Learn from my mistake
I waited a year to purchase the Litter Robot. Learn from my mistake and invest in one now! I have two cats who frequent the litter box often. One of them always leaves exceptionally smelly surprises. I usually have to scoop the litter box twice a day but sometimes I’m lazy and sometimes I have to leave for 2-3 days on business. When this happens, I would return to a filthy box that I dreaded scooping and I’m sure my kitties hated using.
The LR-II makes up for my scooping inefficiencies. Yes, its expensive but well worth the convenience of having it do the scooping for you. I think the LR-II does a better job at cleaning the litter than I did – small chunks would flake apart when I scooped the litter box so the litter would get dirty very quickly. However, the LR is very gentle and doesn’t seem to break apart the clumps as much which means fresher litter longer. I’m not going through my bag of World’s Best litter as quickly either!
I have to admit I was afraid my cats wouldn’t use the LR-II because one is 11 years old and accustomed to the litter box and the other is scared of motorized noises (vacuum, hair dryer, electric razors, etc). Also, my cats are very large (14 lbs tabby and 19 lbs Maine Coon) so I bought the LR-II Bubble. They fit fine inside the globe and I think the “sky-light” makes it less scary because the interior of the globe is black. After training them to use the LR-II and getting them used to the noise, the LR-II is now the litter box of choice.
Here’s what I did: I was very excited to receive the LR-II and even more excited to have my kitties use it. Of course, they could have cared less – just sniffed it and walked away. So, against the instructions, i tried to (gently, very gently!!) shove them into the LR-II which didn’t work. Then I attempted to bribe them by lining the lip and interior globe with treats. They just stuck their head in, grabbed the treats and left. Defeated, I decided to let them go in on their own time while I stopped cleaning my original litter box.
The next morning I found pee and poop in the LR-II! Success! Well, semi-success since they were still using their original litter box. By day 3, I decided to remove the litter box altogether because I couldn’t stand the stench anymore. I waited, and waited, and started to panic because the LR-II hadn’t been used in the 24 hours since the other box was removed. I ran around the house looking for pee and poop. Nothing. Just as I was about to put the original box back, my older cat decided to finally use the LR-II. PHEW! I praised him and gave him a treat when he finished his duty. After seeing this, the younger cat (who is very motivated by treats) decided to follow suit. Another praise and treat. Training completed!!
As for the noise, I was scared my younger cat wouldn’t use the LR-II because it was motorized so I “trained” him to become accustomed to the sound. For the first 2 days I decided to run the cycles manually and turned the faucet on to lessen the noise while I ran it. Then, the next few times I would turn it on and immediately go and pet him outside the room while he heard the cycle going. The next step was to run it while he was in the room but I used a paper bag to block his view. After a while, he became accustomed to it and actually went over to watch it cycle. Thank GOODNESS because now I can let it run automatically!
If I sound super excited about the LR-II its because I truly am. Its a great product and well worth the investment.
Erica
Los Angeles, CA
