OT Cat litter boxes

[bearloch]

Hi I have 2 adult cats one who is a large breed ( 22 pounds) I need to get them a new letter box and have been looking at the self cleaning models and want to know if anyone actually has one and do they work? please give me the pros and cons you have experienced thanks so much

 

[maddiebee]

Hi I have 2 adult cats one who is a large breed ( 22 pounds) I need to get them a new letter box and have been looking at the self cleaning models and want to know if anyone actually has one and do they work? please give me the pros and cons you have experienced thanks so much

I would not ever recommend them. Half the time the cats are terrified of them and the part that combs through the little to collect the clumps gets really gross and is really hard to clean. I guess its nice to not have to scoop every day, but the over all cleaning of the model is a lot more work. I'd take a regular litter box any day.

 

[Gigi22]

I introduced our 2 cats to the self-cleaning litter box when the cats were slightly under a year old. They adapted to it very well. But, my larger cat (15 lbs. and "big boned") had trouble fitting himself into the litter box, there's just a lot less space for a big cat to move around because of the mechanism, so I would not recommend these boxes for larger cats.

 

[justlook3]

It's been years since I tried one but ours would get clogged in the middle of the night and make horrible sounds. Finally just got rid of it because it was more trouble than it was worth.
The best solution I have with 4 cats (one a large breed) is crystal cat litter and a litter genie. Crystals absorb the urine which keeps the smell down and reduces what you need to scoop. You only have to scoop solid waste which then goes into the lovely litter genie bucket and sealed away. Obviously it runs out of it's absorbing powers and you can to change it, but it lasts longer than other forms, the time depends on how many cats you have and in some cases depends on the box, mine seem to like to urinate in one box more than others.
They say some cats don't like crystals but mine are pretty easy going. I introduced it to my younger cats when they were kittens and they were fine. The others didn't even care when I switched.
You do have to buy the bigger more pricey boxes when you have a large cat, but you can't really help that.

 

[Tinkmom]

I would not ever recommend them. Half the time the cats are terrified of them and the part that combs through the little to collect the clumps gets really gross and is really hard to clean. I guess its nice to not have to scoop every day, but the over all cleaning of the model is a lot more work. I'd take a regular litter box any day.

I tend to agree with this. It sounds great in theory, and if it worked as designed that would be great. Unfortunately, that isn't usually the case, and it is nasty to clean, which you have to do fairly often.

 

[bearloch]

thanks!!

 

[lucyem]

I have a litter-robot. Works like they say it does. No tines to get clogged up, it spins. Totally keeps the smell down/gone. Mine is 2 years old and still going.

Expensive yes. But we live in a very old house with a basement we cannot let the cats into, no spare rooms, and no room in any bathroom. I keep it under the main staircase in the front hall. (thats how limited we are with any litterbox)

I had two cats using it for the first year, one was 19 pounds. Now I have one cat. I can go away for 10 days and do not have to worry about it having to be cleaned. Though the pet sitter does keep an eye on it.

Many years ago I had one of the normal automatic ones for short time. Started out great but after a while it was just gross. I preferred scooping daily to trying to clean the thing.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

The self cleaning one worked great when it was just my little 7 lb cat.

When we got our big guy, he just was too big for it. He ended up peeing in the very corner all the time. The rake couldn't get it out. It was like chipping concrete trying to clean it!

 

[scbelleatheart]

Our neighbor had one and it caused their house to burn down. Cat didn't make it either. After that I never even considered one!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My cats hated the self cleaning one I bought. They were scared of it.

So no self cleaning litter boxes for us unfortunately.

 

[dhardawa]

I have a litter-robot. Works like they say it does. No tines to get clogged up, it spins. Totally keeps the smell down/gone. Mine is 2 years old and still going.

Expensive yes. But we live in a very old house with a basement we cannot let the cats into, no spare rooms, and no room in any bathroom. I keep it under the main staircase in the front hall. (thats how limited we are with any litterbox)

I had two cats using it for the first year, one was 19 pounds. Now I have one cat. I can go away for 10 days and do not have to worry about it having to be cleaned. Though the pet sitter does keep an eye on it.

Many years ago I had one of the normal automatic ones for short time. Started out great but after a while it was just gross. I preferred scooping daily to trying to clean the thing.

This is what I have too. It's expensive upfront, but worth every cent. I have three cats. I change the bag twice a week and there is zero odor. It works exactly the way they advertise and they even have a 90 day return policy for any reason.

