Automatic Litterbox Central

PhuglysMom wrote:Have you gotten your unit?

No, not yet

There must be some sort of shipping delay

kozmocat wrote:No, not yet There must be some sort of shipping delay

Wow, that is a fairly major delay! What a bummer. I assume that you've contacted them?

PhuglysMom wrote:

kozmocat wrote:No, not yet There must be some sort of shipping delay

Wow, that is a fairly major delay! What a bummer. I assume that you've contacted them?

Not yet, I am going to check on it today. It was supposed to be shipped last week, so it's not that big of a delay yet.

kozmocat wrote:Not yet, I am going to check on it today. It was supposed to be shipped last week, so it's not that big of a delay yet.

Oh, then that's not too bad yet...

I look forward to hearing how it goes for you!

Hi all,

My cat doesn't like a dirty litter box and I hate cleaning it every day. I had a littermaid which was used by a previous owner for about a month before they lost their cat. Eventually it started acting up and finally just stopped working. I didn't want to pay $200 for something that might break again or $400 for something that got good reviews (litter robot). So when I saw this product on Petco's website, I was very curious. And after looking around online for reviews I saw your site. Anyway, I decided to take a risk and just get one. I've had it for about a week now.

Here is my experience so far:

-The bowl seems big enough and the shape doesn't seem to bother my cat. Right now it is mostly off (as the manual advises) except when I run it to pick up the clumps. And my cat isn't having any trouble going in it.

-I think the way it works is that the litter gets pushed into the opening for the conveyer belt thingy, which then grabs the clumps and runs them up into the waste container. You know it's working when you hear a thump. Even with running it periodically, I noticed that a mound of litter piled up near the entrance of the conveyer and trickled out the side onto the floor.

-It's quieter than the littermaid. Although you do hear the motor. It's about as loud as a table fan would be. Basically you don't hear it unless you get up close to it. So it's not bad at all.

-I haven't figured out if my cat will ever get used to the movement. I would actually have to spend a day at home to see if he will use it when it's constantly moving.

-Also, I'm not sure if it will last very long running 24/7. So even if my cat gets used to the movement, I'm not going to run it constantly. Instead, I've put it on a timer where it runs 2 hours a day around the time when my cat is going to get his next meal. I feed him all of his food once day around the same time, so it's easy to predict when he will be away from the litter box. You can get a timer from your local hardware store. I got mine from CVS. Anyway, I hope to have it running more than just once a day.

That's what I have so far. I hope that is helpful. I'll keep you posted.

badube wrote:Hi all,

My cat doesn't like a dirty litter box and I hate cleaning it every day. I had a littermaid which was used by a previous owner for about a month before they lost their cat. Eventually it started acting up and finally just stopped working. I didn't want to pay $200 for something that might break again or $400 for something that got good reviews (litter robot). So when I saw this product on Petco's website, I was very curious. And after looking around online for reviews I saw your site. Anyway, I decided to take a risk and just get one. I've had it for about a week now.

Here is my experience so far:

-The bowl seems big enough and the shape doesn't seem to bother my cat. Right now it is mostly off (as the manual advises) except when I run it to pick up the clumps. And my cat isn't having any trouble going in it.

-I think the way it works is that the litter gets pushed into the opening for the conveyer belt thingy, which then grabs the clumps and runs them up into the waste container. You know it's working when you hear a thump. Even with running it periodically, I noticed that a mound of litter piled up near the entrance of the conveyer and trickled out the side onto the floor.

-It's quieter than the littermaid. Although you do hear the motor. It's about as loud as a table fan would be. Basically you don't hear it unless you get up close to it. So it's not bad at all.

-I haven't figured out if my cat will ever get used to the movement. I would actually have to spend a day at home to see if he will use it when it's constantly moving.

-Also, I'm not sure if it will last very long running 24/7. So even if my cat gets used to the movement, I'm not going to run it constantly. Instead, I've put it on a timer where it runs 2 hours a day around the time when my cat is going to get his next meal. I feed him all of his food once day around the same time, so it's easy to predict when he will be away from the litter box. You can get a timer from your local hardware store. I got mine from CVS. Anyway, I hope to have it running more than just once a day.

That's what I have so far. I hope that is helpful. I'll keep you posted.

Hi!

How big (approx) is the usable litter area?

Is the tracking/litter piling by the machine fixable? Is the level too high, too big, etc?

That's interesting about the noise. Thanks for the detail.

I would appreciate hearing about how your cat adjusts to the machine, movement, noise, etc.

I think that the timer is an excellent idea!

Thanks for the review!

I have a 20 pound cat. I notice it has a 12 pound limit. Is that because it is small? Does it have a hood option? How much space is there really for kitty to have wee?

Kitty3

Hi!

How big (approx) is the usable litter area?

Is the tracking/litter piling by the machine fixable? Is the level too high, too big, etc?

That's interesting about the noise. Thanks for the detail.

I would appreciate hearing about how your cat adjusts to the machine, movement, noise, etc.

I think that the timer is an excellent idea!

Thanks for the review!

In the center of the entire bowl is a 2" x 2" piece. The usage area is a half circle about 18" x 10" (half the bowl) minus that piece. Here's a drawing of what it looks from the top down:




There is a rim that you fasten to the bowl. It creates an entry at the front of the usage area where the rim dips. So I slid the rim to the right to make it high where the pile was forming and blocks the litter from spilling out. So then it creates a couple of entries to the bowl. Instead of one entry in the middle there are now two on each side. The problem with this is that it creates a low edge on one side. And my cat needs high edges to his litter box or he'll "go" right over the side when he steps in. I wonder if the manufacturer would be willing to make a new rim with a higher edge at that extends to the conveyor belt entrance. For now, I might have to tape some cardboard that reaches from the existing rim and unit's motor. Haven't tried it yet though.

