Are any self-cleaning cat litter boxes any good, or worth the money?

Submitted ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨mike_wooskey@lemmy.d.thewooskeys.com⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

Does anyone have any experience with self-cleaning cat litter boxes? I’m curious if any particular model of self-cleaning litter box is any good. We now have 4 cats and it would be nice to not have to clean litter boxes manually 1-2 times every day.

Do they separate pee/poop from litter well? Are cats afraid to use them? Do they stink more than regular litter boxes because pee/poop are in them for longer periods? Are they a hassle to clean? Do you have to buy propietary supplies (custom litter? special trays?)?

Thanks for your input.

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Alk@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I have a Litter Robot (that’s the actual brand name) and it’s worth the money. Completely eliminates smell other than right when they do the deed. Incredibly easy and clean to empty, but that’s all besides the point. They ha e the BEST customer service ever. I’ve had parts replaced for free, experts on the phone guide me step by step on how to fix it if it malfunctions, and once they even replaced the entire dome for free (plus shipping). I’ve had this for several years and it’s amazing. Truly.

I’ve had other automatic litter boxes too but none of them have been as durable, clean smelling, or easy to use as this. Plus I get phone notifications when it’s full and it won’t cycle anymore so I can change it.

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- undercrust@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This sounded fantastic until I looked it up and it’s A THOUSAND DOLLARS???
  
  I love my cat and I hate scooping litter, but definitely not a grand worth of either…
  
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  - Devi@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    What dollars is that?
    
    Mine was £350 which is under $500 US, just looked at the site and the brand new model is $699.
    
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  - Bongles@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Hey now, it’s only $700 where I am.
    
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  - spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The amount of money people will spend for convenience is indefinable.
    
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- distantsounds@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I have one arriving today. Fingers crossed that my scaredy cat will be able to make the change.
  
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  - Devi@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If you want you can start by not allowing it to auto turn and only turning it manually when you're nearby and can be sure the cat isn't near. You can then build up to the auto turn
    
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  - EatYouWell@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Our scardy cat was fascinated by ours. Would haul ass from across the house just to watch it cycle.
    
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- phanto@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  My friends bought me a litter robot, too. I have mixed feelings. I seem to have to reset and fiddle with the thing too often, but when it works, it’s really good for keeping the smell down. My guys use it more often than the other two old school boxes, so I guess two paws up from them?
  
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  - Devi@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Have you broken it down to clean? Issues in mine usually mean there's dust build up under the bowl, particularly the pinch sensor. If I get that sorted every few months then it goes back to fine.
    
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  - Alk@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Sounds like it needs a cleaning. Also update the firmware just in case. Customer service can help if you need help figuring out how to clean it or if a motor goes bad or something. They’ve replaced motors and stuff for me a few times for free. When one of the sensors broke or was damaged, it was finicky for me too. Sometimes worked sometimes didn’t. Replacing it fixed it instantly.
    
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  - Bongles@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Mine was like that, make sure you check for firmware updates.
    
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- thegreekgeek@midwest.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Second the litter robot. I had a pet safe automatic litterbox for years and this one blows that out of the water.
  
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- idunnololz@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Can vouch they are good. We have two. They are expensive though.
  
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  - IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    So freaking expensive. But honestly I love mine. Sometimes I travel for work and I’m gone all week. Come home and there’s still no smell. Worth it.
    
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- HypnoticSheep@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  How’d you get your cat to try it? We’re struggling to get ours to even look at it, any pointers would be appreciated!
  
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  - DoctorRoxxo@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I put the old litter box next to the litter robot and let the old litter box get super gross and didn’t scoop it at all for over a week. Once it got gross they opted for the clean litter robot. I then removed the old litter box and now they just use the robot.
    
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  - Alk@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I would pick them up and just put them inside it. After a day or so of that over and over they started using it but it took them a while to not be scared of it when it moves.
    
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- bobs_monkey@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  My mom has one of these and she loves it.
  
  Only weird bit was when I was staying at her house and didn’t realize it was a thing, only to have it go through a cycle at 4am and not knowing what the cyborg sound was.
  
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- foggy@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Nah my gf just got one and she loves it too.
  
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Supervisor194@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This is going to sound like hyperbole, but this thing changed my life and I always love it when I get a chance to share it with somebody. It requires no electricity, it has no moving parts and in the 11 years I’ve been using one, it’s never broken. I give you: Omega Paw.

