Winner of: Best High-Tech Robotic Cat Litter Box

Chicagoland Tails Litter Robot Product Review by Renee Krejci

Reprinted from Pawprintsthemagazine.com

By Stacy E. Smith

Who has an electric, automated, self-cleaning litter box (LitterMaid, etc.)? Raise your hand. Who wishes they had one, but would rather not spend a couple of hundred bucks on a litter box? Who has one and wishes they hadn’t spent a couple of hundred bucks on it? We can relate. We have one that sits unplugged and is now scooped just like a traditional, non-electric, non-self-cleaning, non-automated litter box. The rake that moved back and forth across the litter in order to sift out the clumps and leave clean litter behind seemed to always be clogged with the sticky combination of urine/feces and kitty litter causing the entire machine to jam.

I came upon Litter-Robot a while ago, by accident, on the Internet (as I do many products) and based on the differences, thought we should give it a try. What is the difference? Litter-Robot is round – sort of shaped like a globe. We call it “Kenny” because, to us, it looks like the so-named, hooded, parka-clad character on the animated series, “South Park” on Comedy Central. The cat enters the globe, does its business and leaves just like a traditional covered litter box. Litter-Robot has an electronic sensor that tells it cycle seven minutes after a cat leaves. It slowly rotates and the clean litter is sifted through a grid into a holding area below. The beauty of this system is that there is absolutely nothing on which the cat’s “clumps” may become stuck. The unit then rotates back and forth a few times dumping the clumps into the receptacle tray below, and finally the last rotation allows the clean litter back into the globe with the unit returned to its original “home” position. There are a series of three lights that let you know what the Litter-Robot is doing; the green “ready light” signals that it is ready for use again (not that your cat needs to learn those). There is a safety mechanism in place that prevents the Litter-Robot from operating when a cat is inside. The globe rotates so slowly; so slowly that I’m not sure there would be much of  a problem if the cat decided to re-enter the globe, but there is an additional safety feature in place that shuts off the motor automatically if that were to happen. It is impossible to imagine any cat that would climb into anything that is moving and making noise.

The receptacle needs to be lined, but one of the features of Litter-Robot is that there are no special liners to buy; ordinary kitchen garbage bags will do the trick.

Litter-Robot

One thing I constantly hear while rescuing cats is, “I love them, but I hate litter boxes.” Who doesn’t? Try smart engineering instead. Plenty of litter boxes have claimed automated self-cleaning, but the Litter-Robot is the only one I’ve seen that delivers. A weight sensor marks when your feline enters and leaves the device, which looks a little like the Death Star. The Litter-Robot then counts down from seven minutes and, as long as the sensor hasn’t been activated again, the globe begins to spin counterclockwise.

Gravity pushes the litter — any clumping or scoopable type — over a sifter, which separates the clean from the soiled. Waste is dispensed into a plastic bag in the bottom of the machine. Once the bag is full (about a week of single cat use) you open the drawer, pull out the bag, tie it up and throw it out.

There are two drawbacks to the Litter-Robot: its price, $329 (litter-robot.com), and its size — 29-by-22-by-24 inches — but that is a small price and a minor loss of floor space for never having to clean a litter box again.

Of all the gadgets which I have ever reviewed, I think that the Litter-Robot would definitely win the title of most offbeat, but it was well worth doing. In late January, I unboxed the Litter-Robot, set it up, and then sat back to see whether Avah would accept this “spaceship” as her litter box.

It will have been two months tomorrow, and we have both lived to tell about it, so that should immediately tell you that things went well.

But lets go back to the beginning…

As a refresher, you can watch this video of the Litter-Robot’s unboxing…

…and this video of its easy set up.

You’ll notice that the bag used in the bottom tray during setup is nothing special, just a typical kitchen bag. The Litter-Robot came with five or so of them, and when those included were gone (at the rate of about one per week), I started using plain old white tall kitchen garbage bags.

When I first set up the LR, I couldn’t put it in the same spot where her old box used to be, because I needed access to a wall socket. I also needed a larger spot to accommodate the approximately 30? tall x 24? deep robot. Furthermore, it was important that nothing be right next to the top half, because it had to be able to spin without dragging against anything. Fortunately I was able to place the Litter-Robot in our middle bathroom.

I purchased a brand new 35 pound bucket of the cheapest clumping kitty litter sold at Sam’s, which happened to be their store brand. It took a little less than a third of the bucket to fill the Litter-Robot, or approximately nine pounds. After two months of use, I still have over half of the bucket left. Every time I empty the drawer, I look to see if I need to add anymore – usually it’s still just fine.

