Automatic Litterbox Central

I've had the litter robot for almost a year now. It is truly a great product and my 2 cats adapted to it easily. The only problem is that after a cat visit the LR still gives out a noticable odor. My condo has no basement and I have to place the LR in the entrance way (which is down a flight of stairs). I tried enzyme controllers, carbon filter devices, and the best litter I could find. All were a lot of work and little result. Very frustrating. Finally I found a web site that advertized an air purifier called "BioZone". It uses UV light (there are different variations of this product.) Skeptical but desperate, I bought one (about $180) just for the entrance way and wow! All odor was gone the next day. It is noiseless and all the maintenance you have to do is change the bulb once a year. I actually have to remember to clean the LR now! Now I feel I have the perfect system for cats and the air in my home is purified as well. -Just thought I'd share this because odor was a big issue for me.

Thanks for tip on the aircleaner product.

The one large area for design improvement on the LR is odor control. The waste drawer is not sealed at all -- there is a gap around the entire globe that allows odor to come right up out of the drawer and outside of the globe. If that gap were sealed tightly the globe wouldn't be able to rotate so we are kind of stuck with it.

One thing that I did to try to control the odor a little better is keep the litter robot permanently in the box that it came in. I cut holes just large enough to slide the drawer out and allow the cat to go in the hole and otherwise the LR is contained in the box. The LR ships sideways in the box, and you move it so that the door is facing out the LR rubs on the box and if you aren't careful the rubbing will prevent the LR from moving up and down enough to trigger the cycle switch. But once you make sure it isn't too tight in the box, keeping it in the box controls the odor better also.

This also takes care of where to store the box for when I move (I'll just tape some cardboard on top of the hole I cut) and gives me storage on top of the LR also.

I've had my robot for 5-6 months now. I'm shocked to hear of odor problems as I have yet to wash mine. I have six cats all using it. The only time i ever had an odor was when some waste fell into the base or someone urrinated in the step. Make sure you check the base for waste thatmay have fallen in and use a wipe to clean urine off the step and front of waste drawer.

I too kept forgetting to clean my unit (resulting in a mess) so I bought a dry erase calendar. It's on my fridge and when i empty the waste drawer i just mark the time. I don't have any problems any more

I don't know what you mean about oder. If one of my 4 does #2, lol, it smell's for a few min's. Mine drawer needs to be emptyed every 36 hours, a few times I forgot and it was 4 days before I got to it..it smelled then too, but not as bad as a normal litter box.
Katt

I have spoke with Brad Baxter at Litter Robot about several issues....one of which is the odor associated with the Litter Robot because as noted here, there is nothing to seal the waste in the drawer from emitting odor through the spaces around the globe.

He explained to me that while they are working on fixes for this and several other things, they will not be able to do them for some time because of the expense involved with retooling. Don't expect to see changes any time soon.

I can't stand the odor, and I am presently designing and building a few different modifications for my Litter Robot.....

1) a deeper base and drawer

2) a litter catching tray outside the entrance

3) a solenoid operated closing vent to seal the deepened base from the globe. It will electrically open when the globe begins rotation and close when it stops. (This was salvaged from an HVAC zone operated system)

4) the final and most perfect change is only in the design stages, but will hopefully be done by summer.....a new base designed to sit directly on a toilet. When the globe finishes rotating an electric solenoid will flush the toilet. Obviously this is for use only with biodegradable litters, not clay. It also gets rid of the odor problem.

Strangely enough this is the cheapest fix so far, and will be perfect since I have a spare bathroom nobody uses.

..

Part of our secret is that we have a dedicated cat bathroom. (The utility closet by the back door.) When we built the house, we made sure it had a space for their bathroom. I think it is easier for us to ignor because it is in there.

Well, I've found that the odor problem at my house has gone away. Our Robot is in a highly trafficked part of the house and I don't smell it. For my two cats (12 and 20 pounds) I have to empty the drawer out once every three days. I wash the globe every other month, more because I feel like I should than because it looks or smells dirty.

For those of you who feel like there is odor coming from the drawer, I can pass along a tip. It was suggested that you can buy shredded cedar which is sold (inexpensively) as small animal bedding. A handful thrown into each clean bag will give off a natural cedar smell, and might be a solution for some. We have also heard positive stories from customers using ionic breeze type machines. Hope this helps!

