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Any cat owners here use a Litter Maid?

Posted: Dec 7, 2011

Does anyone here use a Litter Maid or other "automatic" litter box, and if so how do you like it?

My little girl won't use the box if there is ANYTHING in it, and since I can't monitor the situation 24/7 I am thinking about "investing" in a Litter Maid.

Thanks in advance.

;

Litter Maid - I liked it

[ In Reply To ..]
I had a Litter Maid about 8 years or so ago. I loved it, but it does have its drawbacks. You need to use good quality clumping litter (not the cheap store-brand stuff) or it just crumbles and leaves a mess behind when the rake goes through. They may have made them differently by now, but when I had mine, it was kind of loud. My cat was afraid of it at first but did get used to it. It will wait to "sweep" for 10 minutes after the cat gets out. Probably the biggest issue I had with it is that my cat always went to the bathroom on one side of the litter box, so the clumps would pile up in that little plastic container quickly on one side versus being spread out in the container, and I'd have to use the cat scooper to push the clumps to the other side of the container so it would fill up evenly. You also have to make sure to replace or empty that container before it gets too full or you'll be struggling to get it out of its holding area. It lasted for about 6 or 7 years before it finally died, and I just haven't had the money to get another one at this point. I also have 2 cats now, and I might not end up getting another one just because the container would probably fill up pretty quickly. One of my cats is like yours - he seriously hates the litter box and will not use it if there is anything in it (unless he really has to go and then he runs out of it like he's on fire and won't cover his "stuff" up)! He's fine if there's nothing in it and covers it up like usual, so I find myself scooping the litter box about 4 times a day. The things we do for our babies... :)

I had one and it was a disaster - Happy MT Robin

[ In Reply To ..]
It only lasted long enough for one of the cats to scoot her big ole butt into the corner and pee on the mechanism and $90 bucks down the drain.

I have a friend who had one for her two cats and she LOVED it. I think my situation was just weird because my cat was weird.

Excellent feedback :) - FelineLadyMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks so much to you both for sharing your experiences.

I had heard that they are kind of noisy. My plan is to find one on Ebay or somewhere (hopefully cheap, or at least cheapER) and try it out. If it works out maybe I'll splurge on a second one.

The mechanism getting peed on is one I had not heard before, but if it's in a place where it can be peed on then it sounds like the design needs improving. After all, these are CATS we're talking about and we can't tell them "Don't pee over there!" LOL

Thanks again to you both; I sure do appreciate it.

Haven't used Litter Maid, but use ScoopFree. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Clumping litter is too messy, in my opinion, to use in an automatic litterbox, although I do have a regular litterbox that I use it in. The ScoopFree litter is crystals, and it absorbs pee and kind of dries up the poop (sorry for the graphic). I used to use crystal litter even before I got the automatic box simply because it is absolutely the BEST for odor control. It got hard for me to find crystal litter, and I happened upon the ScoopFree litterbox. The litter comes in trays, and you just slide a new one in when needed. I subscribe to their delivery service, which has free shipping, and you can set it to whatever frequency and amount you need. I have two of the auto litterboxes and I love them! You should sometimes stir the litter around to extend the efficiency and life of it, or scoop the occasional stray piece of poop, but other than that it's pretty much maintenance free.

Is the ScoopFree noisy? - FelineLadyMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Does the ScoopFree box make a lot of noise?

Is the mechanism located in a spot where it may be peed on?

Thanks.

ScoopFree - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
My older one squeaks and is pretty noisy. The newer one is pretty quiet. It doesn't rake till about 10 minutes or so after cat leaves the box. One of my cats used to run to it every time it went off and rake at the litter while it was going, stopping the process when her foot passed the sensor. Used to drive me crazy! And no, the mechanism can't be peed on.

LOL - my finicky cat, who hates litter, would LOVE - a noisy mechanism! (Shes weird) - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
She's obsessed with my photo printer and also my paper-shredder. When they turn on, she comes running to watch them! She even learned how to step on the button that turns on my photo printer. I was always coming home to find the printer turned on. I finally solved that by putting a stuffed animal on top of the button. So far she hasn't figured out she needs to knock the stuffed animal off the printer in order to get to the button.

So that makes me wonder... maybe if she had a Litter Maid, she would start using litter again, if for no other reason than to watch it turn on and do its thing! Haha....

