Not sure if I am posting this in the right place, or not but...

[airprincess]

I probably should have checked into here first, but today I bought a 'littermaid' self cleaning litter box. it will be here in 3 weeks or so.

anyone here ever used one? I'm looking for any and all feedback on this. I'm hoping this is going to help with the smell that I have in my house

[Anne]

I hear it's great! Lucky you - no more scooping!

I'm moving this thread to the care forum, where we discuss "cat equipment"

[airprincess]

It wasn't cheap, but I figure it's a long term investment & it's worth it to me if it's less work & helps control the smell.

[swalker]

Keep up posted on this devise. It sounds incredible.

[airprincess]

if any of you are interested, here is where I ordered mine from--

http://www.littermaid.com

they have a special, I got the $199 model & it came with 12 waste recepticals, the privacy tent, the ramp & a year subscription to cat fancy. i think you end up saving around $70 or so.

[donna]

AP,

I bought one for Dad's cat when they first came out. I wasn't that crazy about it but my dad wanted one so I figure it was his money. I'm sure they've improved it since then. I found the litter recepticles were a little small. You had to empty them often. And, you couldn't put alot of litter in it or the rake would jam. But, like I said, that was over 6 years ago. When my dad died, I brought it to my house and my cats were afraid of it because of the noise it made when the rake was scooping.

He used to have one of those "Lift and Sift" but everytime he went to lift and sift, the litter went all over the floor because he failed to rotate the bottom tray.

Let me know how you like it. They've come way down in price (dad paid $199.) It used to take 8-D batteries and they didn't last long. It also came with an adapter which I used with an extension chord (although they tell you not to).

[airprincess]

I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not completly sure what to expect. I sure hope I don't regret spending the money.

I'll let you guys know how it goes

[mofong]

I had a LitterMaid for two years. I loved it at first. I found that if the cat peed a lot, and the litter didn't clump hard enough in 10 minutes, you got a lot of mushy, clumpy, sandy pee stuck in between the rakes. Then, when it raked again, it piled up until it got really hard and only raked huge clumps of sand which made the machine stop and re-rake again, and again, and again. I had to constantly use a knife to scrap off the stuck clumps and then hope it didn't get stuck again in the middle of the night (which happens, and you have to turn off the machine).

My cousin bought one and returned it because the machine scooped it out of the box and onto the floor. Cleaning the machine is not easy either because the litter gets stuck into all of the crevices. I liked it at first, but after about a year, it was too much work to get it to work, so I dumped it and went back to scooping it myself.

Hope you have better luck.
P.S. If you have a big cat like me...13 lbs. it's hard for them to move around comfortably. Plus, if they kick up a lot of litter, you'll have it all over the place.

[airprincess]

I don't use clumping litter now, so I will probably stick to that & see how it works. this model came with a cover so there shouldn't be a problem with litter being kicked everywhere, and a little ramp so that they don't track litter everywhere. my cats (i have 2) are 7 months old. they are probably 6lbs if I had to guess. are they done growing by 6 months?

I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that this is going to be a good thing.

[gayef]

Every time I hear of the Littermaid boxes, I have to think of a friend in Houston, Texas, whose Burmese, Bogart, didn't quite take to it...in fact, he totally destroyed the thing. This guy cleared out a space under the cabinet for the new box, he bought the premium clumping litter, all just like the instructions directed him to do...and set it in place.

He went to work the next day and when he came home, the litter box was in pieces on the floor with litter all over the room. Bogart was growling and hissing at the pieces, and would attack the larger ones before my friend could get them up off the floor.

Still makes me laugh...

Gaye

[mofong]

Airprincess,

They don't really stop growing until about 1-1/2 years old. At about a year old, you can pretty much expect that they will slow down.

If you aren't using the clumping litter, you HAVE TO for the Litter Maid. It will only work well if the urine is clumped up really hard. If your cat EVER has a soft stool, it is the grossest thing the clean up in between the rakes. I've been through all of that. The other thing, is if the clump is placed into the receptacle in a certain angle where it doesn't fit easily, it can keep the lid from closing, where you will have an annoying beeping sound until you can push the clump in all the way. If you aren't home when this happens, it can beep until you get home. I know that when this happened to me, my cat wouldn't go near the machine until it stopped.

The ramp is also very small, and they still track litter. Sometimes, my can would jump out of the box and avoid the ramp altogether. You will still need a tracking pad to keep the litter from spreading out.

[debra myers]

Gaye - your post on those new-fangled litter boxes made up my mind for me - I was thinking of getting one till I heard what your friend's cat did!
What a great laugh.....