Automatic Litterbox Central

Hi!

I have two cats, both about 15 pounders, but they're up there in age (14, 16). The older one is becoming arthritic (can still make it up and down stairs but has trouble getting on and off the couch) and because of this I had to sell my Litter Robot (which has been the best solution to date) She could no longer step up into it, and was afraid of turning around in it. She is also super-picky about having a clean litterbox, and frankly I'm getting tired of scooping 3 times a day.

Does anyone have any advice for me as to how difficult it might be for the arthritic cat to get into the box? And once there, will she have trouble manuvering?

I have also owned 3 different littermaids...the first two died natural deaths, they weren't great performers but they basically did the job with a bit of help. The last one I tried to use after the litter robot and I have to say that the latest incarnation of littermaid was terrible and never worked at all. I've crossed the CatGenie off my list because of the chemicals and such, I just couldn't deal with that. I also tried the LitterSweep...it worked quite well in the beginning, but died in under 3 months due to poor design (litter and poop repeatedly clumped in the wrong areas and the motor didn't work too well). Currently my cats are using a Booda Box, the kind wiht a ramp, but without the top. My arthritic cat wouldn't use it with the top on. They were previously using a regular old-fashioned litterbox, but it wasn't deep enough and the boy cat would kick poo and litter and splatter pee on the wall.

If anyone can advise on whether this product would work for my cats I would greatly appreciate it. I feel like I've been spending a fortune lately on failed products (littermaid and littersweep) and can't really afford to shell out any more :-/

Thanks!

Cecilia

Any chance your cats will use crystal litter? If so, you might try the ScoopFree. It had a 90-day money back guarantee and if you can buy it locally, if it doesn't work out you may be able to return it to the store rather than paying for shipping.

Actually, my cats are picky. They like clay litter. I tried corn litter once and the boy cat ate it (ick!). The girl cat won't use the wheat stuff and neither will use the crystals. I'm stuck. The litter robot was the best until she got arthritis

Well, that's too bad. Good luck finding a solution.

Thanks. It is too bad. The crystals sounded so much better than the clay (which makes a mess). But I think my kids are just too old to adapt to anything new. They're really great kits (the younger was potty trained in the toilet years ago...only to lose it because there was always a litterbox there), but old fuddy-duddies.

If anyone else has advice on dealing with arthritis, please let me know, I appreciate every bit of help!

The sides on the simply clean box is about as high as a manual litter box. I have a cat with three legs (missing a back leg) that uses the box without a problem.

The box is pretty much like a manual box, the one thing that took my cats a little while to get used to using the box while it is on (since the pan moves very slowly whenever it is on) I helped this problem by putting the box on an appliance/lamp timer, so it would only run a bit a couple of times a day.

I have found that the box does work better with some litters than others. I am currently using Scoop-Away unscented.

Hope this helps
Bill

Check out the Smart Scoop too, it seems like the best of the box-type auto boxes. I have only had mine set up 1 day but so far so good