# Litter Robot / Litter Maid / Litter Kwitter



## luce-loo (Jun 1, 2010)

Hi, am interested to hear in people's experiences with the litter robot / litter maid and / or litter kwitter .... am getting my 2 kittens in 4 weeks time and just reviewing my options....advice and input very gratefully received.

Many thanks 
Lucy


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

From what I've read in reviews and from members here, it's easier and cheaper to simply scoop it yourself. 

What kind of kittens are you getting? How exciting!


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## luce-loo (Jun 1, 2010)

Having checked the bank balance I think scopping it will be! .. They are run of the mill moggies (crossed with a Raggie) so am expecting them to grow into big balls of fluff! ... I am so excited, but really apprehensive too. I have never had cats before and want to be really confident with them, but still not too sure how. I have read every book I can lay my hands on but its still not quite the same as the 'real' thing is it! 

This is Oscar (the big ball of fluff) and Mollie ....


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

They're adorable!

The two books I'd recommend are both by Pam Johnson-Bennett


*Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat--Not a Sour Puss* 

and

*Cat Vs. Cat: Keeping Peace When You Have More Than One Cat*

I have both of them and they're great. Just wish I'd bought them a couple years ago.....


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## Ramey (Jul 11, 2010)

Aww - they are sooo cute! you should post more pics in the Meet My Kitty forum when you get them home!


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## Kattt (Dec 20, 2008)

Sorry, this will be a long winded post, because after the past 3 months I've had, I feel very strongly about not using automated boxes, and hope to get this message across to other cat owners, so you can avoid the vet expenses and stress/worry me and my kitties have had to endure.

I used the Litter Robot for years and something very similiar to the Littermaid called Scoopfree for quite some years as well, and I would not recommend either, or any automated box or training toilet for that matter.

The Litter Robots globe gets extremely messy and its hard to clean (I had to take mine outside at least once a week and use a power washer hose on it). It smelled, always. Even though the waste goes into a sealed drawer, I still ALWAYS smelled it when I walked into my utility room.. so I had to empty the bag in the drawer multiple times a week. Which defeated the whole purpose of an automated box.

Scoopfree/Littermaids - My cats hated the crystal litter in the Scoopfree. And the waste gets stuck on the rake, and the clumps break apart as it rakes the waste to the drawer, which makes for messy litter. I trashed both expensive automated boxes a few months ago due to kitty health reasons, and now use a regular boxes that I scoop multiple times daily.

And from personal experience, I strongly suggest that no one use an automated box, and scoop daily to monitor for health issues - changes in stool/urine amounts. With automated boxes its easy to not notice whats going on with their litterbox habits because you tend to forget the box is there aside from when its time to empty the drawer, at which point you have no idea which day they did what (Like your cat may not have pee'd or poo'd for 48 hours, but you'd have no idea - because there's clumps from previous days). Where as scooping, you have to scoop multiple times a day which forces you to monitor what they're doing in the litterbox daily.

And 2 perfect examples - back in June my female cat was diagnosed with chronic constipation. She obviously had constipation longer than I had realized, but because I was using an automated box, I didn't catch it early and it turned into a chronic issue. At that point, I tossed both automated boxes, and bought a traditional scooping box. Which saved my male cats life. Not even 2 weeks later, because I was scooping - I noticed my male cat was not producing any urine, aside from a very tiny droplet.. in which I rushed him immediately to the vets, where he was diagnosed with bladder stones that had to be surgically removed ASAP because he was almost fully blocked. He was not crying or showing any visible signs that anything was wrong at all. So again, had I still been using the automated boxes - I would have never known, and he would have become fully blocked which in turn could have killed him within a matter of hours/days.

So I hope those that read my story, learn the extreme importance of scooping daily to keep their kitties healthy. And believe me when I say, scooping is SO much easier. I spent so much time cleaning those automated boxes each week.

Per the suggestion of someone here on this forum (hoofmaiden), I have 2 of the Biddy Boxes, and I love em - and so do my cats! View here: Cat litter box by Biddy Cat Co.

Good luck with your new kitties!


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## katlover13 (Apr 15, 2008)

One of my litter boxes is a Litter Robot and I hate it. It is terrible to clean and my largest cat (17pounds) does not fit in it well so half of him hangs out while he is doing his business. Usually it's the front half hanging out, but not always. Right now it is in a remote area of the basement so it doesn't get used often. We only keep it there because one of my cats will do litterbox stalking sometimes and it provides an alternative place to go.


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## Kattt (Dec 20, 2008)

Katlover - My cat is 20lbs, and had the same issue. He had the front half of his body hanging out when he used it. I did have alternative boxes for him to use (Scoopfrees), but he still always chose the Litter Robot. So I assumed he must have liked it, and wouldn't want a traditional box. But wrong! The minute I put a traditional box down, he immediately started using that one over both the LR & Scoopfree, and he's much happier and pee's LOTS throughout the day now. 

And now I'm wondering if the Litter Robot may have contributed to his stones issues. He was possibly holding his pee for longer periods of time, not wanting to use it. And holding urine in his bladder can cause the crystals to form into stones. I don't know really, but just a thought. I'm glad I got rid of now anyways, whatever the case may have been.


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