A self-cleaning litter box? Is it too good to be true?
Written: Jul 18 '00 (Updated Jul 18 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Faster, somewhat easier & cleaner
Cons: High price, not always reliable
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| basilisk4's Full Review: Litter Maid Advanced Deluxe Litter Maid Litter Box |
I had never had a pet until last Summer, and as a somewhat busy (and forgetful) person, I worried that I wouldn't always remember to change my cat's litter box. I had heard of Littermaid's automatic litter box, but I was somewhat skeptical about how well it would work, and it was also prohibitively expensive.
Amazingly, I found them on a website at which I had shopped before for about $56 each. I purchased two, one for myself and one for my girlfriend, who has two cats. Both worked excellently for many months, with a few exceptions.
The Littermaid can now be purchased at some department stores, such as Target, K-Mart, and possibly Wal-Mart, for around $100. If you would like to know the site from which I ordered mine (I believe they still have some more), drop me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do.
For those of you who are not familiar with how the Littermaid functions, I will give you a brief overview. There is a sensor which detects movement within the box (i.e., a cat jumping in) as well as when that movement has ceased (when the cat has left). Approximately ten minutes after the cat leaves the Littermaid, it runs a "sifting comb" across the litter, pushing any cat waste into a special bin on the far side that is then closed again after the sifting comb returns to its original position.
One thing that was especially annoying was the fact that many times when I came home after having been gone for a couple or three days, the litter box had stopped completely and was beeping, or it had just stopped working (because it was too full, usually). The litter box was usually filthy whenever this happened, and so it had to be scooped out like a regular litter box.
Another thing that might annoy some people is the amount of noise that this machine makes. If you keep the Littermaid in or near your bedroom, for example, it may very well wake you up several times during the night, at least for the first few days (until you have a chance to get used to the noise).
Because the Littermaid cannot use a pan liner of any kind, the box itself can get quite disgusting. Moreover, the Littermaid can be somewhat difficult to clean thoroughly, due to all the various moving parts and whatnot. As a matter of fact, attempting to clean my Littermaid is what ultimately led to its demise a couple of months ago. My girlfriend's, on the other hand, while it does get quite dirty at times, still seems to be working just fine.
One final caveat: Despite what the manufacturers say, I would hesitate to purchase one of these if you have multiple, large cats. If you have a kitten or just one cat that is not especially huge, the Littermaid should work fine for you.
One huge advantage to the Littermaid is the absolutely enormous amount of money that you could save on cat litter. I think I used a total of five to eight 14-lb. tubs of high-quality, scoopable cat litter in the whole year or so in which I used the litter box, some of that time being with multiple cats using it. Since then, I've gone through about 28 lbs. a month. You do the math.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
basilisk4
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 233
Trusted by: 214 members
About Me:
Soon-to-be married 26-year-old lawyer who likes electronics, computers, and cars.
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