By now, everyone has probably seen the infomercials for the first "self cleaning cat box." I had wanted to buy one after watching the infomercial but it was very pricey, over $200. I waited a few years and another model came out, and then the price began dropping to a more manageable amount. I picked up the Mega sized Littermaid with the ramp for about $160.

The self-cleaning cat box is really a great idea when you think of it. It is shaped like a cat box, albeit bigger. At one end there is a long rake and at the other end there is a long plastic receptacle with a lid. The idea is that you put in scoopable cat litter. Your cat uses the potty on the litter which triggers a light sensor. Ten minutes after your cat is finished, the rake travels across the box using 2 gears (one on each side) and lifts the lid on the receptacle, deposits the clumps and waste in, and then goes back to the other side. When the lid shuts it is supposed to lock in the smell. Then all you have to do is dispose of the receptacle every few days, not having to touch the cat waste.

At the time I bought the box I had 2 cats. One 12 year old 9 pound tabby and one 3 year old 21 pound grey shorthair. I bought the mega because of how much bigger it was supposed to be. When it first came in we were disappointed because the rake was on the "track" wrong and we had to send it back. The second unit was fine and I would say it worked as advertised for several months. It was semi noisy and that was about my worst complaint. The rake never ran over my kitties or scared them and it kept the odor in well. I was kind of annoyed that even though I had bought the mega size, my large cat had a hard time "arranging" himself in a place he liked and would often put one or 2 paws up on the sides before he would go, crazy feline. Also, if you didn't use very expensive clumping litter (like the kind you get from Petsmart not the grocery store) the clumps fell apart easy when the rake came by and just mixed the stinky litter back in. So our litter costs went up slightly. The receptacles were also more pricey than litter bags.

After this initial 3 month period things started to go terribly wrong. The first thing that happened was the ramp broke. It didn't work all THAT well at the paw cleaning thing anyways but it literally broke off and scared one of my cats, who then wouldn't go near it again for several days. Then we noticed that the rake started clumping up with litter. A little at first and then a lot. We were constantly cleaning the rake. Then the sensor stopped working because it got caked with litter dust. We were cleaning that all the time too. Then we noticed that the rake started moving slower and slower across the track every time it moved. We then realized that there was urine and litter pebbles caked up on the track!! There was also pee all along the sides of the box, and unlike a normal litter box you can't bring it to the sink and clean it or bring it outside and hose it down. It has wires and gears that can't get wet. You can take the bottom out and rinse it but not the sides. We tried spot cleaning it and that didn't work well, and cleaning the gear track with the little toothbrush thing they included was a joke. It was never the same. Cleaning it weekly just helped it limp along until we finally ended up tossing it before the year was even up.

It smelled so bad because you couldn't clean the urine off the sides very well, and the plastic receptacles weren't that sturdy, so if one got too full it would bend in the middle while you were carrying it to the trash can. I have to admit that this was much more work (and a lot more $$) than a normal cat box, I was SO disappointed. I'm not sure what the problem was exactly. I think it's just a poor design to have things that absolutely can't get wet be exposed to bodily fluids.

The cat tent they sell separately is also a poor design. It's made out of small PCV tubing that gets inserted into some vinyl to construct a cube-shaped tent around the unit (which I thought would be nice because they were always kicking litter out of it.) The cats liked it so much they would try to sleep on the top of it like a hammock or a bed and the thing finally collapsed.

In conclusion, I would never purchase this product again and I wouldn't recommend it. But if you intend to purchase this product here are some tips:

It's best suited for smaller cats and a one cat household
Clean the gears with the included brush REGULARLY
Only use PREMIUM clumping litter
Be careful when removing the receptacles
And of course...Good luck :)

I'm tempted to try the Petmate Purrforma but I will be giving it a thorough look-over before spending the money to make sure it has changed some of these bugs. I like that it is a covered box with a changeable pan and carbon filters. I will write a review if I ever purchase one. I have since changed to the Omega Paw box, which you roll over to one side every few days. It then collects the clumps into a small drawer that you dump into the trash can. You never have to touch the waste and all you have to do is rinse it out every few months. It's better than the regular, I highly recommend it.


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