Picture this: small apartment, 2 cats- little one weighs 15lbs, big one weighs in at 25lbs.

I know the site doesn't recommend this for cats my size, but I decided to take the risk. I am glad I did! I purchased the Original Litter Robot I over 2 years ago. (they have since come out with a version II which is supposedly quieter, has deeper waste drawer and better sensor)

First of all the delivery box is HUGE because the Litter Robot (LR from here on) is HUGE. It is hard to imagine even when you read about the dimensions- this really is a piece of furniture that you have to have an outlet nearby.

I purchased the beige color LR because I understand that the black one will show some of the litter dust.
When I purchased the LR, the reviews out there were only on the LR site. Of course a company isn't going to put the negative reviews on the site, so I was still skeptical, but decided since there was a great return policy (any reason with in 60 days) that I would take the $300 risk.

This machine is something your cats have to get used to being around before they will even venture to use it. My two big boys were curious about it for about a good 4 days before they were using it regularly. The manual and paperwork gives lots of tips about how to help your cats make the transition and gives helpful suggestions regarding special situations (ie: a cat that goes in and faces the back wall and therefore 'goes' outside of the LR unintentionally)

My big cats did very well with the LR, but my big boy didn't particularly enjoy it. If they made them in a larger size for bigger cats (where scooping waste is a bigger issue) it would have been much better of an option.
But just because you have larger cats, doesn't mean it's not worth a try. I don't recommend it for above 26lbs- it's just not comfortable for them.

One of the main things is not to punish your cats if there are accidents during the transition period. Cats don't understand the concept of being scolded (or worse) for accidents and will instead relate your scolding for simply 'going' and the issues will only get worse. It takes patience to get a cat used to using something so different- know that ahead of time and if you don't feel like you have that, please keep using the litter system that your cats are used to.

The LR is easy to clean and care for- unless the waste drawer gets over loaded- which can easily happen with larger cats. (LR II has a 2 inch deeper waste drawer) When that happens and the cycle runs- the waste will smear the entire circumference of the globe every time the cycle runs. When this happened, it was a chore to clean up, but it was relatively simple to do using Nature's Miracle.

The waste drawer uses regular kitchen size trash bags. The smaller bathroom size bags are not large enough. I found that the trick to keeping the bag from getting caught in the mechanism when the cycle runs, is to roll the edge down to about 4 inches above the bottom of the bag. Then clip the bag in using the metal clips that are attached to the sides of the waste drawer. Smooth the bag out and push it into the drawer and slide the drawer back into the base. Simple as that.

LR can be used with any clumping style litter and you will find that your monthly litter cost will go down significantly. That is one thing I noticed- especially with cats as large as mine. You can use the cheapest clumping litter and it will work just as well as the expensive clumping litter. Your litter will last much longer with the LR.

I didn't include many of the technical details as there are lots of other reviews that have that info. Also since the company has come out with the II version, some of those technical details will be obsolete.

Version I is fairly noisy and will take some getting used to. It woke me up during the night for those first couple of days, but it was not bad enough to unplug the unit for nighttime like some LR owners did.
If you keep it plugged in so that I will run every time your cats make use of it, the smell is GREATLY reduced in comparison to other litter boxes.

Compared to those 'other' automatic litter machines that scrape and rake- the LR is a dream! There's no having to clean off flimsy plastic rake tines when they become caked with waste- which is very hard to clean and has to be done very often on those other machines.

Bottom line- it's worth the $$ and if it doesn't work out or you have a super stubborn cat, return the item. Reading on the LR site www.litter-robot.com about version II, they have made some great improvements and have addressed many of the issues and complaints that show up in some of these other reviews. Remember that most of the reviews written at this time are on version I, but only version II is currently being sold on the official LR site. Even with my experience with the un-improved version I would highly recommend to anyone with one cat or a house full of cats. It really is a dream come true.


Recommended: Yes