Automatic Litter Box?

Question

anyone have one of those fancy automatic litter boxes?? do they work better then scooping everyday?? about how much do they run?? Anyone's cat actually afraid of it?

im not worried about changing it, the kittens litter smells horrible even though i scoop it atleast once a day, i tried the litter liners, and the cat just rips them to shreds

Answer 1

I have heard of people spending big bucks getting one and there cats do not even use them because the cat is either afraid or they are just too picky and like the old box better.

I will not buy one of those boxes because I do not want to dish out the money and have my cats refuse to use them.

My cats are very stuck in there ways and do not like much change.

Answer 2

We have had 2 different ones - the Litter Maid and the PetSmart Purrforma. I liked the PetSmart one better. The LitterMaid's comb seemed to get filled with barely clumped litter quite often. Also, the wire/cord snapped twice so that it became stuck. I had 2 cats when we got this one and each one used it with no problem.

The PetSmart one was better, cleaner and the litter clumps were dumped into a plastic bag, instead of a plastic container like the litter maid. I used regular plastic grocery bags. My only problem is that one of my (now) three cats decided he didn't like it and wouldn't use it. So it is put away for the time when he is no longer with us.

We now use a mortar mixing pan as a litter box which I scoop daily.

Answer 3

The automatic ones suck for me personally. Right now i'm on a farm with 11 cats and i brought one into the house last year. they didn't like the automatic one at all, actually neither did i. it's smellier than normal, grose, not very quiet and when i put it in, i had to go and ter this spray crap cause the cats decided well i don't like my litter box now so i'll go in the corners of the house... not the best thing, i think if you want to do anything to get rid of the smell or anything it would be better to go to a cat littler like the scented or extra sented clumping cat litter from noname. I've noticed that it works the best, and if your gone for 2 days and don't get the chance to clean it, with even 11 cats, you still don't smell anything comming back into the house or even the area that theyre in.

Answer 4

I had one and the cat was not afraid of it because it doesn't scoop the poop till the cats away. It has a sensor. Although I had one I would not get one again. It did scoop it nice but the little canister it scoops it in gets filled up to fast and can get messy trying to change it when its full. Then there is the extra expense of buying the little containers and finding them in the stores. I would just keep scooping. They cost about $60 more for a fancier one.

Answer 5

I have had the automatic boxes for my multi cat home for years. I find that it does help with in maintaining a cleaner litter box. Cats are very finicky when it comes to litter boxes and they like clean ones. They can range anywhere from $80 - $200, but if you buy it from Petsmart and you find that your cat won't use it or it doesn't work out for you, just return it. Petsmart has a great return policy on all there produces and they will even take open bags of food if your pets don't like it. With a return policy like that, what do you have to lose!!!!

Answer 6

We used to have a Litter Maid (I think is what it was called). At the time we had two cats and it just didn't work well for us. It had a sensor that swept the litter box 30 seconds after the cat left. It would get hung up -- the combs got encrusted with solid waste, and eventually it just stopped working. At first the cats were semi-afraid of it, but not scared enough not to use it. If you have just one small cat, it may work well for you -- but I'd recommend saving your money.

Answer 7

They do work... especially for people who vacation or are out of the house a lot. And the plus is that you only have to change out the receptical about once a week rather than every day.
I'm actually selling one right now if you're interested. It's the Petmate Self-Cleaning Litter Box with hood which typically sells for $179-$199.99. It has been used for about a month by my kitty cat, but I've cleaned it and sanitized it for future use. We're selling it for $125 with $20 shipping and handling within the US. If you're interested, email me at [e-mail]

Answer 8

The cat is only going to be afraid if they nare near it when it runs. I had one and my cat used it, but was a bit upset when it ran.

The main thing about these is that you STILL have ot make sure that the level of the litter is right (not too much or too little) and you have to clean out the 'catcher' whenit gets full. Other than that, I was amazed at how well it worked. I recommend it for single cat homes, but not for more than one...

Answer 9

I have one. It's great. My cats are not afraid of it. In fact one cat loves the sound it makes. When he hears it turning on, he runs to the littler box to see whats going on. I switched to the litter maid when my cats where several years old and they had no trouble at all adjusting to it. It was the best $100 I ever spent. I bought it five years ago, and it's still working fine.

Answer 10

I spent $70 on mine and I'm pretty indifferent about it. It is no more or less work then scooping every day. My cats were a little afraid at first, but they quickly got over it. If you do get one, just make sure you get high quality clumping litter.