Automatic Litterbox Central

I just recieved it, and my cats are using the LR. I love it!! After a LitterMaid, a LitterMaid Elite, and a LitterMaid One Step* all in and out within three years, I finally decided to take the plunge.

My two cats took right to the LR with no problem--no fear; they had covered/noisy litter boxes before. We had the pee-down-the-front problem, and I think it is pretty well solved with the duct tape solution that I have seen over and over on this forum. This is only day two of the duct tape, but so far it has been working. (Or they have found a spot to use that I haven't found yet!?)

Getting to my question--does anybody have a recommendation for the best bags to use for the waste drawer? Quite honestly, the ones that the LR people included with the shipment are not doing the job at all. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Weezir

*PS--The LitterMaid One Step is advertised as "semi-automatic". This means that you had to step on a little foot pedal to make it cycle. I didn't have any problem with that, and it was much cheaper than the automatic ones. Little did I know that it was the worst piece of excrement yet!! It had no power, so I ended up scooping the clumps myself. A litter pan from the Dollar Store would have been the same thing!! Plus, it quit in about four days--no lie!! Back to WalMart it goes!!

You can use 5 or 6 gallon "medium size" garbage bags and they'll fit right into the drawer.

However the bigger 14 gallon kitchen garbage bags are often cheaper because you can get them in boxes of 60. The whole drawer goes into these like this:



This helps keep the whole drawer clean.

I also put the whole drawer in the bag -- think I use the 13 gal. size.

I use cat pan liners, jumbo or large size, can't remember which. They're cheaper than trash bags, just as sturdy, and have a drawstring close. I still have extra width and length to stuff into the rubber gromits, but with 40 or so to a package, on sale at Petsmart for $2, it's a great deal.

When buying liners (or trash bags), always look for the MIL measurement. It's listed on the front of the box along with the measurements of the bags. It measures the thickness of the plastic being used. Don't buy anything less than point nine mil (.9 Mil). I follow this rule as closely as possible with cat pan liners as well. Thickness determines how much stress (ie weight) your bag can take before breaking or puncturing. Many cheap trash bags (especially ones that claim to be puncture resistent or have "Steel" in their product description) are cheap because they skimp in this area. Always check the MIL number. Even expensive name brands will try to get away with cheating you in this area. If you've ever had a bag break or snag--you know why thickness is not something to gamble with. Some generic bags do have an equal or greater MIL rating than Hefty or Glad and cost less--it's well worth it to check. Cat litter, especially used, is heavy!

The cat pan liners I've seen were much more expensive that regular trash bags so they aren't cheaper everywhere.

As for thickness, all I ask the bag to do is hold together for the minute or two trip between the LR and the garbage can. I've bought the thinnest cheapest garbage bags I could find and they've never let me down. In fact if they did start falling to bits, I'd just carry the whole tray over to the garbage can -- the bag wouldn't have to hold up at all.

I use the 13 gallon Ruffies on the roll. Never had a problem