Too good to be true?

[catnapper]

I have been having someone with litterbox issues since my son came back home from college. Allen has a history of behavioral peeing when he's mad about something. We silly hoomans take a while to figure out what's got him so irate, but I can say its got to be something with sonny boy returning home (he did the same thing when my son left for college).

Sigh.... anyway, I figured that maybe another litterbox might help. Can't hurt! :p

Today was the employee appreciation sale at work: 30% off all merchandise. Hmmmm......... the Littermaid was reduced to clear from $189, down to $150, down to $120, down to $99, and so on. I hid the last Littermaid last week when it was marked down to $64. When I went buy to buy it this morning, it was down to $40 PLUS my 30% off! WOOHOO!!!!

I have it all set up. It works perfectly. Harry watched it with eyes as large as saucers. Will they use it? Too much of a good deal? Will it be a $28 bargain that remains un-used?

Or will the "mad pee-er" be happy that there is always a box that has nothing in it except freshly scooped litter?

Who has a Littermaid? Is it as great as its made out to be? Do the cats use it? Do they fear it? Can I still scoop it every day like normal? How difficult is it to get the poop out of the plastic waste receptacle? Do you replace the waste receptacle often?

[christa]

You're in for some fuuuuuuuuuuuuun times. :D

When we got our 2nd cat, we got RID of our littermaid. Or actually, we stored it just in case we ever only had one cat again. :eek:

Here's the deal, you're right, a cat will use the CLEANEST box, thus, will always use the Littermaid. This causes the receptacle to get full FAST!!! With as many cats as you have, you'll be dumping or changing those babies multiple times a day because I'm guessing that that's the only box they'll be using! And this is just my guess, from experience.

There is one possibility . . . if you got a small Littermaid, or regardless, it doesn't really matter which size, it doesn't hold as much litter so if you've got a cat that likes room or likes to dig to China, they may decide to use one of the bigger boxes.

Oh, and by the way, the Littermaid isn't perfect . . . doesn't scoop perfectly . . . we always had to scoop out the little pieces that were left behind. If we didn't, they'd smell up the box or get tracked out. You'll find that out for yourself. :)

:D Enjoy!

Oh, by the way . . . if your motor starts to get slow, you can buy some kind of amp thing off ebay (I bought one at the end) that speeds it up. That's after you use it for a year or two though. Just a tip. :)

[christa]

Can I still scoop it every day like normal? How difficult is it to get the poop out of the plastic waste receptacle? Do you replace the waste receptacle often?

I think I answered the first question . . . You WILL have to scoop a little bit . . . the little pieces that get left behind. We always just threw the waste receptacles away completely. I think they come in a box of 15 or so. But we only had 1 cat and a kitten when we had a littermaid . . . you are going to have a lot of waste to deal with! I think even with just our two, we were throwing away & replacing the receptacle at least every day! Especially once Brodie got up to be a bigger cat!

[catnapper]

I already found out it doesn't scoop perectly. Darnnit! :p

Harry "christened" the box (I figured he'd be the one to do so) and it didn't scoop it well at all. Left a huge clump behind. So I turned it off and on and again.... watched it rake up to left-behind clump. Then I went in and scooped out the little nuggets left over still. Ok, this is how I see it working for me: making a almost pristine box,. Enough so that 3 or 4 clumps won't fill the box. Only little left behind pieces until I can get there and clear it out.

Ummmm... I'm cheap. I don't see myself tossing away those waste receptacles. I do see myself using a clean bag as a glove and picking up the clumps in order to save the waste disposal unit! LOL Then of course, I'll use the same bag for all the other litteboxes. I can't go wasting a plastic grocery store bag now! :rolleyes: (Gosh, I am cheap -- I hoard grocery bags!)

But hey, at $28 I can't complain! :D I do think it'll make a difference for the pickier cats in the hosue (Allen). I also forsee a problem with him and his potty habits. He refuses to cover. I can see one of his famous king-sized poos making a HUGE mess going into the waste receptacle because its not covered, EEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW.

For once, I WANT A kitty to use the litterbox. I want to play with my new toy! :D ;)

[Craftlady]

I would be afraid they (cat) would get scooped up in the sweeping motion of the unit if they took too long to do their business and dig a hole to china. God knows how electronic things go haywire when circut breaks or power goes off. :eek: poor things would be scared to death if it quit in mid sweep.
Give me my old fashion scoop hooded pan ;)

[christa]

LOL Craftlady! I think it takes like 5 or 10 minutes before it will clean itself, but I'm lmao!!!

We never used bags but that is a good idea. I'd say go for it!

oh, I forgot to mention another funny thing, Kim . . .

Our cats would always "go" in the back left corner, so the turds and biscuits would always pile up on the left side of the receptacle. :rolleyes: So if we didn't watch, the lid on the thing would prop itself open becuase it would get so full on that side and stink up the house! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Remember that you're dealing with cats! They're ornery!

edit: Okay, just ONE more . . . always FUN when a turd gets CAKED into the rake and you have to bend over the thing and scrape it off . . . Y-U-C-K!!!

Sorry . . . maybe I should let you learn all this for yourself but YOU ASKED! :D You know I love ya!!!

[catmandu]

I Have Never Tried One , And I Think That The Old Fashioned Box Will Have To Do For Me For A While Too.

[catnapper]

I'm not so sure about his. It smells. BAD. My whole office has a permeating smell of poopy litter. The waste disposal thing doesn't contain odors AT ALL. I'll spend more time dumping the waste container more than I did scooping all day.

And..... I just saw Allen pee in the sleeping basket -- right in front of me! :mad: So now I have to decide if its behavioral or if he's now got an infection. He's always had behavioral peeing issues. But I hate to just call it behavioral when it could be health. Sigh.

[moosmom]

Kim,

I bought a Littermaid for my Dad years ago when they first were popular (till then I was his littermaid!! :p ) It worked okay, but you couldn't put alot of litter in it or it would jam. I'm SURE since that time (has to be at least 12 years) they've improved it alot. Hey, for $28, it's worth a shot. My cats didn't like it because it made noise, so I gave it to my Dad's housekeeper.