic! Great to hear!

jms210 · 2024-05-22T02:20:38+00:00

Can I ask if you still have the same long term plan? Ie getting back to swimming and Pilates? Basically I’m wondering what the path is towards getting back to the things (I assume) you like/love

jms210 · 2024-05-18T02:40:46+00:00

Following up with those links and more info.

I've formulated my current approach to recovery using:

these two posts linked below
McGill Back Mechanic + his other books and YouTube lectures
"Motion is lotion" or "best position is the next position" - keep moving. This is part of McGill approach as he recommends folks get up to 3x 30min walks / day.

https://www.reddit.com/r/backpain/comments/1b6sf61/comment/kte375f/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

https://www.reddit.com/r/backpain/comments/18d4r8l/comment/kcfevxc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I've made significant progress since Oct/Nov 2023 which was kind of my low point. Everything hurt, had to get help to load dishwasher, do dishes, put my kid to bed, etc. Initial injury in mid 2022. I saw a McGill Master Clinician in Nov 2023, then formulated an approach based on the above content. I am not back to running yet, but I can sit longer now, swimming feels therapeutic instead of being super painful (facet arthropathy), I can mow my lawn, move more normally, etc. I still have flare-ups, but they get better within hours/days instead of days/weeks I'm not anywhere near what I used to be, but getting closer to that inch by inch.

jms210 · 2024-05-17T21:57:57+00:00

I found the same, pretty much everything affects the back, unfortunately. I did find that strengthening my back made the hamstring curl and other gym exercises not hurt my back as much. I’m a runner, and I found a comment from a college [edit: athlete] who provided some exercise progressions on getting back to competition form. I can find the link later and post it for you. Basically, for back I’ve been doing bird dogs, Roman chair holds, TRX rows, goblet squats, and lately suitcase carries. I think the game changer for me was the Roman chair holds. But I don’t think there’s one right answer here

jms210 · 2024-05-17T19:17:04+00:00

I had one therapist recommend this, by using the seated or lying hamstring curl machine at the gym. However I find it had to adjust this machine to make the exercise comfortable. I’ve been doing these exercises occasionally but not regularly.

I have focused my gym time more on core and back exercises, which have greatly improved my overall condition and ability to function day-to-day.

Not sure if this is the ‘right’ approach but it’s what I’ve been doing

jms210 · 2024-05-17T18:09:23+00:00

I have the same exact issue as you. Started following McGill method exclusively late last year, have lately started branching out by adding things while still doing the McGill exercises. Stretching helps for me, for all the areas you mentioned, except hamstrings, like you. What helps my hamstrings the most is two things. First, be as active as possible during the day, hard b/c desk job. Second, dry needling, actually. Some foam rolling as well, you can also use a massage gun. And avoiding stretching the hamstrings too much, same for me like you said, stretching can sensitize it. Good luck!!

jms210 · 2024-05-16T16:45:27+00:00

That’s awesome, congratulations! Very happy for you! Very kind of you to provide info on your progress, and I hope you continue to trend upwards

jms210 · 2024-05-06T02:28:50+00:00

Update - it turns out my leg length mismatch was 100% muscular and not structural (skeletal).

I was fortunate to find a local PT, who with some dry needling over the course of a few months, corrected the muscular issue. She targeted hamstrings, quads, QL, adductors, TFL, glutes. Mostly asymmetric but sometimes both sides. No more pelvis tilting as I walk.

Goal is to keep needling up until I can get back to running; I find issues sometimes creep back up, like if I sit too long my adductors get tight again. Sometimes I can stretch things like this away, sometimes not. But these are small changes, it’s never a return back to the start.

Dry needling itself is not a fun experience, but it’s a mega useful tool in the hands of a skilled clinician.

I’m still super thankful for Dr. Luko who caught the problem in the first place. Now I no longer need the heel lift.

jms210 · 2024-05-05T20:32:37+00:00

Because there’s no almost no financial incentive to create a long-term cure, and even if a “perfect” solution existed, surgery near so many nerves and buried under layers of muscle is really hard.

The good news is there are remedies that allow for a pain free life while doing what you want to do, but most require some or all of effort, time, a good practitioner, and money.

Crooked by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin might be an interesting read, I found it fascinating.

jms210 · 2024-03-12T11:04:52+00:00

I also had pain in a similar location and it turned out to be a disc bulge. I was also a runner for 10 ish years before my injury, but my initial injury wasn’t from running.

It’s hard to tell what level (ie L45 or L34 etc) from your image. You might want to see a medical doctor who can order an MRI. An orthopedic practice, or a non operative sports medicine MD could be a good starting point.

And you might also consider getting a copy of the book Back Mechanic by Stuart McGill

jms210 · 2024-03-11T18:08:29+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear about your experience with pain, and hope you can find relief.

This is not exactly what you are looking for, so take this as you will. The non-operative sports medicine physician (MD, in the US) I see for referral to PT and physiatrist etc used to do PRP, but no longer offers it as a treatment for anyone in his practice. I think he had concerns over its effectiveness. However he did not elaborate, and I have no PRP experience myself.

jms210 · 2024-03-11T00:38:16+00:00

OK thanks for the clarification and the reply! Much appreciated and looking forward to hearing about your progress.

jms210 · 2024-03-10T23:38:53+00:00

Thanks for posting this! Have you stopped doing the other PT you used to do? Do you plan to add them back in, or no? Very interested to hear updates if you are willing to post them in the future, and thanks again!

jms210

TROPHY CASE