I have two indoor cats. I hate - hate - cleaning the litter box. Would like to explore an automatic litter box - but reviews all seem to be bad - except for the Cat Genie.
I cannot have a cat genie because I do not have washer/dryer hooks ups AND I do not have enough floor space in the bathroom to place one there.
Any suggestions? My two cats are not monsters (biggest is 9.8 lbs) but I need a covered box.
Littermate seemed to get okay reviews when we were selling it at our clinic, but that was years ago and I don’t have cats of my own so no first hand experience.
You might consider those box liners that go w/ the clumpable litter so all you have to do is lift the liner and all the clumps go with it? (they are basically a grate so the “good” litter falls through and only the clumps stay.
Hate to say it, but it’s part of having cats. (and part of the reason (beyond my major allergies) that we do not have cats.
I am on my second Littermate. The first one lasted several years without any problems so I got my money’s worth. I also have a regular litter box right next to it. I have noticed the cats tend to pee in the littermate and poop in the regular one.
UGH! I had several littermates. I had nothing but trouble with them. When they work, they are great. But when they jam up…forget it.
Now, that said, I have those liners now and just pull up the sifting liner. THOSE work great.
I’ve had two. Each only lasted for a year.
Well, here’s my report:
Hypothesis: The automatic litter box will allow the humans to leave the house for a weekend without worry.
Specific Aim 1: To determine if waste output of feline residents over a 72 hour period can be contained by the automatic litter box.
Materials and Methods:
Cats: Two (2) felines (average age of 4, average weight of 14 pounds)
Litter box: LitterMaid Elite Mega, advertised by manufacturer as “suitable for multiple cats or large cats”
Housing: 1100 square foot one story residence, flooring material consists of either wood, linoleum, or wool.
Felines were confined to the house at the start of the study period and fed food and water ad libitum. Temperature was constant at 20 degrees C. To enrich the study environment, approximately 10 g of dessicated Nepeta cataria, 3 fuzzy mice, two scratching pads, and a plastic cap originating from a USB drive were added to the confinement area. After 58 hours felines were released from the confinement area, and the contents of the the waste receptacle observed.
Results:
Subject 1:
Observations: Waste in container in box. Appears to equal the approximate amount of output of one feline for one weekend. Litter itself appears clean and raked.
We conclude that the automatic litter box works as described.
Subject 2:
Observations: Cat sh&% all over the house. Appears to equal the approximate output of a pissed-off feline trying to make a point. Waste material is confined to open, wood-covered areas. Output is extremely malodorous, and the researchers were forced to abandon standard good laboratory practices in order to clean, disinfect, and dispose of the product to avoid contaminating the study area with human excreta.
We conclude that the automatic litter box literally scares the sh&% out of some cats.
@ Sunsets, LOL!!!
You’re right. I do think the automated stuff scares the sh!t out of some critters. But so does having the litter box in say the laundry room while the dryer buzzer sounds. 
Sunsets, hehehe. :lol:
I pet sat a couple of times for friends who had the Littermaid. HATED! Seriously, litter would get clumped on the side wall where the arm thingy went up to dump it into the storage container and it made such a HUGE mess. I would NEVER have one. :mad: :lol: Can you tell I didn’t like?
Now, this thing looks, ah…interesting.
My kitties would be like WTF! :eek:
I think I have tried every incarnation of the auto litter box, with the exception of the Cat Genie. It sounds like a good idea, but my cats are all litter flingers so those “reuseable” litter balls would be all over my house, covered in whatever. And I am not motivated enough to pick them all up and dump them into the box. They would get vacumned away, I can pretty much gurantee that.
Anyway…Littermates suck. Their motors die after about a year (like stated above), they ALWAYS get clogged and the little box container is super small. Same goes for any of the Littermate knockoffs.
The best I’ve had is the Litter Robot, by FAR. No rakes to deal with, which is a godsend and because the little motor only has to turn the Deathstar (thats what my husband and I called it) it doesn’t die. The only two drawbacks are 1)your cat really does need to be smaller to use it. We tried it with our 18lb cat, and there was no way it was going to work. With yours being 10lbs or less though, you’ll probably be fine. 2) hope that your cat uses this thing like a normal cat. The control panel is directly under the opening, and we have a cat who for some reason liked his head inside the litter box, butt sticking out and ended up killing the control panel.
Oh, and other downside is its expensive. Probably one of the most expensive out there. However, you can usually find reconditioned models that work just fine for much less.
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