Automatic litter boxes... hmmm.... shall we say, "semi-automatic"?
Written: Jun 04 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Our kitties do prefer them (yes..."them"... we actually bought two!) :::::sigh::::::
Cons: They are not the magic genies of clump removal they claim to be... & expensive.
The Bottom Line: I might not spend the money again, knowing what I know now... but since we have them, I'm glad. Mixed feelings! Perhaps they'll improve by the time ours breaks down...
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| heidigarofalo's Full Review: Litter Maid Mega Advanced Deluxe Litter Maid Litte... |
AH, well. Now that we do have the two Litter Maid Mega self-cleaning (occasionally self-clogging) Litter Boxes, I find them to be more helpful than not, but certainly not as helpful as they are cracked up (or clumped up) to be!
PRACTICALITIES
They did set up rather easily, coming out of the box 90% assembled. I found locations right next to wall outlets, so I've never dealt with the usage of batteries. In each case, I placed the Litter Maid with the electric cord and it's connection to the box right against the wall, with the cord almost completely hidden from my little nibbling kitties. One of them, in particular, likes to nibble electrical cords, and I have coped with this by using white duck tape to tape my electrical cords to the wall, so that they are no longer loose, and he is no longer interested. When necessary, I painted over the duck tape to match the wall color (duck tape's water proofing prevents the wet paint from loosening the tape). But in this case, I managed to hide the cord well enough behind the side of the box to keep him from noticing it at all.
The first box has worked rather consistently. I do have to knock off the occasional clumps or poops that get stuck between the tines of the rake about once a day, and sometimes the urine clumps seem to divide almost in half, leaving them partly stuck to the bottom of the box, while the rest manages to make it all the way into the container. It regularly removes enough of the waste to please the cats themselves, thereby preventing them from becoming disgusted by my negligence and doing their business in protest next to a dirty box. That fact, alone, makes me glad to have it. When we're gone all day, the three kitties have predominantly clean boxes to use.
This brings me to the second box. The second one has been a bit persnickety. At first I thought I would have to return it. It malfunctioned from the very beginning. Perhaps I filled it a bit too full of litter... but I obsessively kept the level right at that second red line that indicates the maximum fill level. This was fine for the first box, but the second one is more sensitive, it appears. Our girl kitty is quite determined to bury things very thoroughly, and paws as much of the litter as possible upon her business. This creates a mound that the second litter box finds completely daunting. The rake just touches this object and backs away, repeating the process endlessly until I spread out the pile and remove the clumps myself. I kept removing more and more litter until it was well below the first little red line (for minimum fill level), providing our girl kitty with far less material to scratch into a pile. At first the box seemed brain dead, doing nothing at all... I just cleaned it myself for a couple of days, planning to return it to our local PetSmart pretty soon. Then it suddenly resumed working normally! I had not unplugged it, partly because the cord was so nicely hidden between the wall and the box. I have no idea why, or how long this fortunate turn of events will last. Some of the other reviewers reported that their Litter Maids quit working after about a year, and it has a one year warranty.
THE HOLDING CONTAINERS
I've discovered a good way to re-use these, and save some time and money. When they are nearly full, I wear cheap, disposable rubber gloves and lift them out, emptying them in the trash just before I take the trash container out of the house. That pretty much removes the smell. Then I sprinkle just enough fresh litter into the bottom of the container to coat the very bottom and prevent any used litter from sticking there. I found that the used litter that was stuck to the bottom smelled the most after I emptied out the rest, and preventing any of this from sticking keeps me from having to wash out the newly emptied container. The little layer of fresh litter in the emptied container also kills the smell. I've had the boxes for four months and have only replaced the containers twice. Not bad. I use non-toxic odor neutralizing spray in the containers and around the boxes. Several brands are available, and I prefer "X-O" from Smart and Final Iris.
I will update this review when and if either box breaks down and quits working... and I'll report how long it lasted before giving out. But so far so good..... and the three spoiled little kitties do appreciate it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
heidigarofalo
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Member: Heidi Guedel Garofalo
Location: Anthony, Florida, USA
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Happy wife; Veteran Feature Film Animator; Sculptor; writer; technophile; animal lover; eternal inner child.
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