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I couldn't have said it better myself (Reply to this comment)
by noty661
This review had me ROLLING from laughing so hard! I had the same, exact, to-the-tee experience with the Litter Maid. It's so weird too because when I threw it away, I purchased a Booda dome to replace it. I swear!
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Sep 14 '06
8:56 pm PDT
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Your expectations are WAY too high & unreasonable. (Reply to this comment)
by tmg6
"Rake on its path does so far too soon after the box has received a deposit. Then, instead of pushing a tidy clump into the Waste Receptacle, The Rake is actually being dragged through semi-soft solid matter or semi-soft liquid matter. It becomes coated in various shades ranging from beige to blackest coal."
My rakes get clogged MAYBE once every 3 days (and that's with 4 cats). Not a huge problem and can simply be cleaned off with the scoops provided with the litter box. Takes just a few seconds.
"If you have made the critical error of putting too much litter into the tray, and The Rake encounters what it considers to be a mountain too high to climb, it will still continue to try. Over and over again."
It takes a whole 15 seconds to level out the litter with the scoop. If you choose to ignore the problem, it's your fault, not the Litter Maid's. Besides, that is a safety feature. Would you rather the rake ignore any resistance and squash your cat if it happens to jump in behind the rake?
"True, there are markings on the tray indicating at what level you should add more litter, and at what point you have reached Maximum Litter Capacity. Only problem here is that filling to the "full" line means too much litter. Filling only to the "fill" line means too little litter. They are exactly one inch apart. Have fun."
Yeah, we all know what a tiny, microscopic distance 1" is. Seriously, it's not THAT hard to get the level right.
"If you are a person who has no problem in attending to your cat box daily, then you will have no trouble whatsoever with the Litter Maid Mega Advanced Deluxe Litter Box. Then again, if you are a person who has no problem in attending to your cat box daily, I have absolutely no idea why you would subject yourself to the Litter Maid Advanced Deluxe Litter Box."
I have 4 cats and 2 Litter Maids. My daily maintenance includes cleaning off the rakes (rarely needed) and leveling out the litter. It takes a whole 15 - 20 seconds. That's a HECK of a lot better than completely cleaning regular litter boxes every day.
"The Waste Receptacle is overfull. This may have a lot to do with the fact that the majority of the deposits have been raked toward one side or the other, causing your Waste Receptacle to runneth over."
How is depositing all the waste on one side of the bin the Litter Maid's fault? Do you expect it to sense where the cat went, where the least full spot in the tray is, shift the waste to the appropriate position, then scoop it into the tray? If you do, you're expecting something that the Litter Maid wasn't designed to do. And if the tray is simply overfull, then you need to clean it more often. Again, that's not the Litter Maid's fault.
"What remains of the litter in the tray is filled with clumps too small to catch the attention of The Rake. "
That's what the scoop is for.
"If you have woefully underfilled the litter, you will also have multicolored smears and lumps coating the bottom of the tray."
If you have problems due to underilling the litter, that's YOUR fault.
" Emptying the tray will involve scraping. Cleaning it will involve scrubbing. You will need rubber gloves."
And thoroughly cleaning out a regular litter box doesn't?
"Now is when you notice that lovely coating on the tines of The Rake. It must be removed for cleaning. You will need a screwdriver."
No, you need the special scoop which is provided. And if you clean it off when you first notice it, it's not that big of a deal.
"The Paw Cleaning Ramp is full of some of the litter it was intended to catch. The rest is already on the floor. So the ramp needs cleaning. It is simple enough to shake the litter out of it onto the floor. Not to worry, by this time, the floor is already covered with much worse."
And you don't have the same problem with regular litter boxes?
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Jan 18 '06
2:05 pm PST
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Love My Litter Maid (Reply to this comment)
by shaithis1
Weird! I've had my Deluxe Litter Maid for over three years, and wouldn't be without it. At the time I purchased it, I had nine cats in residence, so I expected to have to deal with it daily. The primary reason for the purchase was to prevent the resident puppy from eating kitty poo. As "deposits" are quickly scraped into the receptacle, it has served this purpose admirably. I paid around $100 for it at PetsMart. I didn't bother with a privacy tent -- we already had a home-built "litter station" and our kitties aren't bashful anyway. The ramp struck me as a waste of money as well. If you have cats, you're going to have litter on the floor -- period.
We placed the Litter Maid where the old litter box had been, and scooped manually for a couple of days before plugging it in. The only real "settling-in" difficulty was with one of the dogs; who was convinced it was a Cat Eating Machine, and didn't want his buddies using it. Fortunately, our pain-in-the-bottom-constantly-underfoot-I-won't-be-happy-until-curiosity-actually-kills-me cat was so fascinated by this astounding change in his environment that he jumped in and out repeatedly just so he could sit and watch it work. This helped to convince the dog that his feline siblings would not be eaten. One cat was slightly intimidated by the noise, but after a day and a half of crossing her legs and watching her brother jump in and out, she got in and did her thing. (No cat in my house would dare to go "elsewhere".)
We overfilled it once, and it did rake repeatedly until we remedied the situation (Curiosity Cat found this quite amusing). It's not difficult to fill it correctly.
Emptying and cleaning are not difficult either:
We have always kept a box of disposable latex gloves with our other litter box tools. It's no problem when walking past the box to snap on a pair of gloves, pull the receptacle, dump it in the trash container reserved for that purpose, and drop it right back in the Litter Maid. Peel the gloves, drop 'em in the same container, add half a cup or so of litter, and you're done. Rarely does the receptacle need to be replaced between the scheduled weekly cleanings of the box. Tiny little clumps left in the litter? Honey, if the cats don't care, I don't either.
We empty and clean the Litter Maid before our regular weekly trash collection. Stray litter (and anything else) Shop-Vacs easily. Because we have always had multiple pets, we have owned a steamer for years. We steam clean the rake and tray. Everything steams right off, with no damage to the unit. We wipe it out with paper towels, and pitch the whole mess. The entire operation takes about twenty minutes.
I realize that not everyone owns a steamer (I highly recommend them to any pet owner), so my experience isn't typical, but on the whole, I have found the Litter Maid to be an excellent product.
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Feb 12 '04
1:49 am PST
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Hi (Reply to this comment)
by Ladysmom,  in Pets
Great review, you did an excellent job. Hopefully we will see a many more reviews by you.
Billie
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Feb 09 '04
6:47 pm PST
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I knew it sounded too good to be true (Reply to this comment)
by michiman1,  in Home and Garden
I guess you've proved the old theory... A great review - entertaining and packed with great information.
Thanks for taking the time to post, hopefully you've got some more reviews up your sleeve.
Mark
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Feb 09 '04
2:49 pm PST
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hehe... (Reply to this comment)
by laurashrti
The name alone sounds like they're trying to make up for something...
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Feb 09 '04
12:27 pm PST
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