Anyone own a Cat genie?

cranny

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Hello all. First post here and I'm looking forward to learning and sharing cat info. w/ all of you. I'm a big ol' softie when it comes to my cats. We have 4 inside and 4 outside. I'm just about at my wits end w/ litter box trouble. I'm sure this is prob. a common theme around here so please humor me w/ one more thread about them. We currently have 4 boxes for our 4 cats. They are cleaned once a day which is prob. not enough. They let me know this by using the boxes 50% of the time and the floor just outside the remainder. Even if they're cleaned several times/daily, we have 2(himylayan persians)sp. that hardly ever use them for urinating. I was thinking of trying the cat genie over the litter robot as far as auto-boxes are concerned. Primarily b/c I've tried the covered boxes before and they're not too receptive to them. I like the looks of the cat genie but it seems to have alot of moving parts and fairly pricey. But money is no object if it will help w/ my problem. What do you all think of it or any other auto cleaning boxes? I have also entertained getting 2 big and deep boxes for them instead of the 4 med. size pans. Any suggestions are most appreciated. Sorry for the long winded post here.
 

ldg

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Welcome to TCS.


Before investing in an expensive automatic litter box (and I don't know about the Cat Genie, but I do have two litter robots and they're FABULOUS - but our kitties use covered boxes, though we do take the doors off of them), I've got a couple of suggestions.

I would recommend adding another litter box. The rule of thumb is to have one more box than you have cats.

Next, I would consider changing two of the litter boxes for a larger box - are you sure they're not just peeing over the edge? Some cats like a lot of space. I'd consider getting some type of large, low storage container - something like they sell to store stuff under the bed.

...and finally... if having one more box and a larger box don't do the trick, and they're actualling peeing outside the box, not over the edge of the box, then I'd consider purchasing Cat Attract litter. It really seems to work well!

Also, just in case you don't already know, any peeing (or pooping) outside of the box MUST be cleaned with an enzyme cleaner. Anything else may make it smell OK to us but not to the kitties. You must soak any affected carpet down to the floorboards and it should take quite some time to dry if you've used enough - though sometimes it takes more than one application. This product is supposed to be fabulous: http://www.catfaeries.com/cleanup.html though we've never used it. We use this one: http://www.nokout.com/pet_odors.html

Good luck!

Laurie
 

ldg

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OH! Sorry - one last idea. What about a box with really tall sides? This has helped a lot of people with cats that pee over the edge of the box. Again, just a storage container with tall sides. If they won't jump over the edge to get in, cut down an area on side - but thin. Thin enough for them to get in, but still leave it kind of tall-ish - the idea is to make sure there's very little room for an opening that they'll pee through.

Laurie
 
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cranny

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Thank you Laurie for all the suggestions. Saddly they're not missing the boxes. I believe they're sending me a statement
. Most of the time they will leave me a nice puddle right as you walk in the door. This is our half-bathroom where the litter boxes are located. It has a vinyl floor. Your other suggestion is what I've wanted to try all along(large boxes w/ high sides). But everything I see has some sort of design molded into the bottom. It seems this would be very difficult in getting all of the clumps out of the grooves and shapes that are in the bottom. I keep looking for something that has a smooth bottom but I'm not having much luck. I'm still looking though. I'm hoping if I try the litter robot they will get acclimated to it eventually; hope that is. The large containers would def. help w/ the mess they leave behind as well as give them some more room. But I believe I need to address my son's cleaning duties with regards to his frequency and thuroughness when cleaning the boxes as well.
Here's a pic of one of the said culprits, Tootsie.
 
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