Your take on self cleaning litter boxes?

HI group, I am getting a Maine coon in a few weeks here, and haven't had a cat for about 6 years. Now of course litter boxes have changes since then. So I wish for some help in selecting one that will work for me. My cat will be a large one. Maine coons gen are. I like the idea of a self cleaning litter box but do they really work? Are they worth the money you spend on getting them? Thanks for any of your help.


Francine

from what I have heard you either thinks it the greatest or it is a piece of junk... responces i have heard are 50/50

same here, that is why I thought to ask. LOL I guess you just have to try it and see if you love or hate it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I never have bothered with one--I know people who have had them and they have broken, or the kitties haven't liked them.

What I use is two big covered boxes (i have two cats) with clumping litter and I have a litter locker which is sort of like a diaper genie for cat litter. Its tremendously easier than flushing or throwing out the litter everyday.

Here's a link describing it:

http://www.petmate.com/Catalog.plx?ID=1600

I too, thought they sounded like a good idea, but when I was looking into it, reading reviews and such, the only one available at the time (LitterMaid, I believe) was pretty consistently thrashed by the people who'd actually invested in one. Litter Robot is supposedly excellent, but even though I e-mailed the company about using it for a Maine Coon male, I am very, very doubtful that it really is big enough ... especially for some of the Maine Coon males I've seen which seem to be approaching the size of a small bobcat !

Cindy

One of my colleagues bought a LitterMaid, and his cat was afraid of it, so he gave it to me. Since I would have needed an extension cord to operate it in Jamie's preferred litterbox position, I gave it to the local shelter (with the purchaser's permission). The one doubt I have about such boxes is: Suppose you "miss" some indication of a health problem, because you're not actually confronted with your cat's urine or stool every day?

I bought and returned the Littersweep. I had read several positive reviews here, but when I got it, I felt like I spent just as much time dealing with it as I did the regular box. When it scooped it only picked up half of what was in there, and when it dumped it only dumped half of what it scooped. I went back to regular boxes and started using World's Best Cat Litter, and I am flushing that and loving that I no longer have cat waste sitting out in my house!

You may want to take a look at this thread on box opinions if you haven't seen it yet. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26248

Never had one. I have heard stories about stuff sticking to the tongs, it cleaning before the cat leaves the box..(my dutchy spends a great deal of time cleaning her paws, and burying while in the box..bad for her.) So i just use my big rubbermaids and scoop daily.