 

[nemajovc]

I use the recycled paper cat boxes and put them in a large clear plastic box that I cut the front side off. (To keep litter and anything else off of floor)I scoop every morning and change the box out every week- plastic box easy to wipe etc. Boxes are about $3 per and I think they are making larger sizes.
I tried litter genie type thing hated it but if I had the $ I'd try the litter robot. Just check out how long it lasts - this might be the 1 time I'd get warranty.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[jpeppers]

I recently changed our cats litter box and she refuses to use it so I went back to the old litter box but still the same. I have now made her an outside cat, just wondering if anyone has dealt with this and how you might have handled it? My daughter is not happy but I'm not going to take a chance that the cat trashes my house.

 

[smallblackstars]

We had one for roughly about 3 days before going back to a normal tray. It simply didn't work out for us, it was noisy and disgusting. I now just scoop any mess as soon as the cat has been or as soon as I return home. I also fill and clean the tray with hot water every morning after taking out the previous days litter and disinfect it with a special litter tray disinfectant I got from the local pet shop about twice a week. This sounds like a lot of work and my mum thinks I am mad changing the litter everyday but it honestly takes no time at all and as I only use a small amount of litter each day I find it lasts just as long as my mum says the same bags worth lasts with her cats.

 

[FergieTCat]

Hi I have 2 adult cats one who is a large breed ( 22 pounds) I need to get them a new letter box and have been looking at the self cleaning models and want to know if anyone actually has one and do they work? please give me the pros and cons you have experienced thanks so much

I had 2 cats and a self cleaning litterbox. It did not work out that great.

As mentioned, one of my cats was afraid of it. When we first got it, Fergie jumped right in, did her business, and got out. The box is timed to go off about 2 minutes later, which was when Diana tried to inspect it. It "attacked" her and she never really liked using it. (I cannot repeat this story without rolling my eyes, because Diana was never the brightest crayon in the box ). It broke a few months later (I think one of them found a wire and chewed it -- I'm going with Diana.)

I eventually got this litterbox, which worked great:

http://www.amazon.com/Booda-Dome-Cl...d=1375371008&sr=8-1&keywords=booda+litter+box

It contains the odor very well and I used a jumbo liner. I also used Citrus Magic litter deodorizer, which I highly recommend.

I miss my cats, but I do not miss the litterbox.

 

[bearloch]

thanks everyone I think im gonna get a plastic tote and cut a hole in side and hope for the best! lol I saw a diaper genie at goodwill Im gonna go back and get if its still there and use it as a littler gene I also saw some cool ideas on pininterest that I will be attempting to make but for now its the storage box style!

 

[schows]

We have a Scoop Free self cleaning litter box for our two cats (7 lbs and 13 lbs) and love it. We've had it for about 3 years and it is still going strong. I bought the Forever Litter Tray off Amazon so I don't have to buy the prefilled cardboard litter trays that they sell for it. I buy Mimi's crystals cat litter from Walmart (the only place I've ever seen it) for about $4 per bag and change the litter every 2 weeks. I stir it every so often but mostly forget about it!

The crystals are very different from traditional litter and did take a a few days for my cats to figure out. It is great at odor control and has very little dust.

After the cat enters and exits, the box has a 20 minute lag time before it rakes. It can sense if the cat has re-entered and it will not rake. No danger of scaring kitty!

 

[justlook3]

That is a clever idea to reuse a diaper genie for the litter.

And I'll have to see if the Walmarts here have that cheap crystal litter.

 

[denisem]

For anyone looking for an inexpensive (but admittedly unattractive flat black PVC) cat litter box, I highly recommend a mortar mixing tub (available at Home Depot for $6):

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasgad-Medium-Mixing-Tub-887101A/202086173#.UfsXSawxeVM

We bought several for our two bengals - one was a true "boy" and hated covered boxes because he couldn't stand up to pee Couldn't use an automatic cleaning box because he spooked too easily.

We'd tried various boxes and these were winners: roughly 27" x 24" x 6" deep, curved ends with no sharp corners to clean. While we scooped bi-daily, it was cheap/easy to have extras on hand to switch out for heavy duty cleaning.

 

[pearlieq]

For anyone looking for an inexpensive (but admittedly unattractive flat black PVC) cat litter box, I highly recommend a mortar mixing tub (available at Home Depot for $6):

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasgad-Medium-Mixing-Tub-887101A/202086173#.UfsXSawxeVM

What a great idea! Thanks so much for the tip!