Is it Worth the Price? - The Littermaid Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box
So, I decided not to buy the expensive automatic litter box. Although, I must say that I was very allured by it. I mean, who likes cleaning a litter box? As far as I know, this is a dreaded chore for most cat owners. And if you don't stay up to date on this chore, your house will soon smell like a giant litter box. So, when you look at it that way, $100 or so almost doesn't seem so bad, if it means not having to clean a smelly litter box anymore. Almost. However alluring this seems, I still wondered if it would even work.
So I continued to scoop out the litter box on a regular basis, although I still saw the commercials for the automatic litter boxes. There were times when I saw these ads and became incredibly tempted to shell out the $100 plus, however these times were usually right after I cleaned out the litter box.
One day I was shopping in Wal Mart and I noticed that they had the Littermaid Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box on sale for $65, which I thought was a great price. After seeing this I was inspired to shop around and see what kind of deals I could find on these litter boxes.
I searched Ebay and came across several good deals, but once shipping was added, it would cost around the same or a little higher than the Wal Mart sale price. I also came across a couple of used automatic litter boxes at very low prices, however I knew that my two cats would not appreciate a litter box that had been tarnished by another feline.
After shopping around I decided to spend the $65 at Wal Mart for the Littermaid Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box. I reasoned that if it didn't work I would just return it.
$65 later I returned home to put the new litter box together, which was surprisingly simple to do. I switched it out with the old litter box and watched as my cats sniffed and explored the new addition to their home. And, it wasn't long before I got to see if it worked.
The litter box is set up with an infrared sensor. Once the sensor is blocked (when your cat goes to the bathroom) the litter box waits ten minutes before it sends a rake out to clean it. If the rake touches something in the way, like a cat, it retracts back and waits again. When the rake comes out it scoops out the mess and deposits it into a plastic receptacle at the end of the box, which has a top on it so it remains covered after a deposit is made.
Once the plastic receptacle gets full, you put the top on it, throw it in the garbage, and replace it with a new one. It's that simple and is all you have to do.
I love the automatic cat litter box because my house always smells like the litter box was just cleaned, because it has been. It also cuts back on my cat box duties. So, in my opinion $65 was well worth it for the Littermaid Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box. It works great and makes my life just a little bit easier.
Published by Boricua
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5 Comments
Post a CommentAutomatic? You will still have to empty the holding tray once or twice a day. And all the automatic litter pan units do nothing for the mess, and litter tracking! All that waisted time you have cleaning daily! Why not look at the Out of Sight Litter Box cabinet. It hides the litter pan, STOPS LITTER TRACKING, keeps dogs (and kids) out of the litter pan and makes scooping easy on you by raising the litter pan to a second self. Takes only a minute in the morning and a minute in the evening, and you are done. Take a look at:
www.outofsightlitterbox.com
We bought the first automatic littermaid in 2003. We had three adult cats. It lasted 5 years and it was a Godsend. Two tips I have for you is one: Take a regular size plastic grocery bag and push the bottom of the bag down in the plastic container. take the handles of bag and tuck them around the plastic container and drop container in slot. when bag is full tie handles togeather and dispose. Plastic containers last longer saving money. Two: Three cats is the limit for the littermaid. More then that and it gets bogged down and stuck often.
$65 is a great deal. I think they are priceless though. I think LitterMaids are great! I can't ever imagine going back to scooping again.
We have 4 cats, and we got one of those Littermaid ones when we only had two. The idea behind it is great, but the actual functioning is lacking. The poop sticks in the rake tines and the tines miss the smaller pieces. Maybe we didn't have the right kind of litter? Also, the plastic container it catches the poop in is small and has to be emptied or changed frequently. If a piece of poop sticks out a little, it holds the lid open and the poop smell is FOUL...and strong. We washed ours up after about a month and put it back in the box. We figured we couldn't return a used litterbox machine. Now we have a big, expensive piece of Littermaid sitting on our basement storage shelf, and we use a regular litterbox for our cats. We have two big under-the-bed storage bins full of litter, and we scoop it once a week. Maybe we should put our machine on Ebay...
I've bought many of these Littermaid cat boxes, and each and every one has broken down in short order, usually within 6 months or less. Too late to take back, but years before you might expect a failure. You'd think I'd have learned after the first one or two, but no, I kept trying, and then, when they came out with a new design, I figured they must have fixed the problem, and started the whole process all over again. All in all, I've probably bought ten of them, without one single success story. Avoid the expense and stick to the basics.