Some of the decision is up to you. PART of the decision is up to the cat(s), as you already discovered!

The automatic ones, I have not used. With 7 cats, one wouldn't make a great deal of difference for me, and I can't afford 7. But I was surprised to learn that you have to keep buying things for it, not a one time purchase. And I am sure the "noise" would scare Chestnut, ha ha.

Litter. One of the things always discussed in Cat Fancy magazine is, if you have a litter that your cat likes and uses regularly, DON'T CHANGE. But you already learned this. Smell, feel, the cat is in direct contact with the litter.

I use a scoop to clean all 7 boxes, once per day in the evening. I tend to be a clutz, and the sifting type box doesn't appeal to me, I just KNOW I will have it all on the floor. And when will I have it on the floor? The night I am overtired, or sick with a cold and spending most of my day in bed, in other words, when I absolutely can't deal with it all over the floor!

As for in front of the litter box, I have tried small area rugs (those small sample sizes), newspaper, and now I have the plastic grid mats. I like the mat, because each evening when I scoop, I pick up the mat and dump it all back into the box. Except on those nights when I am a clutz and the edge of the mat hits the front of the box and it all spills on the floor. I keep a small dustbuster hand held vacuum ready for the clean ups in front of and around the litter boxes. That way I don't have to go get the big vacuum (I would feel I have to do more then just around the box!) or the broom and dust pan.

As I have 7 set ups, I have found that I can get good buys at the local church bazaar / flea markets, the SPCA Spring sale (folks donate). I have bought carriers, litter boxes, mats, etc this way.

Waht ever you decide, make sure you consider the cat's opinion!