It seems like my cat has adjusted to the movement. I left it on for several hours this evening and found that he had gone in the bowl while it was moving, which I'm very happy about. Now I can set the timer to cleanup more than once a day.

I just picked on of the PetSafe Simply Clean Litter Boxs, and have gotten through some of the initial fuss, and the cats (2) have started to use it.

Things I have found:
1) It is hard to figure out the right amount of litter to have in the box, but I think the trick is to make sure that it ends up being level from side to side, if there is a dip at the outer edge then it needs more.

2) While the box is really quiet, the cats so far refuse to go near it when it is running. I found a cheap mechanical timer ($6 a Raleys for holiday lights) that lets me choose as many on/off cycles as I want in 15 minute increments. So I am running it for 30 minutes out of every 3 hours. Basically 8 cleaning cycles a day instead of having it always run. They will use it when it is off.

3) This is only week 1, my experience has been that you don't really know how a box will perform until at least month 2.

4) This is not the box for "instant gratification" types. There isn't the satisfying cleaning cycle where you can sit there and watch what it does, make an adjustment, and run the cycle again. This is more like watching paint dry.

5) I like that there are no sensors to malfunction, no mechanical rakes that have to move, no buttons to press, no lids that have to be lifted, etc. That it doesn't use any custom supplies, no special bag, litter, fluid, filter, etc. That it just needs power, is fairly compact and can therefor be placed just about anywhere. This it has a large waste collector.

Bill

Currently also using LitterSweep Ultra (great for light use, but breaks easily)
Formerly had Purforma and LitterMaid (both waste litter, need custom bag/box, are big)

HMMMM... I would be interested in hearing more about this box from someone who has had one of these for awhile. It looks interesting, but the conveyer and housing look like they would be a pain to clean. The site didn't go into any detail I could find on how you take it apart to clean it. Any further info. on this would be greatly appreciated!

Dawn

Week 2:

Cats are switching over to the new litterbox. I would guess it gets used about half the time and with the old and new boxes right next to each other, that isn't bad. I will probably remove the old litterbox sometime this week. I think they still don't want to use it when it is running, so I am still using an external timer. I am now running it 30 minutes every 2 hours. I tried 15 minutes every hour, but I think the number of on/off cycles was disturbing the cats.

The unit developed a squeek yesterday, seems to be something between the bowl and the base. I took the unit apart (very easy to do) and sprayed a lubricant down there (will probably have to be done periodically since there are no wheels or bearings), and all seems to be better. This unit is really very simple, which give me great hope for it working well for a long time.

So far nothing needs to be cleaned, nothing has stuck to the bowl, and nothing has stuck to the conveyor, and I have been using plastic grocery bags in the bucket, so I can't say how hard it is to clean. The bowl and housing would be easy to clean since they are both just plastic and are easy to remove from the rest. The Conveyor can also be removed, but you would have to be careful with it because a motor is directly part of it. The base could then be easily wiped down if some care was taken around the motor and electronics.

The litter is still clean, so I don't think any of the clumps have gotten broken up by the mechanism, which was something I was concerned about.

I haven't had any problem with the level of litter in it, it seem to be fairly flexible on how much you put in, it does need to be deeper than I am used to, but I can adjust, and I think it will prevent clumps from ever being stuck to the bottom, which is one of the big problems I have had with all the other boxes I have used.

So far it is a no fuss litter box, which is just what I was hoping for. Might have been nice to have a builtin timer, but I can live with a $6 external one.

Bill

Thanks for the update. Please keep them coming. I am really interested in how the conveyer belt holds up over time. It looks like it would be hard to clean and I am very picky about all parts remaining clean so that my house doesn't start to have that ever present cat poo smell. It is the long haul cleaning I am wondering about. After months of moving the poo and pee clumps up the belt, I am wondering how clean it will still be.

Thanks,
Dawn

So one thing that I feel I should point out, it the "Conveyor" isn't a belt. It works just like the fabric feed on a sewing machine does. It is sort of difficult to explain, but it is two sets of plastic rails, one that is fixed in place, and one that moves up/down and top to bottom, such that it will lift the clump, move it towards the top, set it back down on the fixed rails, and then do it again. I don't think it will wear out, and if it needs to be cleaned, it is hard plastic just like the bowl is. When I took the box apart to fix the squeek, I thought I was going to have to clean it, but everything just fell off into the bucket naturally when I tilted the conveyor up.

I also haven't had any smell issues so far, and I'm sure my wife would be letting me know if there was a problem, she always has in the past.

I understand wanting to know how it does over time. That's really what I want to know as well. My hope is to find a box that "just works" and keeps on "just working". I have a 3 legged cat, so accessability is also very important.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes,
Bill

Week 3:
Nothing interesting happend this week, which is just fine with me.

Removed the old litter box the first day of this week, and the cats switched over to the Simply Clean box without any problems.

I only emptied the waste bucket, and added some litter twice this week. It should be noted that this week has been a heavy use week because it has been raining here, and they don't like going outside when it is wet.

I did *nothing* else with the unit this week, it just worked.

The litter is staying cleaner than it ever has with any of the automatic boxes I've used in the past (all of them used metal or plastic rakes) Nothing looks like it needs to be cleaned yet.

Did I mention that it is so nice having a quiet litter box.

Thanks for keeping up with those updates. I am going to have to find one of these in a store so I can give it a closer look.

Dawn