Automatic/Self-cleaning litter box. Worth the extra cost?

Let’s face it.  Despite the love we receive from our feline companions, scooping their poop and pee is no labor of love!

There is a burgeoning movement of products and techniques designed to eliminate or minimize the hassle of litter box scooping.  Everything from cat toilet training aids (see article:  Toilet training. Teaching a not-so-young cat new tricks!) to automatic litter boxes that employ mechanical technologies to do the hard work for you.

If toilet training your cat is not a possibility or you didn’t have much success with it, an automatic litter box may be something to consider.  They don’t come cheap and some are fraught with reliability issues, but with adequate research you should be able to find a product that suits your needs.

We considered Litter-Maid, one of the more popular automatic litter boxes until my wife and I discovered a number of bad reviews that brought the unit’s mechanical reliability into question.   We shifted our attention to the Litter-Robot, a large and bulky automatic litter box solution that resembles Darth Vader’s Death Star.

The Litter-Robot. High-tech design that will make Darth Vadar envious!

The Litter-Robot operates on the same principle used by Omega Paw's Roll'n Clean litter box.  Rolling the litter box on the side by hand slips all of the litter under a meshed sifting plate.  Returning the litter box to the original position sifts the clean litter back into the litter pan, while larger clumps slip down into a waste bin.

The Litter-Robot takes this principle to the next step.  A sensor detects when your cat enters the Litter-Robot and starts a 7 minute countdown.  Once this timeframe passes, the Litter-Robot begins a slow turn that filters the litter in much the same manner the Omega Paw litter box does.   Solid waste and clumps get dropped into a waste bin beneath the unit.  Conveniently, the tray comes with an easy way to mount waste bags.

The end result?  A clean litter pan without any effort on your part!

The unit features other useful functions such as a safety lock-out that prevents your cat from inadvertently activating the Litter-Robot and a full empty cycle that allows you dump all litter down to the waste bin.  Litter consumption seems to be minimized and the unit does a great job containing loose litter inside after our cat, Tofu, scratches to cover her waste.

The only negative is the size of the Litter-Robot.  At 24” x 22” x 29” high, the product has a slightly larger footprint than normal litter boxes and significantly taller height at nearly two and half feet.  We positioned the unit out of the way in an unfinished part of the basement but apartment dwellers may find the Litter-Robot to be an unwelcome dominant centerpiece in their living space.

Tofu had no trouble adapting to the Litter-Robot.  My wife and I feel that she prefers the Litter-Robot to her old litter box because of the privacy that the hood affords.  She also loves to intently watch the clean cycle quietly rotate the unit around.

We highly recommend the Litter-Robot.  You’ll have ease of litter box maintenance and a cool sci-fi looking contraption to boot!

Notes:

• The Litter-Robot is big! Measure the area you want to place the unit to be sure it will fit.

Link Resources:

• Litter-Robot - Automatic Self-Cleaning Cat Litter Box
• Litter-Maid - Self-Cleaning Cat Litter Box
• Omega Paw Rol'n Clean - Self-Cleaning Cat Litter Box