Automatic Litterbox Central

I am working out details for purchasing. Should have info for those who are interested within a week. Sorry for the delay.

I just checked, and both petco.com and petsmart.com show the cleaning liquid available as well as the machine. No sign of the granules yet, but I bet they were second priority compared to the cleaning liquid. I'll bet they show up soon as well.

PS PetSmart's price is better <grin>

mag in Richmond

I found this link to purchase the granules and the solution from petco:


http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=8295601301

Hope this helps. I just purchased a litter free off of ebay, I hope I enjoy. What do you guys think about it? Are you guys still happy with yours?

I'm a very happy owner of 2 LitterFree cat boxes. I can in no way imagine going back to using standard litter. The difference in house cleanliness between conventional litter and the LitterFree box is amazing.

There were a couple of timing/filling issues with my LitterFree boxes, but I learned how to resolve them fairly quickly.

I've found that Cascade Dishwasher detergent applied during the first wash cycle every few days keeps the litter box very clean, in spite of not having cleaning fluid. This voids the warranty if you have a newer LitterFree box, but this is probably not much of a concern anymore if the company is out of business.

Apply about the same amount of Cascade as you would for a normal dishwashing cycle when the box first fills for a cycle. I found that this method also drastically extends the life of the granuals.

[quote="toomey_sean"]>snip<I've found that Cascade Dishwasher detergent applied during the first wash cycle every few days keeps the litter box very clean, >snip<.[/quote]

There are a few posts about random chemical agents for the box.
Each of them I usually answer the same way.
Read the MSDS
If you don't want to eat it, then your cats probably don't want to either.
Despite your mention of the "first wash" , as if a thourough rinse abates any need for worry....
Please reconsider scary chemicals around the little guys.

I have used oxy-free without concern, as well as 35% H2O2 & Baking Soda.
Both clean incredibly well, with zero toxicity concerns.

Wow, I had no idea this was going on. I did have my suspicions when I couldn't log on to their website for months now. I finally decided to search for reviews on this system and found this forum. I truly feel for all of you that already have one. I'd still would like to hear more on how well it works before I invest in one. By the time I've saved up for one I hope this situation with availability will be resolved. In the meantime, I'd like to do some more homework. Any comments?

toomey_sean wrote:Apply about the same amount of Cascade as you would for a normal dishwashing cycle when the box first fills for a cycle.

*WOW*!! That's a LOT of detergent to be throwing into the box! Although the dishwasher detergent is made for use on dishes which we ultimately eat off of every day, remember that the usual dishwasher cycles are a lot longer than those of the LitterFree.

Also, the dishes don't sit at the bottom of the washer in a pool of detergent-laden water. Clean water is sprayed onto the dishes and they allow the rinse water to fall completely off of them into the bottom pan. Whereas the granules just sit in a pool of the soapy water. It would take probably about thirty or so rinse cycles to completely rinse all of that soap off of the granules. Remember that your cat walks into the box, does his/her bidness, then walks out and licks their paws clean. All of that detergent WILL end up in their tummies.

A VERY weak (diluted) solution of anything (well .. several things) will work to adequately clean the box/granules. As shfwilf has pointed out, it is not necessary to sterilize the box. One of the better suggestions I've heard here was someone using a weak solution made from Listerine and water. The only problem I see there is if the cat got a taste of the Listerine, he/she may decide not to use that box again.

Personally, I use about 8 drops of dish soap at the beginning of the first cycle. It works fine for me.

I used about a teaspoon full of Cascade at the beginning of the first cycle.. I can't tell if it works any better than regular dishwashing detergent, but at least it does not make a mass of foam! The warnings on the Cascade box are very tame - basically, don't rub it on your skin or stick it in your eyes. There is no formal poison control warning - which is good.

To make sure no residue remained in the box, I ran two full cycles back to back before letting the cats have access to the box again. I guess I will do this weekly with each of my two boxes.

The MSDS for cascade is here:

http://www.pgbrands.com/pages/cleaners/ ... rgent_.pdf

shfwilf wrote:The MSDS for cascade is here:

http://www.pgbrands.com/pages/cleaners/ ... rgent_.pdf

The only thing that bothers me there is the fact that it contains chlorine bleach. Although it is obviously a very small amount, and the public water supply contains chlorine also. I still think that liquid dish soap is a better alternative. YMMV.

I guess I am ok with it since it all gets flushed out before the cats have access to the box again..

I just adopted a 4 month old black kitty. He's so cute. After being catless for over 2 1/2 years I'm once again a happy cat owner. I'm using regular clay litter though and wish I could get litter-free. I would appreciate any posts on how well this catbox works...any problems (except for the availability)...etc... Thanx.

kittyweed wrote:I just adopted a 4 month old black kitty. He's so cute. After being catless for over 2 1/2 years I'm once again a happy cat owner. I'm using regular clay litter though and wish I could get litter-free. I would appreciate any posts on how well this catbox works...any problems (except for the availability)...etc... Thanx.

The box is GREAT.

**HOWEVER**, the biggest problem is not the LF, because it truly does work as advertised. The biggest problem is getting your cat(s) to use it! I have one cat who loves it. Another cat did use it, althoug I usually ran the cycles manually and one week I had to be out of town and I set it up for automatic. I'm afraid that he must have gotten caught in the box once when it went off and has refused to use it since (a sensor delay like the LitterMaid has is absolutely a MUST in any new versions of this box!). The third cat has refused to have anything to do with it whatsoever, but she's a scaredy-cat by nature.

As I said, the box works great, but don't assume that you'll be able to get any cat to use it. When I got mine, I dreamed of never having to deal with an old-fashioned box or litter ever again. Unfortunately, that didn't happen!

We couldn't get our cats to use the LitterFree, so we started testing the LitterRobot. There is a lengthy section dedicated to that device. Since it uses actual litter the cats didn't have problems with it.

I just like to remind people from time to time that there are other products reviewed on the forum. If you're not sure what to buy, you might look at all the options first.

Actually, let me rephrase the amount to use. I put about the same amount of Cascade in as is in *one* of the detergent cups in an average dishwasher (Most dishwashers I've used have two detergent cups).

I've been using Cascade for over a year without any problems. Actually, the cats seem to like it.

Very recently (after reading some of the earlier Cascade posts by others), I started using SA-8 Trizyme PreSoak from Quixtar. This is an old Amway branded laundry detergent additive picked up by Quixtar. We used to use it all the time for clothes in the military. I managed to get hold of some. It seems to work better than the Cascade, cleans the granuals better, rinses better, and is, theoretically, less toxic than Cascade. If you have access to a reliable Amway/Quixtar source, this might be an option for you. Be aware, though, that I haven't experiemented with this product for very long with the LitterFree box, so I don't know about long term effects. I'll let you know as things progress.

However, Cascade does not seem to cause problems, even after a year of heavy and constant use. Cascade is widely available through standard retail channels and it's relatively cheap. All of my cats have received recent detailed physicals from their vet and everything appears to be OK.

Please be advised, though, that I'm running 3 cycles a day per box and I only added Cascade to the box for 1 cycle every 3 or 4 days.

Yeah, Cascade's definitely a "hack" and probably not the preferred method for cleaning the box, but it seems pretty effective and safe, at least from my experience.


By the way, I tried dish detergent at first. The problem is that it foams too much and will cause the box to go into "error" mode if you add just the wrong amount. If you try dish detergent, be very careful with how much you add.

Good luck to everyone with your experimentation. I'm very interested in reading about your ideas, comments, and results.

Have you or anyone out there heard any rumors or updates on the literfree products coming back

Thanks