Anyone have an automatic cat liiter box cleaner?

[mattiew]

Hopefully you understand what I'm talking about - the littler boxes that automatically scoop the waste into a box. If you have one do you like it? Does it work? Is it worth the money? Any insight would be appreciated!!!!! DH and I know they are expensive for a cat box but have decided it may be time to splurge.

Thanks!
Carrie

[deborah_r]

Didn't work for us. I have decided that there are no "easy" solutions to the litter box problem, other than scooping daily. Every "sifting" type box I have tried does not work, as whatever the sifting device is, it always gets clogged.

I used my automatic LitterMaid for about a year before I got sick of cleaning the rake part of it, and the cats had begun peeing directly on the rake, which caused it to clump immediately when it did the sift a few minutes after they used the box.

Good luck!

[mudder17]

Had the littermaid for about 1 week before we decided it wasn't for us. One of our cats liked to pee sideways/backwards, so it definitely didn't work. And because the box was open, they ended up making just as big a mess.

We are currently using a system that works very well for 4 cats (2 litter boxes). We are using litterpan sifting liners that we got from ebay (BuyitNow option). If you're interested, e-mail me at
myname @ chemicalgraphics.com (without the spaces) or just add another post--I'll dig up the info later.

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya
born 22 February 2004

http://lilypie.com/baby1/050222/2/16/0/+10/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif Breastfed 6 months and counting

http://www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya

[Saartje]

We have the Litter Robot. DH and I decided that, with him starting graduate school, working 3/4-time, and us having a baby all at once, an automatic litter box would be worth splurging on. So I did some research, to make sure it would be worth it. I found that few people really cared for either the kind that rakes the litter into a container or the kind that hooks up to your commode, but this one consistently got good reviews. It's expensive, but for us, it has been worth it. It works, doesn't get clogged, isn't overly noisy, etc. The only problem is that it's rather large -- it won't fit under our bathroom sink, unlike our old (plain) litter box. We've had it over a year now (since before I got pregnant with DS), and neither of us would go back.

http://litter-robot.com/

[chantal66]

We have the LitterMaid and we love it !

We own 2 cats and we had for 2 years.

We also have a water fountain for the cats. It is wonderful, you don't have to refill their water and it seems to always stay fresh.

Hope it helps !

Chantal

[mudder17]

Hey, thanks for the site. DH just ordered one! :) I wasn't sure if he would since it is a bit pricey. But I'm very much a gadget person, and he is too, if it's a good gadget. The only thing we're possibly concerned about is that our youngest cat may not like an enclosed box. But we're willing to try it!


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya
born 22 February 2004

http://lilypie.com/baby1/050222/2/16/0/+10/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif Breastfed 6 months and counting

http://www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya

[kristenk]

Wow! The Litter Robot looks very interesting. It sort of reminds me of a spaceship for kitties, but I could get over that! It's so expensive, though. You've really never had a problem with it at all??

[Marisa6826]

We had it and hated it. Honestly, it's easier to scoop the poop out of a regular box.

The initial purchase was spendy, and those refills aren't cheap either. Our cat ( a 23lb. nasty monster) was quite a prolific pee'er. Unfortunately, it would saturate the scoopable litter so much, it wouldn't clump properly and then clog the the "tines" of the rake.

The machine portion would get stuck and go back and forth over and over, trying to complete its mission. If and when it DID scoop into the little container, it would go everywhere.

Bottom line. ICK.

-m

[quikeye]

We have the littermaid and like it, generally. We bought it when we found out we were pregnant & dh got relegated to litter duty... It's convenient and we've never had a problem with it (only 1 cat, normal pee/pooper, etc.) The only weird thing was our cat only went on one side of the box, so the tray was full on one side & empty on the other!

We did have a problem w/ the last bunch of litter receptacles we bought-- the lids wouldn't stay on (yuck). Other than that, we like it more than sifting ourselves... It can be loud though!

My dad had one and hated it, but he had 3 cats and one with a digestive problem, so it didn't work for him... My generic cat likes hers well enough, though (she's never been fuzzy or picky, just needs a place to go & will do it).

That litter robot is cool though! :)

[mattiew]

Thanks for everyone's input/info - looks like the LitterMaid won't work for us but I am happy to find out BEFORE buying it. I found a forum/board on automatic litterbox cleaners, for some reason I think it is hysterical there is one but when I have a few minutes I'm going to really check it out!!!!!

Thanks!
Carrie

Oh yes here's the link...
http://www.litterbox-central.com/forum/index.php