I got one for my older cat - ERMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I have not read the previous replies yet but as the subject line above reads...it was a disaster! I was going to be away for a week with one of my kiddos and my husband doesn't "do the litterbox" so we thought we would invest in one. Bad idea!!! The sound it made freaked my cats out so bad, they refused to use it. One of them just chose the corner in that same room instead. We took it back to the store for a full refund. I am back to scooping poop nightly.

I have a cat like yours, and I prefer to scoop by hand. - The secret is, - (sm) - Meerkat

[ In Reply To ..]
having more than just ONE litterbox. I have 2 cats, and 4 litterboxes! Each cat wants one for pee and one for poo.

Additionally, my finicky cat doesn't like litter at ALL - she wants just an empty litter box. Since you can't scoop an empty one out, that means you have to clean it every time, but I still find that far preferable than having to clean the whole kitchen floor every day, or having to run a black light over the rug to look for "indiscretions". I look at the extra box-rinsing time as an easy way to save LOTS of money on litter, since the non-finicky cat doesn't have to have it scooped out after every use. It all seems to balance out in the end.

So, for the Litter Maid, should you decide to invest in one, I would give your cat an option by having more than one box.... your other(s) being regular old hand-scooped litter boxes. That way she can get used to the L.M. gradually. She might still prefer the hand-scooped box (aren't Litter Maids kind of small?), but it could end up being what she uses when the other one is "full", and you're not there to immediately clean it out. She might then choose the Litter Maid.

Good idea. I already have 2 boxes... - FelineLadyMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Well 4 boxes is a bit much! My place isn't that big, and I think 2 large boxes are plenty. Also I just can't see having a box without litter for everyone to see what's in it (not to mention the smell; litter DOES serve a valuable function there!) should I not be able to clean it right away.

I don't know the dimensions of the Litter Maid; haven't gotten that far yet. But size will be a determining factor as I weigh Litter Maid versus SccopFree.

Thanks again for your input! :)

You can also buy kits for teaching your cat - how to use a toilet. That way, -sm

[ In Reply To ..]
no scooping would be needed.... just the occasional flush! ;D

And the frequent scrub because your toilet - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
will spend most of its day filled with dirty tan water from unflushed dissolved kitty poo.

Only teach your cat to pee and poop in the toilet if you have a spare toilet down in the basement no one else uses or you can also teach it to flush the thing afterwards. (And I only ever heard of one Siamese that learned to do that, on one of those toilets where you push a button to flush it instead of pulling down a handle.)

I had one cat who taught himself to pee into the toilet for some reason known only to his little pea brain. I sure never encouraged the thought. Fortunately he continued to prefer the litter pan for poop.

Good points! Actually I have... - FelineLadyMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I have the Feline Revolution training kit sitting in the closet that I have never used.

I only have one toilet and wonder what would happen if someone (I or a guest) is in there with the door closed, and the cat has to go? The training is supposed to wean them off the box, so having a box for "backup" would defeat the whole purpose and be a big step backward.

Also I wonder about older cats becoming arthritic -- will they still be able or willing to keep jumping up on the toilet to go potty? I'll bet not.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. :)

Your reasons are sort of why I decided not to try - to train my litter-box-avoider to - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
use a toilet. The cat has to already be litter-trained in order to start the toilet training, since the new toilet version of the box is eventually moved next to, and then into, the toilet. So I didn't think I'd be able to train her.

Still, it was tempting! I only have one toilet in my tiny apartment, but I also RARELY have people over, and when I do, it's either a sister (who has 3 cats of her own) or the guy who comes and does handyman work sometimes for the landlord. I figure, if you come to visit me, you just hafta deal with my cats! ;)

Another reason I decided not to try to toilet-train the cat was that my other cat is smaller, and getting kind of old, and uses the toilet to jump up onto the bathroom sink, where she "helps" me wash my face, brush my teeth, etc. every morning. So I keep the lid down so she can use it at will, since that's where she goes to wash her own face (she likes to look at herself in the mirror).

One day she ran into the bathroom, jumped up on the toilet lid, and slid right off the other side into the wastebasket. Scared her little self, and would no longer jump up on the toilet. So I got one of those fuzzy lid covers, and she loves it. Actually, so do I, too! But if the lid were up, I'd worry about her slipping and falling into the toilet.

So, even though my place is small, it has a big eat-in kitchen. Since I never eat there (I eat all my meals at my computer!), I put all 4 boxes near the back door (which I also never use). Since I'm home all the time and clean the litter-less boxes out as soon as they're used, there's no smell, really.

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