Tell Us About Self-Cleaning Litterboxes

[Maeglin]

Myself, my fiancee, and our four domestic shorthairs are moving to a spanking new home. Our feline waste disposal procedures are up for year-end review. No man, woman, or beast is particularly happy with the current state of affairs.

I am seriously considering getting one of those self-cleaning litterboxes. The ones that have motion sensors and automatically rake the faeces into another compartment of the litterbox after a cat performs its evacuations.

It is definitely worth the $200 to get a piece of functional equipment. I have some allergies to airborne particles that make litter maintenance (even with crystals) a real drag. Suffice to say, there are things I would rather be doing than shoveling shit. The cost of the box is not necessarily prohibitive if I am getting a quality machine.

So, feline aficionados of the SDMB, please tell me: are automated litterboxes reliable? can the sensors be counted on not to rake your cat into the turdchamber along with the waste? can I expect more than a few months of hard use or will the motor burn out? are some models better than others? do you have any models that you swear by? any key suggestions in its use or maintenance?

Me, the lady, and the Horde thank you.

[Bad News Baboon]

We had one about 5 years ago. I don't know if they have imprved by now, but the one thing I hated was when the rakes would get crusted over with poop or pee. The poop/pee sometimes didn't make it into the removal box cleanly.

It worked well over all, but only 1 cat was using it. If 4 cats are using it, then I imagine you'd be changing the poop box pretty often, which might defeat the purpose of getting one.

[Eve]

Not worth the poop you put in them.

We got one of the better ones for my Mom's one cat, and it broke in two weeks. The motor noise scared the cat, and if you put just an ounce too much litter it it, or the wrong kind, it will go off-kilter and stop working.

Four cats? It won't last a day.

[stargazer]

I have no first-hand knowledge of it, but I have heard very good things about the Litter Robot. I probably found out about it from these very boards, now that I think about it. It's kind of pricy, at nearly $300, but if I ever have an extra $300 kicking around, I'll probably buy one (after doing some more research, of course!)

[aruvqan]

I did research it by asking at my vets office. The timer is not long enough to allow the clump to solidify, so the comb always gets gukky and frequently will break.

After this long discussion, we ended up getting a roll away litter box It lokos a bit odd, but works like a champ. mrAru gives it a spin every morning and gets rid of the clumps, and I give it a whirl each evening, so it gets sun about every 12 hours or so. Infinitely cheaper as well=)

[lisacurl]

We had a Littermaid for about six months back when we only had two cats, and gave up on it.

- the blades get gunky quickly, thus requiring tricky cleaning procedures.
- you still have to change out the litter at least once every other week, which was an involved process.
- with two cats, the reservoir filled up quickly, thus defeating the convenience aspect. I'd never consider it with the three cats we have now. We'd have to empty it twice a day.
- one of our cats attacked the damn thing every time it tried to cycle, once knocking the arm off-kilter. We figured she'd break it eventually.
- it was higher than the average litter box and became a favorite stalking place for cat fighting, thus causing it to cycle over and over and over again.
- it's damn loud. I took to wearing earplugs at night so I wouldn't be awakened by it.

In short, it's crap. Don't waste your money.

[joemama24_98]

We had the Litter Maid. Same feedback as most of the rest of the folks - with only one cat, it was managable (add fresh litter 1-2x per week, remove waste 1x per week).

The rake does get a little gunky, but I don't see how that would bother most people - it seems to work fine still.

I found the cleanup process to be a bit more involved than normal - stoop, scoop poop, replace container. It was always a little messy around the receptacle, so I wore gloves. You have to clean it less often than a normal box, but the effort may be more. We gave it a full cleaning (remove all litter, spray out with hose, etc.) 1x per month.

We had it with the tent (helps contain the smell a bit more if you have it inside). Unfortunatley, the cat liked the shelter so much, he spent too much time in there (not just to use it, but to hang out). Smelly cat got a urinary tract infection from doing that. I also wasn't too keen on letting him sit on my lap after being in the litter box all day, so we got rid of it.

[Nightingale]

LitterMaid owners, what brand of litter did you use? The one I bought for my cats would get stuck, unable to scoop the clumps into the receptacle, and cycle constantly. I wondered if the brand of litter I was using (Arm and Hammer) caused it. We finally went back to the old fashioned litterbox because we got tired of having to "help" the automatic one.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Man, I'm glad I saw this thread. Mrs. Blue Sky was considering one of these things for our 3 cats. I think I'll pass.


Thanks!