So right there, you see that there are no special or proprietary supplies which need to be purchased to keep the Litter Robot working from the first day of purchase. Because of that, there is no fear that you might one day be unable to find special solutions or accessories based on where you live or the company’s circumstances. I’m just saying…

There are several tricks listed to help you acclimate your cat to this new system, but from the beginning, getting Avah to use the Litter-Robot was surprisingly easy. I took one piece of solid matter from her old litter box, put it in the new one, and then threw away her old box.

After her initial photo set, in which she was exploring her new space, Avah understood that the Litter-Robot was not a playpen; she never again used it for anything but how it was intended.

Here’s the important thing to remember before trying to use a Litter-Robot: your cat must weigh at least five pounds for safe use. If you have kittens or a really petite chatte, then you should stick with a regular litter box until they are larger. But if you have a cat who weighs over five pounds you’ll be good to go. Their site says “The Litter-Robot accommodates cats up to 15 lbs, but according to our customers larger cats have adapted to the Litter-Robot without problems.”

Before we watch the video of Avah demonstrating the Litter-Robot, I want to tell you about the Cat Sensor, which is built into the front step. The basic purpose of this sensor is to let the LR know that a cat has been in the drum, and that the drum needs to tumble. The minute your cat leaves the Litter-Robot, a seven minute countdown starts. As you will see in this video, cats sometimes come back to check “their business,” and the seven minute window gives them time to do this as well as time to get away. If the cat steps on the Cat Sensor again, the seven minute sensor is once again tripped, and in this manner there is no chance of the cat being inside the drum when it starts to rotate.

Okay, here is Avah, ready to give a demonstration of the Litter-Robot…

I thought about adding some cool background music to this video, but in the end I decided that it was best to leave the audio alone; I thought it important for you to be able to hear the mechanical sound made as the globe rotates in an otherwise perfectly quiet room. We have ours set up in the middle bathroom, and we have grown used to the sound it makes when tripped. Realize that this is a room with no carpet and very little furniture (other than porcelain, heh!), so yours may sound quieter if it is in a different environment. If the tumbling sounds are going to bother you, then the robot might be best placed in a laundry room or basement.

So when the Cat Sensor has been tripped and the globe’s rotating, I bet you are wondering what’s actually happening, right?

Here’s a video showing it in detail…

If you are truly worried that your cat won’t take to the Litter-Robot, you can give one a try, basically risk free for 60 days. Right now they are offering FREE shipping, so the worst case scenario is that if things don’t work out, you’ll only be short the $40 or so it will take to send the huge box back. After seeing how quickly Avah took to her Litter-Robot, my mother bought one for her older Persian; mom will not be taking advantage of the return policy.

According to their site, “The Litter-Robot waste drawer was designed to prevent mold growth, eliminating that typical cat box smell. However, we do recommend that you empty the waste drawer at least once a week – after all, there are limits.”

Well…yeah.

Worth noting before you take a good hard look at the picture coming up – I have gone as long as a week and a half without cleaning out the drawer, and not once did the Litter-Robot start to smell. To be honest, I just forgot to clean it because it didn’t.

Granted, I only have one cat; those of you with more than one will have to figure out for yourself whether you can go a few days or a little bit longer. But no matter what, I guarantee the cleanup will be preferable to scooping…period.

Anyway, here’s a look at what one cat can produce in a week; I hope you haven’t just eaten.

Scary, huh?!

What I noticed is that unlike Avah’s old box, where…how can I say this delicately? Okay, I can’t. She had this spot where she would pee, and it would just create the nastiest, smelliest, wettest mess – even with the clumping litter. I absolutely dreaded cleaning her box because of that mess. This no longer happens with the Litter-Robot. Because her waste is not allowed to sit, and it is instead immediately rotated, coated in gravel, and dumped, there are no “toxic spots” in the drum.

One other thing I should mention is that while you might think that a spinning drum would kick up unwanted litter dust (after all, scooping certainly seems to), I have not found that to be the case at all. The Litter-Robot rotates so slowly and gently that dust is not expelled.

I can’t begin to express how spoiled – yes spoiled, I have become since using this device. Cleanup is a breeze, and the little bit of litter that gets tracked off the step is nothing near what used to be tracked out of Avah’s old box. The Litter-Robot is an appliance that I can’t imagine owning a cat without having; I would like to say that the Litter-Robot was for Avah, but the truth of the matter is that it was for ME.

Any questions? Check out the FAQ or ask me in the comments section.

The Litter-Robot is available in black or beige, directly from the manufacturer and other retailers. It comes with an 18-month full warranty*.
MSRP:$329.00 (3 Payment Plan option available)
What I Like: Easy to set up; uses ordinary trash bags and clumping litter – no special supplies needed; no fear of cat being caught inside; you never touch the nasty stuff; no sifting; no nasty smells…no worries!
What Needs Improvement: The tumbling action is a bit noisy if you have to keep it in a main room of the house

* “During this warranty period [they] will repair or replace your Litter-Robot at no charge. Customers outside the lower 48 US states may incur some shipping charges.”

