Automatic Litterbox Central

I have 3 7yrold cats and don't really have a problem with my current litter box system. 3 cats, 4 good sized boxes down in the basement. Each box gets about 10lbs of litter dumped in and I spend less than 10 minutes scooping 2 or 3 times a week. For me, the most annoying part is having to dig and fish around for the clumps..or find a big and sturdy enough scooper! I was looking at stainless steel scoopers because they don't bend but I didn't like the look of the holes and it was smaller than the plastic ones. lol

I don't need an automatic box.. I've read over and over the pros and cons of them and as of now decided the cons outweigh the pros. So I rather just lift a tray up and be left with the clumps of pee and the turds.. Any recommendations? I don't like that thing you pick up and "roll" it to sift it. I don't really need hooded. I was looking at one at Petco but it seemed..pricy and the box was a weird size. Especially since the reason my current system works so well is probably because I have 4 boxes unlike most people who have to cram 1 or 2 boxes in their bathroom. I considered just going to Walmart and buying 3 big and cheap boxes and poke holes in them myself to use as a "sifter" but not sure how well that would work. Seems there would be a lot of wasted litter between the holes and the second box.

I'd also like to eventually get them off this clay litter. I'm actually using Clay mixed with world's best.. with this combo I find that there's no cement pee clumps at the bottom to scrape up. I don't think I'd like World's Best on it's own so I'm still experimenting with new litters. Might try that swheat stuff next. I just want something dust free.

If I wasn't so super happy with my ScoopFree, I'd definately get this litter box. I think this will do exactly what you want.....

http://www.felinepinelitterbox.com

I have something similar, the company seems to be out of business and not making it anymore, but you can make a cheap wood framework and staple a wire mesh over the bottom.

I used this for years in my basement with multiple cat boxes, and it worked great, because the mesh was not so small the clumps would stick in them. That's a problem with a lot of the Lift 'n' Sift type boxes; if the clumps clog up the slits, then you're working around with paint scrapers and such, which is a pain.

What my understanding of this onr is is that it's for the "pine pellets" only, not the clumping litter. No poop gets caught in this sifter bc this box works differently. Backwards. .

See, you still scoop the poop out(pine pellets are environmentally safe so just throw in the garden), and when the cat pees the pellets turn to sawdust. That sawdust sifts to the bottom pan so the top pan remains fresh pellets. You just add to the top pan more pellets as needed, no big litter change anymore.

When you want to empty the bottom pan, you can just dump the sawdust in your garden, again it's perfectly safe to do.

I like the idea of the Feline Pine box but didn't like the size of it. Too small just like the sift boxes I was looking at in Petsmart. I also hated the pine pellet litter and my cats weren't crazy about it either even though it was mixed with their current clay litter.

WereBear wrote:I have something similar, the company seems to be out of business and not making it anymore, but you can make a cheap wood framework and staple a wire mesh over the bottom.

I used this for years in my basement with multiple cat boxes, and it worked great, because the mesh was not so small the clumps would stick in them. That's a problem with a lot of the Lift 'n' Sift type boxes; if the clumps clog up the slits, then you're working around with paint scrapers and such, which is a pain.

Wow I didn't even think of this. Thanks for stating the obvious. lol. That's actually what I hate about my scooper..the mushy, clumpy mess inside the holes. So I started buying cheapy ones from the $1 store and throw it out every 1-2 months. I'm not cleaning a nasty scooper and sure as hell don't want to clean those nasty clumps out of the sifter.

My cats' have a certain box that they like to crap in... I guess because of the shape and size. It's a short/long storage box I bought at Target for $3. For now I'm just going to try your idea with just using a homemade mesh "sifter" and see what happens. Or at least until a temporary solution until I figure out something better.