Are any self-cleaning cat litter boxes any good, or worth the money?
Does anyone have any experience with self-cleaning cat litter boxes? I'm curious if any particular model of self-cleaning litter box is any good. We now have 4 cats and it would be nice to not have to clean litter boxes manually 1-2 times every day.
Do they separate pee/poop from litter well? Are cats afraid to use them? Do they stink more than regular litter boxes because pee/poop are in them for longer periods? Are they a hassle to clean? Do you have to buy propietary supplies (custom litter? special trays?)?
Thanks for your input.
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I have a Litter Robot (that's the actual brand name) and it's worth the money. Completely eliminates smell other than right when they do the deed. Incredibly easy and clean to empty, but that's all besides the point. They ha e the BEST customer service ever. I've had parts replaced for free, experts on the phone guide me step by step on how to fix it if it malfunctions, and once they even replaced the entire dome for free (plus shipping). I've had this for several years and it's amazing. Truly.
I've had other automatic litter boxes too but none of them have been as durable, clean smelling, or easy to use as this. Plus I get phone notifications when it's full and it won't cycle anymore so I can change it.
My cats took a week to get used to it but now they love it. They offer their own litter but you can buy your own as well. There are certain restrictions on litter type though, check that out before you buy litter.
It separates the waste well, and there is hardly any wasted clean litter in the waste bag when I take it out.
And it actually stinks LESS than a regular box because of how it stores the waste and the fact that it seals it away a few minutes after cats go, using a weight sensor to tell when a cat has left the box.
Edit: reading this sounds like an advertisement, but I swear I'm just a dude who loves my litter box a whole lot.
I have one arriving today. Fingers crossed that my scaredy cat will be able to make the change.
If you want you can start by not allowing it to auto turn and only turning it manually when you're nearby and can be sure the cat isn't near. You can then build up to the auto turn
Our scardy cat was fascinated by ours. Would haul ass from across the house just to watch it cycle.
My friends bought me a litter robot, too. I have mixed feelings. I seem to have to reset and fiddle with the thing too often, but when it works, it's really good for keeping the smell down. My guys use it more often than the other two old school boxes, so I guess two paws up from them?
Have you broken it down to clean? Issues in mine usually mean there's dust build up under the bowl, particularly the pinch sensor. If I get that sorted every few months then it goes back to fine.
I have not, and I will check! If that's all it is... It's been finicky for years!
Yeah, you have to occasionally do a complete disassembly and clean out the internals. Maybe once a year.
If it's not it, their customer service is really good so get in touch with them.
Sounds like it needs a cleaning. Also update the firmware just in case. Customer service can help if you need help figuring out how to clean it or if a motor goes bad or something. They've replaced motors and stuff for me a few times for free. When one of the sensors broke or was damaged, it was finicky for me too. Sometimes worked sometimes didn't. Replacing it fixed it instantly. Though the same happens if a sensor needs to be cleaned.
What a future world we live in; firmware updates on a litter box.
Mine was like that, make sure you check for firmware updates.
This sounded fantastic until I looked it up and it's A THOUSAND DOLLARS???
I love my cat and I hate scooping litter, but definitely not a grand worth of either...
What dollars is that?
Mine was £350 which is under $500 US, just looked at the site and the brand new model is $699.
Ah, that's $999 Canadian. Right now our exchange against the US$ is brutal.
Ah, yup, the new one is indeed that much. Second hand are widely available but tbf, it's worth the cost to me. Around the same price as a new washing machine and I'd probably choose the litter robot first if I had to choose.
These don’t require special litter or anything, do they?
I’m always wary of things like smart vacuums that require special bags and this feels like one of those but didn’t see anything on the Amazon page specifically saying that.
It does, but you don't have to buy their litter, as long as the one you get does the same thing.
Thank you!
It’s special as in you have to use clumping litter. Dr. Elsey’s works the best in my experience.
No, not at all, not sure what EssentialCoffee means. It's just any clumbing litter with a small grain to go through the sifter. I prefer clay.
There are still some places with some leftover LitterRobot 3s in stock at lower prices ( here ), but they've always been expensive. We have a 2, and it cost $700 CAD at the time.
They're probably looking at one of the bundles.
Hey now, it's only $700 where I am.
The amount of money people will spend for convenience is indefinable.
Time is money
Second the litter robot. I had a pet safe automatic litterbox for years and this one blows that out of the water.
Can vouch they are good. We have two. They are expensive though.
So freaking expensive. But honestly I love mine. Sometimes I travel for work and I'm gone all week. Come home and there's still no smell. Worth it.
How'd you get your cat to try it? We're struggling to get ours to even look at it, any pointers would be appreciated!
I put the old litter box next to the litter robot and let the old litter box get super gross and didn’t scoop it at all for over a week. Once it got gross they opted for the clean litter robot. I then removed the old litter box and now they just use the robot.
This is exactly what we did with our cat and it worked like a charm. We tried leaving a path of treats into it before that, but she just ate the treats and then walked away. We didn't want to just shove her in there because we were afraid she would associate the trauma with the Litter Robot.
I would pick them up and just put them inside it. After a day or so of that over and over they started using it but it took them a while to not be scared of it when it moves.
My mom has one of these and she loves it.
Only weird bit was when I was staying at her house and didn't realize it was a thing, only to have it go through a cycle at 4am and not knowing what the cyborg sound was.
Nah my gf just got one and she loves it too.