It requires clumping cat litter, so if you use that you’re golden. When it’s time to clean, you roll it - and as you roll, the loose litter flows through a grate, but the clumps and waste stay on top of the grate. As you continue to roll it, the waste falls to the ceiling. When you roll it back, the waste all falls into the drawer, which you pull out and dump. Cleaning the litter box takes literally 10 seconds. It’s awesome.

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- Can_you_change_your_username@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I had one when my cats were kittens, unfortunately one of my cats is freakishly large and can't turn around in most lidded litter boxes so I had to replace it but it was very convenient. It's easy to use and the monthly clean out is about the same as any other manual litter box.
  
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  - Supervisor194@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Did you have the large one? I have a 17lb long-haired Maine Coon and he has no issues with it, but I do have the large one.
    
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- DessertStorms@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  So, am I missing something? Is my cat just really good at how she uses the litter? Most of the time it takes me 2 seconds to bag my hand to grab a poop, and every other day I'll also clear out the few clumps of pee she always leaves in the same spot (knock tray back a bit, clumps stay behind, again just grab with bagged hand then spread the litter back). No need for all this extra manual labour and tumbling of poops, it just seems like a lot more work than it has to be? Not having a go, genuinely curious..
  
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  - Coreidan@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You’re definitely missing something. That something is that some people hate dealing with litter every day. This is a solution to that.
    
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  - Supervisor194@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I hate an open catbox. I also don’t want to directly pick it up, bag or not. So I had to unclip the top and use a scoop, and I had three cats so I did it every day and I just effing hated it.
    
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- Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I thought it was pretty cool.
  
  We stopped using it because one cat was sick and suffered from diarrhea from cancer. And the clump litter couldnt clump enough, leading to diarrhea wetness when we rolled. That lead to diarrhea on the top part. And the other cats were not happy.
  
  Had to switch to open air litter boxes to meet all their fickle demands. But it was great while it lasted.
  
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- XbSuper@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Omg thank you for this! I have to go over to my mom’s to clean her litter box all the time. With this she’ll be able to do it herself!
  
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- morphballganon@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Can vouch for these. I have two of the large size, one per cat. They’re a game-changer.
  
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heleos@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Bought a litter robot 4, wouldn’t do it again for the price. It’s a pain to clean and the cats are always peeing/pooping on the sides. It constantly stopped it cleaning cycle, and ended up growing a ton of bugs inside because the design had some cat poop inside the machine where I couldn’t get to it. I had to dismantle the entire thing taking out every screw to clean it. It’s currently sitting in my basement. I left a similar review on their website and they decided not to post it, I guess they don’t like unfavorable reviews.

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The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’ll go against the grain here and say that no, I don’t think they’re worth it. The litter that automatic litter boxes have to use doesn’t clump and isn’t as effective. Tried it for about a year and then went back to low-tech.

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- EatYouWell@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Those were 1st gen, we’re way past that now.
  
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- Devi@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The one I use only uses clumping litter.
  
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- SeedyOne@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  It seems the newer ones do allow more varieties of litter these days but that’s a good reminder not all do.
  
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- Coreidan@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Your information is fucked up. You’re specifically supposed to use clumping. It’s no wonder you had problems rofl
  
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  - The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Some people are saying that the tech has changed, but maybe 4-ish(?) years ago when I got it, they forbade clumping litter because it was hard for the machine to filter.
    
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Boinkage@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
3 cats, two little robots. They’re a hassle to get calibrated right but once you do get them set up they are great. I would buy them again, can’t imagine going back to scooping every day.

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- tabularasa@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I agree with this.
  
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  - revdrnegative@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I also agree, we’ve had one for years and even if it breaks they are easy to repair.
    
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weariedfae@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I had a Cat Genie for years and loved it. Like others, they’re a bit of a pain to take apart and clean when you need to.

It also had a draw back of sometimes missing a small piece, washing it, then blowing hot air on it to stink up the whole place.

But overall I was happy with it. The only reason I don’t have one now is my living situation changed and I don’t have room for it (requires water hookup and a drain).

Yes what I mentioned may sound annoying but consider this: we had ours hooked up to a laundry drain and had to do no scooping. Ever. We didn’t even have to flush the toilet. Every once in a while we’d plug in a special cartridge to do a self clean cycle, and once a year we’d take it apart to clean the internal section (but honestly it didn’t need this except once due to hard water buildup).

You don’t have to do anything and it always had washed and clean litter. Every once in a while it got a little stinky but what litterbox doesn’t?!

Seriously, highly recommend.

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EatYouWell@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
100%

We have 7 cats and 2x Litter Robot 3, and they’re a life saver. I only have to empty the bags every 2ish days, and litter lasts longer since they’re not digging in clumped waste.

