Self-Cleaning Litter Boxes

BarbJ · Apr 14, 2008

Anyone ever use one of these? (Not personally, of course. Or, if you have, please don't tell me.

) Advice? Pros and cons? Recommendations as to brand? Did your kitties get spooked? I have 5 cats; that's a lot of scooping, and I'd love to make it easier, but some of the cats are skittish. Thanks!

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Apr 14, 2008

We have three cats and two self-cleaning boxes and one regular. Love 'em! They don't bother the cats at all - there's a ten-minute delay before it cycles after the cat leaves and if another cat comes to use the facilities, it doesn't cycle until ten minutes after the second cat leaves.

Be sure you don't fill it too full and use the right litter. Ours have both been 'Litter Maid' brand. We've had both the small and the larger version - small works just fine. Good luck!

WendyNYC · Apr 14, 2008

My mom has cats and they hated it. They seriously had a "WTF is THIS?" look on their faces when they saw it and never would go near it, preferring instead to pee right next to the box.

Her cats are...well...that way. Maybe yours aren't so difficult.

PattiTheWicked · Apr 14, 2008

I'll tell you what we've discovered, and just love, is called Yesterday's News cat litter. It's made of recycled newspapers, but it's not like shredded paper. It's more like little pellets. They kind of look like bran cereal, actually. There's no smell at all, and I've got two cats pooping in it. Previously, I had to change the box every three days, and now we can go about a week.

It's so great I might make my kids use it.

heyjude · Apr 14, 2008

I tried this with my boys and they didn't seem to care one way or another, not even the change in litter BUT the litter got all wet and stuck to the blades and... ew. I'll scoop any day over that mess.

Soccer Mom · Apr 14, 2008

A caution on the new Littermaids. I had them for years, then I got a new one. It had issues and the motor burned up. I got another one. Died in a few months. Got on a consumer website and the new ones have issues. I currently use ScoopFree and I'm very pleased with it. The refill cartridges last about a week.

I use Yesterdays News for my bunnies. The ScoopFree crystals aren't recommended for them as they tend to ingest their litter at times.

Snowstorm · Apr 14, 2008

BarbJ: Check out the Litter-Robot (http://www.litter-robot.com/). When my sisters and I bought a self-cleaning box for my Mom, I did a lot of research. The Littermaids weren't that good, although many people were pleased.

There were NO negative comments about the Litter-Robot. It's spendy, but very reliable. It's pretty funky design, but the company has tips to get cats to use it. It has a drawer that the waste falls into, so it's easy to empty and clean.

Mom's had it for years with no problems.

CDarklock · Apr 16, 2008

BarbJ said:
I have 5 cats; that's a lot of scooping

My personal experience was that with five cats, it was three or four cats before the self-cleaning mechanism could kick in. By then, it was too much to handle, and it would fail. The box is also somewhat small, once you deduct the room taken up by the machinery.

I've also heard great things about the Litter Robot. Haven't tried one, myself; I simply switched to disposable aluminum roaster pans. I spend $5 a week, drop two of them side by side in the basement bathtub, and at the end of the week I just stack the pans and chuck them in a garbage bag. No scooping.

Monkey · Apr 17, 2008

My friends have one of these automatic scoopers. The first time I was at their house and it went off, my husband, our son, and I all turned towards the noise immediately and watched the thing work as if it were a table suddenly deciding to do a can-can. Litter boxes just don't decide to clean themselves, do they? And if they do, what self-respecting cat would make themselves vulnerable while standing in one?

My friends laughed so hard that tears came to their eyes. They said that their cats had had exactly the same initial reaction. Eventually, the cats got over it...but I still find myself staring... 0.O

Snowstorm · Apr 17, 2008

The Litter-robot does its cleaning rotation after the cat leaves the litterbox. There's a delay of several seconds (it's been awhile since I've seen it) and rotates to clean. So it's always clean for the next cat.

I don't think it's very loud when it does its rotation, so it's pretty unobtrusive.

HeronW · Apr 17, 2008

I had 3 cats using 1 litter box, scooped out the soiled clay 2-3x a day and changed the whole every 2 weeks. I use these bed pads--plastic bottom and absorbant inside so the cat pee doesn't eat away the plastic--and it will over time. I can usually tell who did what and know that they've eaten well, they're going good and that's a major positive health sign--just like it is for people.

Soccer Mom · Apr 18, 2008

I do have one cat who thinks the box is her personal toy. She gets in, pees, jumps out and then sits there, waiting for the cleaning mechanism to activivate. She crouches and watches it, her face a mixture of fear and fascination.

Then she does it again.

Fortunately, she doesn't do this more than three or four times in a row anymore, but when I first bought the dang thing, I was afraid she was going to get dehydrated.

CATastrophe · Apr 20, 2008

I've tried Litter Maids. Yuck.

Then I got Litter Robots. I've had no problems with them, (used to use two at a time, 6 cats) Now I use just one. None of the cats mind it. Several prefer it. All use it. It's well worth the money and the company stands behind what they sell. Mine are at least 5 years old and going strong. I'd definitely recommend them.

BarbJ · Apr 23, 2008

Haven't had a chance to get back until now, but I want to thank you all for your responses. I've ruled out the comb type - gunk factor - but will check out Litter-Robot.

In the meanwhile, thanks for the pad idea, Heron! And Soccer Mom, I have a cat who would do just that. Aren't they great? They'll play with anything: the wall, the door. your computer, your foot without warning... The world is their toy.

Soccer Mom · Apr 23, 2008

Oh yes. The phone. The laundry. The shoelace you are tying. The bed you are making. The world is indeed their toy.

ChimeraCreative · Apr 24, 2008

There's a combing kitty litter box in the basement and I hate it. I think the cats hate it as well. The gunk factor is pretty gruesome. I've been considering hosing it off, wiping & disinfecting it and sticking it in a garage sale. Would anyone buy a second hand litter box though? ^_^

-An

(one of our kittens is technology obsessed. She walks over my keyboard and somehow makes my type VERY BIG and turns up my speakers at the same time. We might get her a computer for her birthday so she'll stop closing our windows and losing my files) ^_^

CDarklock · Apr 24, 2008

ChimeraCreative said:
There's a combing kitty litter box in the basement and I hate it.

Honestly, whose brilliant idea was it to comb feces out of shattered clay?

Has nobody ever heard the phrase "like shit through a cane brake"?

Or do people just not remember what a cane brake is?

heyjude · Apr 25, 2008

ChimeraCreative said:
(one of our kittens is technology obsessed. She walks over my keyboard and somehow makes my type VERY BIG and turns up my speakers at the same time. We might get her a computer for her birthday so she'll stop closing our windows and losing my files) ^_^

Ha! One of my cats (the orange one, left) has changed my Bose radio to military time, not once but twice now. That's hard to do for someone with opposable thumbs!

Soccer Mom · Apr 25, 2008

Oh yes. One of mine has a knack for pressing the correct buttons on my phones to play, record, and delete messages.

And she likes to scan pictures of her tail on my printer.

Self-Cleaning Litter Boxes

BarbJ

Ol' Fashioned Girl

Hand? What hand?

WendyNYC

fiddle-dee-dee

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

heyjude

Making my own sunshine

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

Snowstorm

Baby plot bunneh sniffs out a clue

CDarklock

Yes!

Monkey

Is me.

Snowstorm

Baby plot bunneh sniffs out a clue

HeronW

Down Under Fan

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

CATastrophe

BarbJ

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

ChimeraCreative

Been there, Done that.

CDarklock

Yes!

heyjude

Making my own sunshine

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist