Automatic Litterbox Central

My new LR2 is on the FedEx truck now for delivery to me.
I'm soooooo excited and ready to be free of the ScoopFree (ScoopLess).

Will report back later!

goodluck

Hi AEA -- I ditto that "good luck".

I got my LR on Monday -- I want to share my experience with you in case any of this helps the transistion to the LR. I have two cats. I had a week off from work so the timing was perfect to do all this!

One kitty had some difficulty adapting but five days later is using the LR okay and seems comfortable. I did some encouraging and made a slight modification to the LR door which allows the cats to step up, over, and into the box, not stop at the doorway to start digging, or stop right inside to poop out the door.
I experimented with different litters. Found one (Odor Lockers, very similar to Purina Tidy Cats Scoop for Multiple Cats, "Tidy Lock" Immediate Odor Control mentioned a few days ago by another forum member. I got them both. The litters look the same. Am using the Odor Lockers right now.)

So my initial four days were experimental, training and encouraging, finding a litter that worked well, and modifying the LR door. During this period, I had some doubts (haven't returned the ScoopFree, yet).

HOWEVER, all that being said, as of last night the cats were using the LR on their own with no accidents or encouragement. With my door modification tracking is MINIMAL, and except for the initial odor of the kitty "deposits", the house seems ODOR FREE with the new litter. Amazing!

I "practiced" cleaning the LR between a full litter change. Cleaning is MUCH more challenging than with the SF and my brief experience with it supports other members of the forum who have reported their trials and tribulations with the globe including nicks to the fingers and forearms from the plastic. My plan is a quick wipe out once a week (no injuries with that!) and a more thorough cleaning every two months or so wearing rubber gloves (which is probably wiser to do when cleaning a litter box!).

I hope your cat(s) adapt quickly with no issues and you are set SCOOPFREE!

Best wishes!

spaceshare,

Thanks for that information. I would really like to see pictures and a detailed "how to" on what you did to the door.

I only have one. One Bengal is enough for anyone! **just kidding**

Nicki was curious and watched me set up the machine and fill with litter. I put her in once but she did not seem to like it (kinda like trying to put her in the carrier for a trip to the vet).

She went inside 1/2 way on her own to get her favorite little toy that I threw in there a few times, but came back out immediately each time.

She had a Littermaid without hood before the scoopfree and and a Purrforma with hood before that. A regular plastic one with a hood was her first one when I got her at 8 Months old. She is 1.5 years now.

I don't think it is a problem with it being enclosed or that it is an automatic one. She is familiar with both . I think it's just that it is much smaller in there (at least she perceives that it is) than she has been used to.

I have left it unplugged, although she stood by and watched a cleaning cycle with no problems.

She has not caused any fuss, but after a couple of hours and no use, I put the scoopfree back in there with the LR and just left both unplugged. She almost immediately went to the scoopfree and sniffed around and did her #1. Best to leave that in there for awhile rather than her using some place else.

I am just going to let the scoopfree get filthy and maybe that will encourage her to go to the LR. I sure hope so! I too am off work for the next 10 days so hopefully I can get this transition accomplished by then.

I received mine today. Setup was a snap. I also brought home the 1yr old rescue cat today as well. Cat has not even ventured out from behind the couch to inspect the LR2. Hopefully when we all go to bed he will go out and explore.
When I first let her out of the carrier...she first tried to go up and out the chimney, next she (somehow) got behind the kitchen cabinets and I had to do some major disassembly to extracty her. Its almost like having a kid on the house....Hopefully she becomes less skittish..

She will come around. Hopefully she won't do too much eliminating under your bed before she finds the litter box!

When I first got my Bengal at 8 Months old, she went under the bed for 3-4 days! When she went in the first time, I tore the whole bed up and moved it to get her out.

Then I showed her where her food and water was and where the litter box was. Then she went back under the bed and I never thought anymore about it as I could see the food was going and the litter box was being used.

After a few days she came out and began looking all around the house. Next she was up on the top of the cabinets in the kitchen! Then someone came to visit and as soon as they came in the house, bam....she was back under the bed! She did not come back out until a day after the visit.

Now she follows me like a dog around the house and when people come to visit she hides for awhile then comes out to see who's there!

Anyway back to the LR2........

I have been playing with her at the LR2 with toys and treats and laser pointer and everything.....
She goes in halfway and even went in all the way once, but does nothing. I decided to go cold turkey with her and try the "Litter Box Boot Camp" routine. I packed up the scoopfree (scoopless) again and left her and the LR2 together in the bathroom with the door closed. I will leave her in there all night and see what's up in the morning.

She is not crying, she is really a good cat. I think I will be pleasantly surprised in the morning........I hope so anyway.

Good luck (again!), AEA. Your kitty sounds like a sweet Bengal and reminds me of Zen when I first got her. She hid next to the pillows under a comforter in a bed for about three days and she lOVES high places... She's the kitty who is doing well with the LR. Nuba still is having some trouble -- used my bed, tonight to poop on. I was not thrilled... I don't know... he was doing so well... Used the LR and then used the bed and then tried to use a plant after using the LR successfully all day long! Ahhhh! Obviously he is a bit confused and unfortunately I can't let him roam out of the laundry room, now. I hate locking him up (litter box bootcamp) because he is such a little sweetheart but in the past when I have been diligent with this for a few days, its worked with both cats to teach them to use the litter box consistently.

I would really like to see pictures and a detailed "how to" on what you did to the door.

I wouldn't modify anything on the LR unless its necessary but here's what I did, taking advantage of some of the ideas others have presented on the forum. I don't have a digital camera or I would send a picture.

The litter I bought consists of little gray balls... they roll and are awful for tracking... but good for odor control and clumping. I watched Zen remove a bunch of these from the LR as she stood in the entry of the LR and dug a hole BEFORE she climbed in the box -- so the litter is going out the door!! To keep the litter in, I added a lip about 1.75 inches high to the entryway of the LR using a 3x5 notecard and electrical tape. The card is taped to the outside bottom of the LR opening. The bottom edge of the notecard is folded under and taped under the black rubber lining that lines the bottom half of the LR door. The tape on the front of the card is extended all the way across the card/doorway and fastened to the front of the LR. Any exposed sticky sides of the tape are covered with another piece of tape (i.e., the note card is either sandwiched between the tape or the sticky sides of the tape are stuck together) to prevent litter from sticking to it. Then I created a small extension of the lip angled up the left side (on your left at you face the LR door) of the door with a piece of paper (about a 4x4 inch square, diagonal ends folded together to create a triangle). The long side of the triangle is taped over the edge of doorway to extend the lip upward so that when the LR cycles counter clockwise any litter on the shelf rolls down the extension and back into the LR. Of course the other end of the triangle is secured to the front of the LR with the electrical tape. I experimented with the placement of the extension by putting about a tablespoon of litter on the "shelf" and cycling the LR until I had the extension at the right height and angle to roll the litter on the lip back into the Robot. Hope that explanation makes some sense to you. The modification also changes the way the cats enter the box thus they climb all the way in. Zen actually faced out the door, today.

Now, how well this is going to work in the long run, I don't know. It's an experimental modification. I keep thinking things are going well and we (the cats and I) are making progress with the LR... and then, Nuba poops on the bed and Zen decides to dig holes before she gets in the box!
I guess we are ALL experimenting right now... (And Nuba can continue HIS experiments in the laundry room for the next few days!)

Oh well, tomorrow is another day. (And I love the Bengals -- I actually got Nuba for Zen. They are great friends but together they create havoc in the house!)

spaceshare,

Thanks again for the info and the description of your modification. Returning the litter from the lip back into the globe sounds cool. Too bad the manufacturers didn't think of that.

Well, after spending all night in Boot Camp, I got up this morning to find that she had not done anything that I could see. Using crystals so pee clumps are not possible only the poop. There was none. I did hear the unit cycle at least once last night. So either she pee'ed in there or she just stepped on the step.

Later on this morning, she was fooling around in the laundry room. A room she rarely goes into and it has a door that leads outside. I chased her out of there a couple of times trying to figure out what was going on. Then I saw it. Yep a big glob of sticky poop on the mat that is by the door.

This is not good news for me! I just had new carpet installed in this house and it cost me over 4000.00 and I cannot have it ruined. I immediately caught her and took her back to Boot Camp (Master Bathroom). She is going to stay there till I see some poop in the LR.

What a mess I had to clean up. I got rid of the poop and have the mat in the washing machine. Had to even clean some collateral damage off the bottom of the door!

Yep.....it's Litter Box Boot Camp for her till she either goes in the LR (I will give her 7 days) or I give up and go back to the ScoopLess.

I put her old regular plastic box (with hood) in there for her to use if necessary and until it gets too poopy for her to go in.

I hate to say it but I'm not sure if the litter box boot camp is going to work. As least in my situation, my cat knew he was supposed to use the LR and he would use it most of the time. Sometimes he didn't, though, and it was enough times to completely ruin the wall to wall carpet in one of my bedrooms (horrible urine smell). I didn't even ever catch him in the act until the smell finally kicked in. He definitely knew the LR should be where he goes, he just didn't like it. I think he just hated the semi-small interior of the box and that was never going to change.

Seb,

I sure hope you are wrong in my case!

Anyway, I am leaving the Country for two Months a week from Thursday. I will give her all next week (until Friday) and if no success by then I will call for a RMA number and return the LR2 to the Manufacturer the following Monday before I leave.

If it comes down to this, I may go back to the ScoopLess with a modification. I may try to modify the ScoopLess by removing the cardboard trap cover at the end of the tray and then it would be much easier to scoop the poop out.

Too bad the manufacturers didn't think of that.

Yes, I thought the same thing... building a lip on the LR wouldn't be THAT complicated!

I'm not sure if the litter box boot camp is going to work

Hi Seb -- The cat maybe spraying (marking territory) and I don't have any suggestions for changing that. If this is an elimination problem, I just wanted to let you know, Seb, that both my cats stopped using their standard litter boxes (just the old scoop box) at some point to use other places in the house. They knew the litter box was there for their use and had used it consistently in the past. Why the change, I don't know... I did thoroughly clean everything I found that they used instead with one of those solutions designed to take out waste odor. Five to seven days of being confined helped to solve the "accident" problem because they got into the habit of using the box consistently, again. It was a small price for the cats and me. I love to see animals free and happy and my cats generally are both so locking them up is not fun for me.

The SF was a lot easier for one of my cats to accept than the LR. I find its being inside the box that bothers the younger one not the size of the litter pan area which seems about the same to me as the SF just a different shape.

You might try cat attract (or some catnip sprinkled on the litter??) to attract the cat.

Good luck, Seb! I hope it works out and if it doesn't the SF is a good solution just expensive. The Petsafe would be a less expensive option in terms of litter costs. And the Genie is working very well for some of the forum members. Of the good boxes out there, the LR is the best match for what I want a litter box to do for me (yes, not the cats) so I am motivated to keep working at it!

spaceshare wrote:Hi AEA -- I ditto that "good luck".

I "practiced" cleaning the LR between a full litter change. Cleaning is MUCH more challenging than with the SF and my brief experience with it supports other members of the forum who have reported their trials and tribulations with the globe including nicks to the fingers and forearms from the plastic. My plan is a quick wipe out once a week (no injuries with that!) and a more thorough cleaning every two months or so wearing rubber gloves (which is probably wiser to do when cleaning a litter box!).

buy a toilet brush and use it in the globe. Makes it a tad easier. If for some reason your cat stops using the LR, stick your head in the globe and breathe. Stink? no wonder kitty doesn't want to go in there.

Spaceshare,

It was definitely an elimination problem. I agree with you, it wasn't the size of the litter pan, just the fact it was a confined area (although he had a covered litter box before that he was fine with).

I had the LR for over a year and a half. Thanks for your suggestions...I actually already switched to the CatGenie and I haven't had any problems with that. Luckily my cat seems to like the CG because it is my favorite too due to the lack of upkeep required!

Good luck with your cats - hopefully they will adjust to the LR so you can keep it!

Thanks, Abbey! The globe even holds in the odor of the scented litters -- one of the reasons I switched litters.