Automatic Litterbox Central

I'm having so much fun with my newest 'pet' - a Roomba. Jeff might delete the post (it's ok, i won't be crushed), but I thought I'd mention it in this forum because of...

#1) Cat hair. Man, does this little robot pick up cat hair! Have used it on wood laminate floor and a small patch of carpet, and the thing is incredible. The manual suggests cleaning the brushes and waste bin after a third cleaning. Housekeeping is NOT one of my best talents, but we had to empty the bin much more often, and after the second use, it took me a while to get all that cat hair out of the Roomba brushes, but I would much rather do that than vacuum! and

#2) Cat reaction, in case anyone is thinking of getting this terrific little machine. My stubborn adult cat supervised it from a safe distance, but wasn't freaked out at all, and the kittens alternate between thinking it's a new toy and ignoring it (until it tries to vacuum their tails )

I haven't tried it in the litterbox area yet, so can't report about how good it is with cat litter. I'm not overly concerned, though, because i have great hopes for the CatGenie

Of course, I'm not saving much 'vacuuming time' because I'm having so much fun watching both the Roomba and the cats' reactions!

HoHoHo,
marilyn (ker95)

My sister has one and loves it. But I'm hesitant because between the three cats and the one saint bernard, I'm afraid that it would absolutely choke on all the fur LOL

I had a first generation Roomba. It was a complete piece of junk. The newer ones seem more promising. I'd be willing to try one again if they make one with a li-ion battery, can run on its own, and recharge itself. Anything to pick up stray litter!

They do make programmable roombas now - I didn't get one because I work from home.

After doing a lot of research, I realized that there were enough 'lemons' out there to justify an extended warranty (which I rarely buy). So we paid a little more money & got our Discovery Roomba at Sears with a two year 'exchange' warranty. About $330 for the package... i think the programmable one is roughly $50 more.

So far so good - i'll test it in the litter area to see how it does.
He's just so CUTE!!!

marilyn

Gak! That is wickedly expensive. And I just checked and they use crappy NiMH batteries. Better than NiCd, but not by a wide margin.

jeff wrote:I had a first generation Roomba. It was a complete piece of junk. The newer ones seem more promising. I'd be willing to try one again if they make one with a li-ion battery, can run on its own, and recharge itself. Anything to pick up stray litter!

Lol! We must have all the same toys, Jeff. I have one of the first ones too and agree, junk-0-rama. Not even remotely interested in getting another. My Dysons have more than enough suckage for my needs. Heck, they can suck up small children!

mine came with a 'free' battery upgrade - not sure if it's the same KIND of battery though.

oh........ when he gets low on energy, he goes back to his homebase (if the roomba crosses the infrared line so he can find it) and starts recharging. Or he can be recharged with his quick charger.

yah, he is a tad pricey... but for me (who HATES cleaning floors) it's worth it. I have to admit that we're also planning on buying the scooba (the bot that mops) when we've replaced the carpet with tile in our extensive house remodel. The Scooba is first generation, though, and that worries me. But then, i'm ready to buy a first generation CatGenie.

Not for everyone, i agree... but i love that roomba will get under the bed & furniture where i rarely vacuum

Hey - it IS Friday!

*boggle* I've never heard anyone say anything bad about a Roomba! I was interested in the Scooba, but I suppose I'll wait for the next generation (though I'm sure they've picked up some more experience from the Roomba).

I LOVE my Roomba. I wouldn't want to be without it. We got ours from Sharper Image, 3 year extended warranty. Returned the first one after about 11 months. This second one seems fine, we've had it for about three months. The first one wasn't sitting on the base correctly after 11 months, so it wouldn't recharge itself.

That problem aside, I run it every day and it dutifully picks up litter, cat hair (we have two black cats), and dust. Under the bed, under the dressers, under the table. I also have very long hair, used to be about 3' 5" but I cut half of it off. The first one had to deal with that hair and did well. The little rotating side brush had to be unscrewed and cleaned on a regular basis since it would wind the hair around it. I used to sweep and swiff often before we got the Roomba and I couldn't get the floor nearly as clean. We walk barefoot most of the time, so the before and after Roomba difference is very noticable.

boggle* I've never heard anyone say anything bad about a Roomba! I was interested in the Scooba, but I suppose I'll wait for the next generation (though I'm sure they've picked up some more experience from the Roomba).

I LOVE my Roomba. I wouldn't want to be without it. We got our vacuum for pet hair from Sharper Image, 3 year extended warranty. Returned the first one after about 11 months. This second one seems fine, we've had it for about three months. The first one wasn't sitting on the base correctly after 11 months, so it wouldn't recharge itself.

That problem aside, I run it every day and it dutifully picks up litter, cat hair (we have two black cats), and dust. Under the bed, under the dressers, under the table. I also have very long hair, used to be about 3' 5" but I cut half of it off. The first one had to deal with that hair and did well. The little rotating side brush had to be unscrewed and cleaned on a regular basis since it would wind the hair around it. I used to sweep and swiff often before we got the Roomba and I couldn't get the floor nearly as clean. We walk barefoot most of the time, so the before and after Roomba difference is very noticable.

I KNOW

Who can say something bad about the room, especially considering it does double duty as a cute little cat-mobile!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf9wHkkNGUU

So, I'm curious as to how this is working?! Over time, I have found that sometimes these types of things wear down. Have you noticed that?

ker95 wrote:I'm having so much fun with my newest 'pet' - a Roomba. Jeff might delete the post (it's ok, i won't be crushed), but I thought I'd mention it in this forum because of...

#1) Cat hair. Man, does this little robot pick up cat hair! Have used it on wood laminate floor and a small patch of carpet, and the thing is incredible. The manual suggests cleaning the brushes and waste bin after a third cleaning. Housekeeping is NOT one of my best talents, but we had to empty the bin much more often, and after the second use, it took me a while to get all that cat hair out of the Roomba brushes, but I would much rather do that than vacuum! and

#2) Cat reaction, in case anyone is thinking of getting this terrific little machine. My stubborn adult cat supervised it from a safe distance, but wasn't freaked out at all, and the kittens alternate between thinking it's a new toy and ignoring it (until it tries to vacuum their tails )

I haven't tried it in the litterbox area yet, so can't report about how good it is with cat litter. I'm not overly concerned, though, because i have great hopes for the CatGenie

Of course, I'm not saving much 'vacuuming time' because I'm having so much fun watching both the Roomba and the cats' reactions!

HoHoHo,
marilyn (ker95)

The robot vacuum cleaner sucks up the debris and deposits it into a large, easy-to-empty bagless dustbin, and its improved fine-filtration system traps dust, pollen, and other allergens inside the unit, reducing infiltration into the living environment.

My sister-in-law owns a Seattle house cleaning company and she just laughed when we bought one of these. That being said, some of her "guffaws" were deserved as the device is not a replacement for old fashioned cleaning. However, the Roomba does work well for light vacuuming on certain types of floors. We usually let it run in our family room, living room, etc. while we're dusting and then hit any "missed" spots with the other vacuum.