The Litter-Robot
Cat owners have long sought alternatives to the traditional kitty litter. It’s a daily job many wish they didn’t have to do as often.

That’s where Litter-Robot ($329) can help (www.litter-robot.com). This 1950s, space-age looking device is in an enclosed globe with a little step leading into it, and it helps keep the smell and kitty litter from being tracked all over the house.

It works by rotating the globe around after the cat has done its business, and dropping the clumped waste into a drawer that’s built into the base.

No more scooping, no more chance of a rake breaking and getting caught in the stuff — and no more daily emptying. Litter-Robot president Brad Baxter, whose company is based in Pontiac, Mich., came up with the idea almost a decade ago.

“I had inherited a couple of cats and I had difficulty with one of the cats that didn’t use it — cat litter — frequently,” he said. “I thought about making it more automated.”

He knows some people might balk at paying so much for something that really doesn’t take much to do every day. But he says, people said the same thing about washing machines when they first came out — who thought they’d be paying that much money to wash clothes?

“Once you’ve experienced efficiency of an appliance that really works, it makes a lot of sense to switch to that,” Baxter said.

Magic litter box: Litter Robot II by Automated Pet Care Products Inc. is an automatic, self-cleaning litter box with a clever sifting process that cleans after each use. Waste is deposited in a large-capacity drawer lined with a kitchen garbage bag (no special bags to buy). Cost: $329 in black or beige. Details: litter-robot.com.

PICK OF THE LITTER (CLEANERS)

LITTER-ROBOT

Price: $299
Rating: 4 stars (out of 4)

Information: litter-robot.com. This is the top of the line when it comes to mechanized litter boxes that use ordinary scooping litter. It looks like the litter box on the Death Star — a black plastic sphere with a menacing air (there’s a white version, too).

How it works: The mechanical stuff resides in the base. The sphere contains a metal grate and a rubber pouch. After the cat enters, the Litter-Robot waits eight minutes; then motors in the base begin to rotate the sphere. The litter goes through the grate and into the pouch. The waste is trapped on the grate and dumps through a hatch on the globe as it turns. A garbage bag catches the waste. Empty by pulling out a drawer on the base.

Pluses: It works. Very little mess — although I had to add a carpet to trap the litter our cat tracked out; reliable; easy to clean; relatively quiet.

Minuses: Pricey. Bulky. A hassle to add litter into the globe. Not smell-proof — you’ll be emptying it long before it’s full. Training — it took some effort to get my cat, Joe, to use it.

Bottom line: As close to litter box bliss as I’ve seen.

The Litter-Robot is a reliable, low maintenance automatic self cleaning cat litter box. It fees you from the chore of litter box scooping. Ideal for multiple cats – up to four cats per unit.

Cats like a clean litter box. The robot uses a weight-activated sensor to detect the presence of the animal. After seven minutes, a clean cycle starts with the slow rotation of the globe in a counter-clockwise direction. The Litter-Robot patented litter sifting process removes waste clumps from the litter, leaving a clean litter bed for your cats, every time.

The rotation of the globe sifts and separates clumps from the clean clumping litter and deposits all waste in a large drawer, which can be lined using any standard kitchen garbage bag. There is no rake mechanism that can get jammed or clogged or that needs frequent cleaning and maintenance. The globe then returns to its home position with a clean, level bed of litter ready for the next use.

The Litter-Robot accommodates a wide variety of litters, not just the premium clumping clay litters. Litter Crystals, Pearls, and bio-degradable litters such as World’s Best Cat Litter work well in the Litter-Robot.

The large waste drawer holds several days worth of waste. You can leave town for a short business trip without having to worry about your cat’s litter box.

The waste drawer was designed to prevent mold growth, eliminating that typical cat box smell. However, the manufacturer recommends that you empty the waste drawer at least once a week.

The Litter-Robot works with inexpensive standard 8 and 13 gallon kitchen garbage bags – those larger grocery bags work very well, too.

The spacious globe provides a large litter bed area for your cat. The Litter-Robot accommodates cats up to 15 lbs, but according to our customers larger cats have adapted to the Litter-Robot without problems. Unfortunately cats that weigh less than 5 pounds should not use it.

The Litter Robot 2 was designed for quality, and to give you reliable, trouble-free service with very little maintenance. Solid construction and industrial-grade components ensure a long life, maybe even the nine lives of your cat. The device should last the nine lives of your cat.