Litter Robot

On the basis of what we have been reading here on the forum we have almost decided to order a Litter Robot. The reviews on the forum by those using them have been almost all positive, with the exception of problems we might expect from any new litter box, such as issues related to getting our babies adjusted to a new potty, the expense of the unit, and the size of the unit.

As a last check before making this substantial investment, are there any out there who would like to give us any other negative vibes? Anybody out there have problems other than those we have already identified, but are prepared to accept, particularly in view of the 60 day return policy, that is, anything on the downside other than our cats' adjusting to the unit, its expense, and its size.

Possibly relevant, we have three cats, and they happily share an old-fashioned litter box.

Thank you all so much.

I don't know if this is the kind of comment you are looking for but here it is: I would be interested in giving it a try but I'm sure it wouldn't work very well with one my furries. She has a habit of standing in the center of the box such that her bum is close to or over the edge. When she does her business it may fall on the edge of the box or possibly outside of the box entirely. With a Litter Robot I assume what would happen is that feces would end up smeared on the inside walls. I use an oversize box so that everything stays inside.

Good thought. Our Samwise is so big he sometimes misses the box. An accident, but still not a fun thing. Tks much.

Originally Posted by mschauer

I don't know if this is the kind of comment you are looking for but here it is: I would be interested in giving it a try but I'm sure it wouldn't work very well with one my furries. She has a habit of standing in the center of the box such that her bum is close to or over the edge. When she does her business it may fall on the edge of the box or possibly outside of the box entirely. With a Litter Robot I assume what would happen is that feces would end up smeared on the inside walls. I use an oversize box so that everything stays inside.

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Ideally with a litter robot, the cat enters the front and turns around, which means that no matter where it goes, it's at least going inside the globe. And if its on the walls, that's okay as litter robot rotates so all walls get covered in litter at some point to pick up the "mess".

Now some people have a problem with cats that hang their butts out the opening and essentially go on the steps. That could be a problem. But it may just work fine for what your cats do.

Originally Posted by jericho

Ideally with a litter robot, the cat enters the front and turns around, which means that no matter where it goes, it's at least going inside the globe. And if its on the walls, that's okay as litter robot rotates so all walls get covered in litter at some point to pick up the "mess".

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I'm not sure I see how the rotating would help. Wouldn't the feces still be stuck to the walls? It would just end up stuck to the walls with litter stuck to it???

But, if my girl would stand with her feet outside then her bum would probably be away from the wall anyway. She is actually a small cat (8 lbs). But if she tried to fit entirely inside then her bum would most certainly be against the wall. Hmmmm.. Have to think some more on this.

According to the factory specs on the Litter Robot, there is 13 to 15 inches of headroom for the cat inside the globe, depending on the level of the litter, and the inside width is 20 inches across at the widest point, and depth is 15 inches, front to back.

That appears to be pretty good size. Old Samwise weighs more than 12 pounds, and is a real big fella, but with a little bit of luck he ought to fit in there OK. Unless he fails to turn around it should work out.

We do appreciate the prompt replies. We just placed the order. Will let you know how it works out.

Originally Posted by mschauer

I'm not sure I see how the rotating would help. Wouldn't the feces still be stuck to the walls? It would just end up stuck to the walls with litter stuck to it???

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I would think the poop would get knocked off due to the weight of the litter and such. Unless its on there like glue. But who poops glue?

Originally Posted by jericho

I would think the poop would get knocked off due to the weight of the litter and such. Unless its on there like glue. But who poops glue?

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Yeah, unless it was very wet, most if not all of it would probably just drop off. But shhe is prone to diarrhea. I give her a probiotic supplement to control it but if I miss a day or two, pudding may come out.

Might be worth $75 shipping to give it a try...

Only $29 for shipping, and we live a couple of hours south of you all the way up there in Houston. Not free, but just a smidgen less than 10% of the cost of the Litter-Robot. Could be worse. We guess.

Originally Posted by Beach Bum

Only $29 for shipping, and we live a couple of hours south of you all the way up there in Houston. Not free, but just a smidgen less than 10% of the cost of the Litter-Robot. Could be worse. We guess.

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If it doesn't work out you have to pay for return shipping also. The $75 was from their web site and is their estimate of what might your total cost if you decided to return it. I like the sound of $58 better!

