Automatic Litterbox Central

I saw the initial posts on this site about the Litter Robot and those early positive reviews actually made me go out and buy it. I really regret that decision and I found the Litter Robot by far the worst of the electronic litter devices, worse than Littermaid and Purrfecta, and that is saying something.

Highlights (or Lowlights):

Liquid waste seems to seep into parts of cavity of the tub and stays there causing a permanent stink. I tried washing it in the bathtub several times and the urine smell would not come out. Smellier than any electronic unit I have ever purchased.

The weight-based sensor that tells the Litter Robot when the cat has entered and exited was constantly temperamental and often malfunctioned, just like an imbalanced washing machine. Extremely frustrating to have to reset the tub back to ground zero when I was home, and even more frustrating for the cat when I wasn't.

My cat took forever to adapt to the Litter Robot unlike his experiences with Littermaid or Purrforma, which he adapted to instantly. I don't think he liked the tiny entrance, the tub, and, especially, the concentrated smells inside the tub. In addition, I have a colleague at work who also had to throw out her unit because her cats never adapted to the Litter Robot even though they were fine with the Littermaid.

The litter cleaning ability was iffy. It would often not remove all the clumps (used premium litter) and just let some of them sit in the tub, thus causing even more concentrated smells.

The drawer waste receptacle did not adequately close off smells. Further, no matter what liner size is used, some litter would not go into the liner and land in the drawer instead.

The tub ofen was "off track" and I am not sure if my cat caused it with his movements, or whether it was just bad design. Come to think of it, bad design either way.

The unit has the loudest noise of any of the electronic ones I purchased. It is an annoying grinding gear kind of noise that would wake me up on the second floor with the unit being housed on the first floor.

The huge size and ugliness of the unit are not to be underestimated. There is no way to have this unit appear in a house discreetly.

I chucked the unit after 3 months and will never purchase any Litter Robot product regardless of their claims of fixing any of the above.

You must have got a defected unit because the Litter Robot is a much better product than the Littermaid in mine and many others opinion. I've had both products and the LitterMaids raking system didn't work nearly as flawlessly as the rotating, sifting and dumping feature of the Litter Robot. The Littermaids rake would routinely jam until it finally gave out.

I'm not saying the Litter Robot is the perfect solution, but I have yet to see a better idea for automatically cleaning litter from a box or in this case a globe.

KenJJ

i agree wholeheartedly...

at first i really liked it but the noise and smell have definitely worn out the LR's welcome in my house.

my boyfriend keeps begging me to get rid of it but we don't have enough room in our bathroom for a traditional litter box and i would just have a really hard time chucking something that cost me so much money.

when we move into a bigger apartment, i will definitely leave the LR behind -- maybe someone will be able to make something cool out of its parts.

fiacracka wrote:we don't have enough room in our bathroom for a traditional litter box and i would just have a really hard time chucking something that cost me so much money.

Fiacracka, you might want to try the ScoopFree when you move. It's the first one of the four brands of automatic that I have tried that is close to flawless. No smells, no clogs, no malfunctions, no hassle. I know I sound like an advertisement, but I just can't believe that after so many years of trying out all the auto boxes, someone finally go it right.

But the ScoopFree is the size of a Littermaid so it might not fit in your current bathroom. Oh, I too had a real hard time throwing away the $300+ LitterRobot, but Todd the cat actually made the decision -- he hated it so much that he urinated on a hugely expensive Afghan carpet...something in 7 years he had never done. I didn't get angry with Todd because I knew exactly what he was trying to tell me, and that was that he hated the Litter Robot. So, I just picked it up and threw it away. Todd has not had an accident since that momentous day.

The latest LR model is much much quieter. I could hardly believe it when I plugged it in. The annoying grinding noise in the old model has been completely eliminated. The new model sounds like a small hairdryer (really). I think they're using a smaller higher-RPM motor.

I don't think they've done anything to improve the odor but that might be solved with different litter.

These are the first real negative comments I've seen about the LR. I was considering one for a while, but the price always kept me away - that, and even the possibility of waste getting on the tracks just made me cringe (was about the worst thing I had seen previously).

Only thing keeping me away from ScoopFree is the frequency / price of the cartridges. I have 2 cats, so presumably I'd need to replace the cartridge every 2 weeks. I've seen some people talk about just filling them back up with crystals, but aren't the things made out of leakable cardboard?

I'm also holding out for the possibility of a Catgenie. I know they're expensive, but am really hoping it might be the end-all solution (course, I have no idea where it would fit in my bathroom, but that's a minor detail).

Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences with the LR - definitely some things to consider for people looking at buying one.

thanks for the recommendation, rayon. scoopfree looks like a good alternative -- the cartridges are expensive though!

it's gotten hotter here in the east bay and every morning i wake up to the smell of litter robot. i have washed that thing thoroughly so many times and the smell just doesn't come off. i don't know if it's a problem with the plastic or with that gross rubbery part where litter just cakes on and seems to eat the rubber away in some places.

it is so smelly and makes me want to gag. also, somehow urine has been getting all over the outside of the bag in the waste drawer lately -- totally disgusting. it is way less gross to scoop a regular box every day! i wish we had space to go back to a regular old hooded box (the non-tub part of my bathroom is literally 3' x 4' including the toilet and mini-sink).

i really wish there was a way to get my money back but i've had the LR for over a year now. i had a problem with blinking red lights and the dome not rotating and they wound up sending me a new base. their customer service is pretty good but the product is not so good. i really wish they could send me a replacement globe, too...

so much for $300.

