Better than the alternative
Written: Dec 31 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: I don't have to fish around in the litter box!
Cons: Clumsy disposal system, noisy, uses a lot of litter, makes its own mess
The Bottom Line: Even with it's deficiencies, it's still a worthwhile investment if yours is a house with multiple cats.
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| Milindoe's Full Review: Litter Maid Advanced Deluxe Litter Maid Litter Box |
The concept was phenomenal - the application needs a lot of work, though.
This system is designed with a deep pan, with a "comb-like" apparatus on a bar above the pan. It works on a pressure system whereby it can sense a cat in it and, 15 minutes after it doesn't sense the cat any more, it activates it's cleaning cycle.
The "combs" sweep the entire box (as the rack extends the entire width of the box) forward and as it approaches the disposal container, it elevates the lid to the container, lifts the waste, then pushes it into the container.
On the upside:
This litter box ensures that cat fanciers don't have to dig around in the litter box to clean it out. Unfortunately, this is all I can come up with for the upside, though.
On the downside:
1. This automatic litter box is bigger and clumsier than a regular litter box, and requires placement near an electrical outlet. While this wasn't a huge problem for us, it still limits where you can place your litter box. Many people keep the litter box in the bathroom - how many bathrooms have electrical outlets other than at the sink?
2. Cat waste is swept into a plastic disposal container, which is extremely clumsy in it's removal. Because it snaps into place, it must be snapped out of place as well. We have 3 cats, so it filled up quickly and, when it got "snapped" out of place, it wasn't unusual for used litter to flip up into our faces. We knew this plastic disposal container had to go.
OUR SOLUTION: We put a double layer of one-inch-thick board under the box, elevating it by two inches. We then bought a disposable 9 inch rectangular cake pan, and slid it underneath where the disposal container normally rests. While this worked efficiently as far as catching the waste, we found that the disposable cake pan wasn't rigid enough to not cause a mess when we removed it for cleaning. We busted the buck and bought a metal cake pan, and find that it works very nicely for removal - no more litter in the face.
3. The automatic sweeper gets jammed easily. If your cat has the habit of "piling" litter on top of his waste, the sweeper will get hung up on that pile, depending on how much litter there is in the pile. When hung up, the sweeper will make five attempts at disposing, then it will reset and the red light will flash, indicating a malfunction.
OUR SOLUTION: We found that filling the litter box to the "fill line" with litter was part of the problem. The more litter there is in the box, the greater the likelihood of jamming. We found that a sufficient amount was enough to cover the bottom plus another thin layer. We also resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to clear jams as they happened, since we have a cat that thinks he's an architect in the litter box, piling litter high enough to make you believe he's had his own close encounter.
4. This system uses a lot of litter and makes it's own mess. As it sweeps "lumps" forward, it also acts similar to a bulldozer, taking a large quantity of unclumped litter with the waste, and dumping it into the tray. Additionally, there are times we've observed that the pile of litter (clean litter, that is) is so high on the sweep, that it completely misses the trap door and dumps down the front of the box - leaving a nice pile of litter on the floor to be swept up.
OUR SOLUTION: None yet. Any suggestions?
4. Noisy! There is absolutely no doubt that a cat has recently been in the litter box because, no matter where we are in the house, we can hear it when it begins running. And, at 3:00 in the morning, when it's jammed, and goes through it's five attempts to clear the waste, it's extremely annoying. We do have one cat, however, who comes running from wherever he is in the house, to watch this process with what seems to be the utmost fascination. There doesn't seem to be a solution to the noise problem, other than to unplug the system and run it manually - which defeats the purpose of the automatic litter box.
In all, I still say that it's better than digging around in the litter box looking for, and scooping out cat waste and, given a choice, I'll keep the automatic box. It needs a lot of redesign, however, if it's to stay a viable product.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Milindoe
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Location: Rochester, NY
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 6 members
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