They are a bit of a hassle to clean if you don’t keep up with it, though. A full breakdown of the sphere will take a few hours of work. But, if you wipe it out every time you change litter, you will only need to do it every 3-6 months.

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- ratman150@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  3 cats with a litter robot 3 after 3 years. It’s great, easy to repair and parts are available. Save your money and buy a litter bot 3. The 4 has some improvements (it’s quieter) but has some new flaws and a pretty stiff price increase.
  
  Also check out one man six cats on YouTube who has been doing a litter bot mega test of all kinds of brands/styles with his 7 (yes 7) cats.
  
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Zippy@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Cat Genie.

Bit expensive and you need to connect to water and a drain. Either toilet or near washing machine works.

It worked for us for about 4 years. Works very well and washes the litter each use.

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glitch1985@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I had a litter robot 3 for a couple years. The internals corroded and stopped working shortly after the warranty period expired. Bought a popur and it’s been a dream ever since.

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AstralPath@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’d like to go on record and state my opinion that the old school manual scoop method is the best and easiest if you do it twice a day. Takes no more than 30 seconds each time and gives you the added benefit of actively monitoring your cat’s waste for any warning signs of digestive or urinary issues.

Having a dedicated garbage pail for litter purposes only right next to the box makes things super easy and dirt cheap.

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CosmicFjord@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I just bought a Litter Robot 4 and in the one week I’ve had it, I just emptied the bag for the first time. No scooping or anything! You can use regular 10-gallon trash bags in the compartment. No proprietary bags required, although they do sell them. The pee/poop get dropped into a compartment below the area where your kitty does its business, so there isn’t any smell.

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BrianTheFirst@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I used my Litter Robot for about 6 months, and ended up selling it because:

It still has to be cleaned. Once a month you are supposed to disassemble and clean the various parts. I found this experience to be pretty nasty. Definitely worse than scooping a box.

I have a Maine Coon, and she ended up with dirty litter in her fur all of the time.
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- DessertStorms@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  Once a month you are supposed to disassemble and clean the various parts. I found this experience to be pretty nasty. Definitely worse than scooping a box.
  
  This is why after considering them whenever they come up, I've always decided against them, the poop isn't magically gone, it's just been moved, and still needs cleaning, now potentially after being manipulated by and/or getting stuck in moving parts.. No thanks lol
  
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cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Squeeze your cat like a tube of toothpaste into your back garden.

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nutsack@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
i have like 9 cats using a single catlink box and it is a miracle basically.

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- Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Can you share the product? Every single one I used was hot garbage with just two cats.
  
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  - nutsack@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    you don’t need anything fancy. just need this general orb design. and you need to get cat litter that clumps has pieces small enough to fit through the sieve thing.
    
    www.catlinkus.com
    
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VelvetStorm@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Litter robot is pretty good. I have 3 of them, and while the new ones look nicer, my older ones work better imo. You have to use a good brand of clumping litter, or it won’t work at all.

There is also Cat genie, which requires a waterline, and it uses reusable little balls instead of litter. After your cat goes to the bathroom, it self cleans the balls and flushes out the poo and pee, and then it dries itself with hot air. I would love to get one of these but they are fairly big and I just don’t have the space for it.

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LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I use a pet safe brand autoscooping litter box. It has disposable litter containers and reusable ones. It’s hella expensive, but worth it cause one pack of litter lasts 2-3 weeks for me. I’m also lazy, and it eliminates daily scooping.

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- MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I also have the pet safe for about 2 years, it’s been great so far. Definitely recommend the reusable tray if you want to keep costs down, the disposal trays are pretty pricey. I just dump the tray every 40-50 uses and it’s good to go. You have to use crystal litter though and that’s more expensive than clay stuff.
  
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  - LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I got the reusable tray recently and it’s been great. I save like $30/month using it. A lot of people think I’m crazy for shelling out so much on a litter box, but it’s totally worth it. It’s so easy.
    
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Hatecoach@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I'd say it depends, do you have any long-haired cats?
I have had no luck with them in in the past, and have had to avoid them now as we have long-haired cats, which clumping kitty litter with long-hairs is usually a disaster with litter getting stuck on them.

I just think its part of the daily ritual, or in my case multiple times daily due to having a herd of cats. I don't enjoy it, but its better than the house smelling like cat waste.

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God_Is_Love@reddthat.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Really not worth it in my opinion. I’m hoping some day it will be, kind of like how robot vacuums used to ha e a lot more problems and be a lot more expensive.