There is a smell with my litter robot. I clean the globe about every month. I empty the drawer every two days more often if the odor seems especially bad. I have tried air freshener in the drawer and cleaning and wipeing the globe. Ready to try anything. I still love my litter robot, much easier than the old litter box. I have two indoor cats.
Sherry

I agree Ash, it is interesting how different all our experiences are.

I guess the only real difference among us is ... our cats! Some cats are smellier than others, and this must have an effect on litterbox odor.

My roommate and I have 4 cats total, and they all use my single Litter Robot. I empty the drawer twice a week, but it can safely go 5 days.

The only odor I notice is right after a cat poops, but I think that happens only with my smelliest cat. Other than that, I occasionally smell "wet grain" (the WBCL), but nothing offensive. The Robot is in my bedroom, on a timer.

I just hosed out the globe for the first time in the 2.5 months I've owned the Robot, but it didn't even need it. (I finished off some clay litter, and wanted to start fresh with WBCL and a clean globe.) I expect to do that every 4-6 months from now on.

BTW I am hooked on WBCL. It does a great job at odor control, and I use less litter. It clumps really well. It's especially good for the Robot because it's light-weight. The Robot has to do less work rolling and lifting the litter, and because of that the cycle is quieter because the motor doesn't strain. (FYI weightwise, 17 lbs. of WBCL fills my old Tidy Cats 27-lb. bucket.)

BTW I had a LitterMaid for years (first the smaller, then the Mega), and just got fed up with it. I was prepared to go back to regular litter in a regular box, just dumping it once a week. Then I found the Robot! I'm shipping my LM to my sister, who really wants to try it, even after I told her she won't like it. My roommate also had a LM, but hucked it onto the balcony and left it for dead after I got the Robot. Maintaining a Robot used by four cats is less work than maintaining a Maid used by two!

One last thing -- the LitterMaid traumatized me. I hated cleaning it so much, that when I got the Robot I dreaded cleaning it. My subconscious assumed it would be the same yucky job! After a few times, I figured out that cleaning the Robot was quick and easy. I used to put off emptying the LitterMaid until it was overflowing, which only made the job worse. Now I have no problem emptying the Robot as often as I know I should.

D

I have also noticed a slight odor coming from the LR right after my cat has used it.

I have been using these new garbage bags from Glad called odor control. They have a slight scent to them but once one is placed in the LR, i cannot smell it. Though it is not a bad scent, i just wouldn't want the entire room smelling like that all the time. I also put a generous amount of cedar in the drawer everytime i change the bag and that has seemed to do the trick. I rarely smell it and if i do, it is a managable few minutes.

My LR is on order while I am manually scooping my second deal LM. (Lauren please hurry!) Anyway, I found that putting a dryer fabric softener sheet in the LM container really controlled the odor and since the scent was mild and in the container, not in the litter box, the cats didn't mind it. I'll let you know if it works in the LR.

Well I don't have a LR yet but has anyone tried diet to reduse smell.
There are several types of indoor catfood brands that claim that there food will reduse the smell in the litter pan. I am useing the cat chow brand now. but I am looking into getting one of the more higher quality brands that I have seen.

Still having a problem with the odor. I clean the globe every 10 days with soap and water, clean the drawer once a week and empty the bag daily. I love the concept of the robot, but just can't get the odor thing under control. I have two indoor cats. Both females in good health. Any ideas or thoughts?
Sherry

zach20 wrote:Well I don't have a LR yet but has anyone tried diet to reduse smell.
There are several types of indoor catfood brands that claim that there food will reduse the smell in the litter pan. I am useing the cat chow brand now. but I am looking into getting one of the more higher quality brands that I have seen.

Yep, those mainstream brands actually make for stinkier excretions. I switched to the Authority brand from Petsmart - about $17 per 20 lb bag, and not so smelly. However, I think i just used the rule "if the cat food aint smelly, the digested cat food aint." You be the judge. Here's the Authority line of foods - i use the Lite Formula (for my fat cat)

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_list.jsp?ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023690&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302033690&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441776252&bmUID=1092438046189