When you have a houseful of cats like we do, you want to own the best possible cat litterbox available, which we've concluded is Automated Pet Care Products’s Litter Robot. A year or so ago my son decided he wanted to take on a volunteer project, and ultimately chose to work for a local animal welfare society. Part of this effort has led to our home becoming a foster home for cats, kittens or an occasional dog, and having more than a half dozen cats in our home seems to have become the routine. This means our home has 2-3 litter boxes in place at all times, always requiring frequent maintenance. As expected, an upgrade from the convential low tech litter boxes we had in place quickly moved up our wish list. We read reviews on the well known models, shopped at local stores, and were seriously considering the LitterMaid Mega model. But before we made our purchase, we found out about the Litter Robot, only available from the manufacturer's website. Reviews for this model were more positive and enthusiastic than any others we’d read, and the unit seemed to be based on a design that was the result of “out of the box” thinking that hopefully would result in a step change improvement over the models we’d seen in stores. So even though this model was quite expensive ($300) we eventually ordered one.
In the Box
The Litter Robot arrived in three pieces, the “globe”, the base, the waste drawer (which slides into the base), several standard 13 gallon trash bags for the waste drawer, a 110V power adapter, and a concise, effective instruction & setup manual. No tools, bolts or glue were required to assemble the unit, we only needed to place the globe on the base, load a trash bag in the drawer and slide the drawer into the base. There are several springy clips in the drawer which hold the trash bag securely in place. After plugging the unit in (110V power is required), the Litter Robot was ready to use. The manufacturer recommends that you do not put litter in the Litter-Robot or put it into service immediately, but rather let your cats find it first and look it over, which we did. After two days, we placed the Litter-Robot adjacent to an existing litter box, not plugging it in, but putting cat litter in the globe so that it would be used. Several times those first two days we would plug it in, press the button to run it through a cleaning cycle, then unplug it again. After two days, our cats were comfortable with using the Litter-Robot. We plugged it permanently, letting the Litter Robot follow its automatic cleaning cycle, which runs 7 minutes after each time it is used.
The Litter Robot in Action
The Litter Robot features an automatic cleaning cycle that runs 7 minutes after each time a cat enters the litter robot. There is weight sensor attached to the base unit that senses when a cat steps into the globe. Nominally, this sensor detects the weight of any cat that weighs 5 lbs or more (half grown kittens..), though it can be adjusted to be activated by somewhat less weight. Once the weight is detected a 7 minute countdown starts. At the end of the countdown, the globe starts rotating, signaling the start of the cleaning cycle. If another cat enters the litter robot during a countdown cycle, the timer resets, ensuring a cat won’t be inside the globe when the cleaning cycle starts.
The Cleaning Cycle…..
The Litter-Robot consists of a large, 27” diameter globe setting on a round base, also about 27” in diameter, and about 10” tall. Looking at the globe as it sets on the base, an oval opening faces you, about 6 ½” wide and 9” high. Cats enter and exit through this opening. On the interior of the globe, lining the bottom third of the globe, is a thick flexible rubber liner, only attached at the edges. Kitty litter is poured into to this liner. You’ll also see two large spring loaded covers that block two openings on the right side of the globe. Inside the globe, about 3” from the top, is a flat plastic screen, covering about 20% of the open area and volume of the globe. One edge of the screen is completely blocked, but most of it is open.
All along one circumference of the globe’s exterior is a geared track. This track mates with a small motor and gear in the base of the Litter-Robot. Seven minutes after a cat exits the Litter-Robot, this motor turns on and starts rotating the globe. Imagine the entrance staying in place as the globe rotates about an axis perpendicular to the entrance. As the globe rotates, the litter tends fall back into place, staying on the bottom. As the bottom of the globe approaches the top, the weighted rubber liner flexes down, helping to shake loose the litter. Also, as the globe turns, the screened area which was on top, rotates to the bottom, and any dry clean litter falls through and behind the screen and is temporarily trapped there behind the blocked area of the screen. Clumped litter stays on top of the screen, and continues to fall as the globe rotates. As the screened area passes the bottom, the waste ports rotate to the bottom, where they open as a latch catches on the base. The clumped litter falls through these ports into the waste drawer below.
The globe then reverses and the spring loaded ports return to the close position as the globe turns back to its starting position. The clean unused litter falls back through the screen and onto the rubber liner, which now is returning back to its original position on the bottom. With this type of cleaning cycle, very little of the cat litter is wasted, and human intervention is minimal, only to occasionally open the waste drawer, remove one trash back and install another. Litter-Robot claims you can go a week or so between bag changes, but with so many cats we change the bag almost daily.
In day to day use, the cleaning cycle works well, clumped litter is transferred into the storage area quickly and cleanly, which also helps to control, but not eliminate, odors. Changing out trash bags is very easy, and clean, much easier than with any other litter box you might use. You will still need clean the area, cats do track some litter out of the litter robot, and some dust seems to accumulate on the outside of the globe over time. You’ll also need to give the unit a thorough rinsing every couple of months, hosing or rinsing down the globe with soap and water, and wiping the base with a wet cloth. The electronics and motor in the base would preclude hosing it down also. This thorough cleaning takes only a few minutes.
Step by step images of the cleaning cycle can be found here: http://www.litter-robot.com/features/step_01.aspx.
Problems
Our experiences haven’t all been positive. Our litter robot stopped working after a few weeks. A call was made to the manufacturer, and we were able to get a diagnosis immediately. A wire connecting the weight sensor to the controls and motor had disconnected. I probably could have fixed this, but the manufacturer promptly shipped us a new base for our unit, and provided a prepaid shipping label to return the defective unit. Recently the litter robot has gotten hung up a couple of times in the middle of the cleaning cycle, and a call was again made for help. Two potential problems were mentioned, one required cleaning of the weight sensor in base unit with WD 40, where dust might be interfering with the control signal. The second required sending a replacement cable to fix. We’ve tried cleaning the sensor, which seems to have helped, but Litter Robot has promised to send us the replacement cable also.
Though its frustrating to have problems so soon (we’ve only had the litter robot about 4 months), at least I can report that the customer support is truly outstanding. Phone calls are toll free, and are answered immediately by a knowledgeable, polite, and very helpful person. In our case, help has been provided immediately on each call.
We’ve not had any problems with cats not wanting to use the litter robot, but other users have reported a few problems with cats not wanting to use the litter robot. There a few tips posted on the Litter Robot website, and you can find more in the user forums listed at the end of this review.
Summary
The Litter Robot is a very expensive litter box, and we’ve had a couple of problems with ours. But we have no regrets about the purchase, and feel we received a reasonable value for our money. All of our cats (8, as I write this) , aged from 3 months to 16 years, use the Litter-Robot. Odors are not eliminated, but certainly reduced, and the exterior of the Litter Robot seems to stay clean. Buying one of these from the manufacturer makes for an unusually smooth transaction, and ours was shipped and delivered on time. The full transferrable warranty covers the Litter Robot for 18 months, and full refund returns (ex shipping) can be made in the first 30 days. Support from the manufacturer is unequaled, I’ve never seen better. The Litter Robot is only available from the manufacturer, and I've not seen any sales or discounts. I've only seen a few used models on Ebay, and they seem to sell for 75% to 90% of list, a testament to the value placed on the Litter Robot by their owners.
Excellent User Forums:
http://www.litterbox-central.com/forum/ (Litter Box Central user forum)
http://www.catfancy.com/anforum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=24 (Cat Fancy magazine user forum)
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