[Rasa]

Man, with our respective herds, we'd need two of 'em to be of any good. (My neurotic herd of five says hello and congratulations, by the way!)

I was kinda hoping you'd all say how wonderful they were though, so I could justify buying one. Bah.

[davenportavenger]

I thought cats wouldn't share litterboxes. Maybe two of them would, but I can't see all four using the same one.

[Wonko The Sane]

I have one, and I like it. I've found that any kind of "litter scoop" is too much of a pain in the ass. I use a "bondo spatula", and it works great. It's thin enough to get inbetween the rake tines, and if my cat pisses in one spot enough to coat the bottom with clumps, the body filler spatula works great as a scraper. If I put the reccomended amount of litter in, it tends to get stuck, so I put in less. I tend to procrastinate less when cleaning out the litterbox, because I can tell when the bin is full, and if I don't empty it, the litterfumes™ stink up the joint fairly quickly, not like the slow buildup of a standard litterbox.

Strangely, my cat likes to come back after ten minutes to watch the rake clean the box, and I've actually seen him attack it.

[Hoshiko]

aruvqan, that litter box looks awesome! The BF's one issue with adopting a new cat is litter box problems and odor (ANY normal odor,) but he likes gadgets so I think a litter box like that would impress him.

I hope. I miss having a cat.

[Q.E.D.]

Originally Posted by continuity eror

I thought cats wouldn't share litterboxes. Maybe two of them would, but I can't see all four using the same one.

Cats can share a litterbox, but they're seldom happy about it. It's normally recommended to have at least one box per cat.

[Maeglin]

Thanks much for all of the testimonials and the good wishes from Rasa. We are going down from five cats to four with this move. I wonder how long it will last.

As for litterbox sharing, it depends entirely on the cats. None of my cats are particularly submissive, and none are too intimidated to share litter space. They also have no problem defecating where they urinate, so that obviates another problem. I have two litterboxes now for five cats, and this works just fine.

[Cheesesteak]

We've got 4 cats sharing a litterbox. We change the litter entirely twice a day so it doesn't get nasty, and the cats seem happy with it (no accidents ever, knock on wood). Since we change frequently instead of scoop, we use non-clumping litter and we don't use all that much each time.

I find this method very easy to deal with, and I'm fairly new to the whole cat care thing, my wife has had cats for ages. Change the litter in the morning before going to work, change it again before going to bed, scoop the poop as needed. A flushable litter makes it even easier.

[Green Cymbeline]

I echo everything said about the Litter Maid. Mine broke within several weeks and when it was working, was not all it was crakced up to be.

My friend has the roll-away kind aruvqan recommended and she loves it.

[FilmGeek]

I have a friend with the littermaid. Hers broke in a week so she sent it to the company and got a new one. Worked and works perfectly. She loves it. One cat household, btw.

She cautions not to use storebought cat litter, but to use the stuff made for it. Solved any problems she had.

[FilmGeek]

I like that roll away one, but the hole doesn't look big enough for my cat. She's a hefty one. Dense, you might say.

[Unintentionally Blank]

We've got two cats (one that most likely won't live out the month. ) and couldn't HOPE to expect a mechanical device to keep the litterbox clean, based on the liquid processing capabilities of one of our cats. (Blue Burmese, Large)

What I _did_ find helped was to place the litterbox in a trashbag. Unwrap the litterbox by turning the bag inside out, then carefully flop it into another trashbag. The litterbox doesn't get nasty, and if a cat happens to tear the bag, the litter is caught by the bag it gets dumped into. I don't remember the last time I had to clean the litterbox.

Now, the cat pee in the carpet outside the laundry room? Our Steam cleaner and Simple Solution get used aLOT (and we're budgeting for new floor coverings when the last cat has shuffled off this mortal coil.)

[Rasa]

Originally Posted by Q.E.D.

Cats can share a litterbox, but they're seldom happy about it. It's normally recommended to have at least one box per cat.

Yeah, I remember hearing "one more box than you have cats".

Man. I'd have to quit my job just to do litter box maintenance if I had 6 litterboxes.

My five share two boxes. Scoop twice a day, total change of litter twice a week (give or take), wash the litterboxes with some very hot water and Pine Sol once a week. I feed them the expensive cat food that's low in magnesium, which actually does help their poop smell less... poopy. And keeping the scoopable litter fresh avoids the ammonia pee smell.

I'd consider buying one Littermaid, but I know my neurotic freaks would never ever use it. Good God, it makes *noise*! I can see their horrified little faces now. Heehee!