Drgnfyre wrote:I've seen some people talk about just filling them back up with crystals, but aren't the things made out of leakable cardboard?

Leakable cardboard? Yep, that is what it is, IF it gets wet. To prevent it from getting soaked in pee, I put a piece of coroplast (corrugated plastic that signs are made from, easily attainable) cut to fit the bottom of the tray and have had no leakage. My cats dig. Not little dainty paw swipes, I'm talking major excavation. They tore up the cardboard tray within minutes then proceeded to pee. Of course, the bottom got wet and yucky. The coroplast is water proof as well as cat claw proof. They can dig till they drop now and it isn't going to affect anything.

You can get coroplast at about any sign shop, or do a search for it. People who have guinnea pigs are big users of it. They line the cages with it because it is so easy to clean.

You can keep using the same piece you cut to fit the bottom indefinately. When you empty the crystals out, leave the coroplast piece in the tray and wipe it with a paper towel if its cruddy. Then fill the tray with new crystals and you're set.

I'm with Rayon on the scoopfree. It is the best yet, and I've bought them all.

abbeytoo wrote:You can keep using the same piece you cut to fit the bottom indefinately.

Sounds like a winner plan. I'll definitely be looking into doing something like that soon. My Omega Paw is working great with crystals, but if I forget it for too long, it will get 'icky'.

Litter robot is hands down the best self cleaning litter box out there. The ONLY complaint is that it is loud. That's it. You must have gotten a bad one, because I have 3 cats and not one single problem you mentioned is evident in my house, except for the sound. People come over and never ever ever smell anything. As far as cats getting used to it, well that's on your cat's personality, don't blame a machine on that. If it were as bad as you say, they would be out of business and we wouldn't have all the great testimonials and positive reviews.

I went thru 3 Littermaids. Constant jamming and and the motors' going out after a few months finally forced me to look elsewhere, and thank God I found littermaid.

lonstar70 wrote:Litter robot is hands down the best self cleaning litter box out there. The ONLY complaint is that it is loud. That's it. You must have gotten a bad one, because I have 3 cats and not one single problem you mentioned is evident in my house, except for the sound. People come over and never ever ever smell anything. As far as cats getting used to it, well that's on your cat's personality, don't blame a machine on that. If it were as bad as you say, they would be out of business and we wouldn't have all the great testimonials and positive reviews.

Well, thanks so much for sharing your opinion Lon-who-likes-stars-and-was-born-in-1970. Glad to hear it is working out for you and your 3 cats.

abbeytoo wrote:

lonstar70 wrote:Litter robot is hands down the best self cleaning litter box out there. The ONLY complaint is that it is loud. That's it. You must have gotten a bad one, because I have 3 cats and not one single problem you mentioned is evident in my house, except for the sound. People come over and never ever ever smell anything. As far as cats getting used to it, well that's on your cat's personality, don't blame a machine on that. If it were as bad as you say, they would be out of business and we wouldn't have all the great testimonials and positive reviews.

Well, thanks so much for sharing your opinion Lon-who-likes-stars-and-was-born-in-1970. Glad to hear it is working out for you and your 3 cats.

LOL

lonstar70 wrote:If it were as bad as you say, they would be out of business and we wouldn't have all the great testimonials and positive reviews.

Well, if you look through these forums, you'll see I am not alone in making these complaints. There seem to be many users who complain about Litter Robot's odor problems. And there are even more users who complain about cat's not adapting to it. You chalk that off to individual cat personalities, but it seems quite a few cats from this forum seem to have the type of personalities that don't like the Litter Robot. I am happy that it has worked out for you, but it did not at all work out for me or my cat, and I have a colleague who also had to throw the Litter Robot out in less than a year for similar complaints. But I will admit having read through many testimonials on this website, that the Litter Robot works for some and they, like you, love it, while others, like me, think it is the absolute worst of the electronic ones. Caveat emptor.

fiacracka wrote:it's gotten hotter here in the east bay and every morning i wake up to the smell of litter robot. i have washed that thing thoroughly so many times and the smell just doesn't come off. i don't know if it's a problem with the plastic or with that gross rubbery part where litter just cakes on and seems to eat the rubber away in some places.

Some people have been spraying silicone lubricant onto the LR liner after they clean it. You can find this stuff in the car section in most stores. This worked very well for keeping the liner in the old LR clean. I don't know if it's an approved method but I can tell you that you better be someplace well-ventilated when you spray it.

I haven't used it on the liner in the new LR. It's shiny smooth vinyl and litter has a hard time sticking to it so I haven't found it necessary.

i have absolutely HAD IT with this litter box. thanks for the lubricant tip scott, but i don't want to spend any more time or money on this thing. the company was responsive to my problems (i had two previous mechanical issues), but their solution for these problems was to send me tiny plastic pieces with ink-jet printed instructions like it was frickin' ikea. the second time i couldn't gerry-rig it myself and insisted that they send me a new base unit. it works now but even the new base, which i have only had for a little over a month, is totally stinky, the globe is like, VINTAGE stink, and i just noticed urine dripping down the sides of the globe and into the base.

i can't wait to move!!! we are having a hard time right now finding a good place.

i will never buy a product from this company again, either. also, i wanted to add that i have had the litter robot for about a year and a half and i didn't really notice any problems during the first six months.

i can't imagine how disgusting this thing would be with 3 cats. lon, either you've only had your unit for a few months or maybe you just have a bad sense of smell. or maybe your cats are pristinely meticulous pee-and-poopers.