You've got me thinking about it.

While you think about it, take a look at the testimonials at the Litter-Robot web site. http://www.litter-robot.com/litter-r...timonials.aspx

It is a bit of money, but we figure that if it works out as advertised it will pay for itself in short order. We live in a teeny beach house which just does not have room for several litter boxes, and our three monsters insist that we clean their litter box at least 3 times every day.

Does this unit claim to help with the "litter smell"?
I've been looking into it as well....

According to some users' testimonials the smell problem is helped, if only because the cats' "leavings" are in a closed drawer at the bottom of the unit, and are not exposed to the air. We do not recall having seen any such claim by the manufacturer.

We have had real success with this problem with our regular old-fashioned litter box by adding some scented carpet cleaner, a brand such as "Glade," for example, to the cat litter in the box. After scooping the box, we sprinkle it on top of the litter, and then sprinkle a little fresh litter over it, so that to the cats the appearance of the litter is not affected. Our cats do not like a box which is smelly, and their natural digging and burying mixes the Glade up with the litter nicely. Our cats love it -- they race each other to get into what to them is a clean, nice smelling, litter box. And it is the same to us.

If we experience a smell problem after we get our LitterRobot we will use this trick with it. We are counting the days until the UPS driver stops at our house!

First of all, I looooooooooooove it. 3 years and working fine still.

No smell, unless it's right after the cat uses it. Once the Robot cycles, all smell goes away, using unscented Arm & Hammer. The cats know this too. One time Dear Husband almost tripped over the cats sitting in the kitchen doorway. The Whitefish variety had been a little too odorific, so they were waiting for the Robot to take it away!

Puffy used it right away, but he's a small cat. Mr. Bond is 15 pounds and is a percher, so I didn't think he'd ever get it. We were planning to toilet train him, but the lure of the always-clean litter was too much, so on his own he figured out how to get in, turn around, and leave his business end in the box. Great rejoicing ensued, and now it's our only box.

When the kitten arrived, he was thrilled. He'd dance around it, watch it operate, and took to it right away. (We kept it unplugged when he was little, they have to be at least five pounds to trip the switch.) That was a big thing for Mr. Bond, who watches the lights and has memorized its operation; he came to us with another complaint about the kitten; the dang thing has broken the Robot! Now RJ's big enough to trip the switch. He shows signs of being as big as Mr. Bond eventually, but he'll adjust to it as he grows and will probably wind up with Mr. Bond's behavior.

The great thing about it is that the rolling action "breads" the clumps, so I don't get anything stuck inside. If somebody did, it would need spot cleaning, but we don't have a problem that way.

Cats who hate enclosed boxes would have a problem, mine had never had one before. But don't underestimate the pull of clean litter! This is how I have three using the same box; it's always a clean box when it's their turn.

It took Mr. Bond a year to use the Robot. As the deadline approached, I would up keeping it, since it had already cut my litter chores in half. Now, one of the things Dear Husband said about getting a new kitten was, "We have the Robot, so litter shouldn't be an issue." And indeed, it has not. I change the bag every other day instead of twice a week, but that takes a few minutes. I was used to scooping every day, so this is a great time saver, not to mention that it's always clean and there's no smell.

Yes, we have it in the kitchen. It's the only place with the room, the outlet, and the tile floor, and it's no more objectionable than the lidded kitchen garbage can for food waste. Though my mother in law doesn't see it that way, we are happy.

If I'd given up on the Robot, I wouldn't be in the easy care place I am today.

the litter robot looks pretty cool - like a spaceship. i got sick of daily scooping so I went with the smartscoop self-scooping litter box. i saw it at a pet show in suburban detroit and bought it at a local store. it's not perfect but it does what I want it too - scoop cat poop. of course, I still use my plain old rubbermaid litter boxes as well. since this one scoops when the box is used, my three cats use it alot, and only use the other ones once in a while. less cleaning for me! woohoo! the site is www.smartscoop.com

Well, we received the LitterRobot. The two girls started using it right away, but big bold macho male Samwise was scared to death of it.

He avoided it until he was crossing all four legs, but he finally climbed in to do his business this afternoon. We breathed a big sigh of relief, and can only hope this is an indication of future events.

BTW, we love the LitterRobot. So easy to use, and so clean, it is such a nice change from before.