Moms with Cats

I agree with Christina. The Cat-Genie is amazing. It has it's own special litter that it fully cleans. My sister-in-law(5 cats) has had one for almost a year and she loves it. It cleans it's litter by washing it out, rinsing all the nasty stuff out. It costs around $300, but in the long run it pays for itself.

E.,

I consider myself an expert in this dept. I have 2 adult cats (at one time had 4) & have used the automatic litterbox (littermaid) for about 10 years.

Pros & cons to these.

Pros
if you have a picky cat, the excrement is sifted out of the box.

cons
the tray that holds everything needs to be emptied daily.(don't change the container everything those things are $$$$)

You need to make sure there is not too much or not too little litter- so it get cleaned out effectively.

Periodically needs to be taken apart & cleaned. This is a PITA & takes time. You don't want to get any of the electrical components wet or it won't work.

You can use only clumping litter.

It can run on batteries but takes several D size, so needs to be plugged in all the time. With 2 cats being use to 2 litterboxes need 2 boxes.

It is somewhat bigger than average, sides are higher than average. Ramps are available. When I had my 20 yr old cat I had to change to a dog litter box so he could get in it due to his severe arthritis.

It can have electrial/mechinal problems. I have had 4-6 new units (using only 1 box at a time), but my husband is handy, so he combines pieces when need be to make 1 functioning unit.

I know it seems like a lot of cons, but if you can live with it- great.

I do recommend getting the biggest, heavy duty type.

Personally the automatic litter pans just make more work because you still have to clean them and there is more to clean. If you get the ones with the liners they will just tear holes in the liner. It's best to continue the way you are. I sprinkle baking soda in my cat box and it helps a lot. My two cats share a litter box.

I had two of them, and you still need to clean the little container that catches everything once a day. Twice a day is much better. I used to get the walmart small bathroom trashbags and line the container with it, so I just went in the room in the mornings and pulled the bag out and threw is away, and then went in there in the evenings and did it again. But if you go to long without changing the container or bag. They will get clogged and it takes longer to clean.

I loved mine, and would get one again. :)

Hey E.,

I have had 3 cats for going on 10yrs now, I have been the sole cleaner for all 10, lol ;).... Last Feb I started looking into an automatic cat box, (figured I was due seeings as I had gone thur 3 pregnancys cleaning a cat box) At first I bought the littermaid at walmart for some reason I never took it out of the box. I started researching online petco and petsmart I found a multi cat littermaid but the ratings were very low I came across this product called the cat-genie.... It is a self scooping, washing, sanitizing and drying cat box.. It comes equipped to attach to your toliet or laundry room...I have had it almost a year and love it...Check it out its def. economical and worth the money.. I use just one for all 3 cats. Best of luck and email me if you have any questions etc.
C.

Hi E.,

I had something similar to an automatic litter pan but it ended up getting even more disgusting and full of bacteria as the soft poop would then get stuck on the walls and roof of the litter box, making it harder to clean and requiring pulling it apart and slowly cleaning it. I got rid of it within a couple of months of owning it, and was happy to be rid of it. I currently use strong garbage bags as a liner in a regular litter pan, and I use 2 bags in case one tears, the other will hold up a bit longer. I don't know of a liner that is commercially available (never seen them at Publix or Wal-Mart, where I shop) and strong enough to withstand cats so I am using the garbage bags. I have 2 cats, each use their own box. One cat's good about it and won't tear holes in the garbage bag liner, but the other one has sharp nails (even when clipped) and is very active, so she will tear the garbage bag liner, slowly, little by little. By the time it's all torn up though, it's usually time to empty the litter and put new litter, so it's no big deal for me. I bought this pretty deep litter box at Wal-Mart that has sort of a lid that holds the liner in place, and this litter box is awesome, as the normal one would not be deep enough for messes (if you know what I mean) and did not have the lid to hold the liner in place. I think it's easier to stick to the traditional litter pan than going "high-tech", as I have seen a lot of people have bad experiences with the high-tech models which they consider to be a waste of money in the end since they end up reverting to the litter pan. You can check reviews on Google or Amazon.com though if you'd rather do your own investigating. Good luck!

I had an automatic litter box a few years back and didn't like it.. It was annoying, sometimes got stuck, and seemed like more work...

An 18 year old and a 15 year old should be able to handle a litter box.