I have 3 cats, and I purchased a LitterMaid in March. One of them stayed and watched it do it's thing and he figured it out and uses it religiously. The other two flat refuse to use it. I set up another litterbox with the same litter next to it and didn't clean it that often so they would see that the Littermaid is always clean, but they don't get it, and I think they're scared of it. What's ironic is one of the ones who refuses to use it hates having a dirty litterbox. Since it's been so long, I left the regular litterbox dirty and didn't clean it for (yuk) 4 weeks to really slam the point home, then removed it. They started crapping on my guest bed. Does anybody have any suggestions?
2006-08-25 15:06:09 · 4 answers · asked by Reject187 4 in Pets ➔ Cats
Hi there...some cats just absolutely will not use the littermaid once it has become frightened by it's cleaning action. Although, it's a wonderful product the manufacturer is aware of this as well.
Some cats can be desensitized to the motor mechanism by rewarding them with an unusually good food treat (like Gerber 2nd Chicken -- NOT 3rd as it has onions and garlic which are very toxic to cats) while the mechanism is activated. The food is inviting enough which then draws their attention away from the noise. You may be able to consider trying this, but it will require a lot of patience and understanding as well as a lot of time. It's best to begin slowly...have the cat in the room with the littermaid and then open the jar of Gerber for them to sniff. Activate the box and see if your cat will still try to eat some of the Gerber from a spoon. Do this daily to help the kitties become densitize and then reward them with the Gerber. Also continue to leave a regular clean litterbox for them to use until you get them desensitized.
2006-08-25 15:36:43 · answer #1 · answered by ♪ Seattle ♫ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
all 3 of my cats seem interested on how it works however there was a time when tyco was doing his business when the scooper starting to run through. he looked at it with a horrific face looked down and kept doing this while walking sideways crossing his little kitten feet along the way. he didn't know what to do. but as an advice for you try putting their feet in it. they will jump out of course but they might start using it when they need to.
2006-08-25 15:56:47 · answer #2 · answered by weirdo fernado 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wish I could tell you. My cat uses the bathroom outside just like my dog. I don't have any litter boxes.
2006-08-25 15:12:34 · answer #3 · answered by nimopiba 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
use tidy cat maybe it will work.
2006-08-25 15:12:00 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