We couldn’t afford any of the robot litter boxes for starters, even if we could manage the huge upfront cost (compared to the cost of even a high quality regular litter box), they all have some type of additional ongoing cost. Bags, or filters, or replacement parts, or more expensive litter.

Second, every one I looked at had reviews about cleanliness not being completely covered by the machine, so you sometimes have to clean a lot more parts than just quickly rinsing a typical litter box. Some people’s cats also get dirtier, or struggle to aim in some robot ones.

Third, I find the smell worse with any that you don’t dump or replace the tray every day. Using a diaper Genie honestly works much better for that for us. And I would rather know that I only need to take the 30 seconds to scoop every day as opposed to suddenly waking up to a broken litter box or having to spend an hour plus cleaning every part of it.

Lots of different opinions on here which is great, this is just my take!

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Devi@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I have a litter robot, it's brilliant. You can use any clumping litter, there's a guide to get your cats used to it, no smell at all, no cleaning, and the bags in the base can be anything. I use a cheap clumping litter, the cheapest clay based one seems to work best for me but you can use any clumping that has small grains.

What happens is that I get a message to my phone about once a week telling me to take the old bag out and put the new bag in. I couldn't live without it now.

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Yamainwitch@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Why yes! So I found myself in a similar position a few months back, I have 2 big boys (18 and 20 pounds) and while I had three boxes, they would only use one and pee on each other’s spot so it would always be wet and you know that goes. Anyway, I mulled it over for a long time because they are pricey, they have generally mixed reviews and my cats are large and in charge. Well, I was wine shopping and Costco had a really good price on the litter bot brand, it had a whole set and extras and I was like imma treat myself. The litterbox was always my chore and if I didn’t clean it out twice a day the house would absolutely stink, I tried all kinds of powders, air fresheners and it would just not help. Okay the litter bot has been an absolute game changer. Mine doesn’t separate poop/pee it just all clumps and dumps into a bottom tray. I have been using less litter (now I use a fancy clumping grass based litter because my boys are spoiled and mustn’t have clay) and as long as I keep the bottom tray under control, I don’t even think about it. I didn’t realize how much of a mental load the littlebox was until it wasn’t. It did take my younger cat a little while to adjust but now he uses it just fine. My partner read that if you stop cleaning the backup box they will eventually get grossed out into using the scary robot one, and it worked lol. They have a lot of budget ones too, and if you have 4 cats you’ll probably want at least 2, but I can’t sing enough praises about it. It’s definitely a splurchase I’m glad I indulged in. Hope that helps! 🤗✨😻😻

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key@lemmy.keychat.org ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I have a couple scoopfree boxes. It’s just a classic litter box shape with a rake that auto- scoops for you. Doesn’t do anything for pee. It works well for me. I bought the reusable tray, the disposable ones became really expensive over covid and they don’t handle heavy pee-loads well (plus wasteful). I buy the cheap crystal litter from Walmart, it works as well as their more expensive refills.

The scoopfree is open by default but you can buy a lid for it. My cats really disliked it when the litter box was enclosed so the lid is in my basement now. Does mean I have to vacuum around it occasionally. Smell isn’t bad unless urine builds up in the crystals because the poop is covered (but not “sealed”).

The poop capacity is finite and if you have cats that pee a lot you might have to change the litter more often. I have 2 boxes as I had two cats originally. I had to change it out between once a week and every other week. With 4 cats you’d ideally have more boxes and given cats will often just use the same one anyways, you might need to pull the tray out, dump and wipe it, then refill it up to twice a week.

There’s a configurable delay before the rake activates so it doesn’t scare the cat. There’s also a safety sensor so it doesn’t operate with a passenger.

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Blackout@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I have 1 cat and one of those crappy petsafe ones. But it actually works for me. On my 2 box in 10 years. I change our the litter refills every time the counter hits 20, a little more than a week. I buy the refills from Vietnam for half the price. With multiple cats I don't know, gets expensive

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FarFarAway@startrek.website ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
We had the litter maid. It was good. You can put a grocery bag (or similar) into the litter scoop tray and reuse it for a while, but if it gets too gross, you’ll have to buy the trays and the potpourri packets…

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Darkbug@lemmy.one ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This is the one I’m looking at currently, but I’m having a hard time with the price… www.amazon.com/…/B0C2BVTFDP I would love to see what others are using and what they like and don’t like about it.

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Melonpoly@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Here is a potentially helpful video m.youtube.com/watch?v=gnjMy1X3UIA&t=2s

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