To my dismay we are getting an indoor cat for my daughters. Does anyone recommend a self-cleaning litter box such as the Litter Robot 4 or Petkit Puramax/Purobot?

I have one. It worked, sort of. Cat used it OK to start. For whatever reason we went back to regular litter box and the auto one is in the garage.

Easiest we have found is put the box inside two large trash bags. When needs cleaning just invert the outer bag and throw it away.

Reason for two bags is occasionally cat can scratch thru the first bag, second one catches it.

No way I'd get one of these if my kids wanted the pet and I didn't. Teach them responsibility and make them feed it and clean the box.

Don't you still have to empty/clean these overpriced auto ones too?

My wife had one for her cat in her late teens.. the pee ball would just jam it up and it never worked. Waste of money.

IslandAg76 said:

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I have one. It worked, sort of. Cat used it OK to start. For whatever reason we went back to regular litter box and the auto one is in the garage.

Easiest we have found is put the box inside two large trash bags. When needs cleaning just invert the outer bag and throw it away.

Reason for two bags is occasionally cat can scratch thru the first bag, second one catches it.

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You can also buy litter box liners, which are basically really short drawstring trash bags.

We have three cats and use the breeze litter box system. It's actually pretty interesting as the pellets act as a desiccant drying out the cat poop quickly so it doesn't smell. The pellets in turn don't absorb pee so it drains down into the pad below. The poop also tends to stay near the surface of the litter which is handy when deciding if it needs to be scooped. In the 8ish years we have used them this is what I have found:

• Less smell compared to traditional litter boxes
• Doesn't produce the fine dust and gravel
• Significantly smaller than a litter robot
• The pellets last so much longer. We refill the pellets about every 1.5-2 months
• You can get multi cat and scented pellets/pads
• The downside is that you have to use their litter and pads.
• A starter kit for box, pads, scoop, and pellets is about $60
• Pellet refills are $15 and a pack of 8 pads is also $15
• I would guess it's around $15-$20 a month for a cost for a single box (1 box per cat)
• They have an open, hooded, and large format box (the prices above are for the standard sized boxes)

We change the pad about once a week and scoop every 2-3 days. That's partly because we have three boxes for three cats. Even with one cat it's unlikely to need attending to every day. My cat once had some really bad diarrhea and it actually handled it like a champ. It ended up clumping like traditional litter and was very easy to scoop out. No litter system is 100% smell proof but unless you don't change the pads, we really don't notice it.
https://www.purina.com/tidy-cats/breeze-cat-litter-boxes



Previously we used the Roll and Clean which was super easy to use. You basically roll it on it's side and all of the clumps get caught on a grate while the fresh/clean litter passes through. When you roll it back upright, the clumps fall into a tray which you slide out and dump

• The upside is that you can use any kind of clumping litter so that can cut down on costs.
• Cats can still track that litter out of the box so it's best to use a litter trapping mat in front of it.
• If you don't keep the area around it clean, when you roll the box over it can crush any litter pieces on the ground turning them into dust.
• Smell is definitely more noticeable compared to the breeze system but less than a traditional cat box

https://www.omegapaw.com/products/roll-clean-litter-box.html


If it were me I would choose one of those two systems before a litter robot. They are nice but very pricey and I have heard similar stories about cats being afraid of them. Even just the noise of it turning would freak out one of my cats. They also take up a lot of space.

I'm in the same boat as Ryan in that I think this is a good opportunity to teach personal responsibility and chores for kids. I always wanted a dog as a kid but didn't get one until I was older (parents got me a hamster instead and damn that thing stunk up my room). Having owned a small pom, looking back a dog would have been a lot more work. Cats in general are pretty self sufficient. We travel a lot for work and all we have to do is pay a neighborhood kid to come by once a day, feed them, and change the pads/scoop as needed. In the past our dog either went with us or had to get boarded. Cats kinda take care of themselves, don't need to be walked, and are generally not going to tear up a house while you are away. Plus on the off chance you get saddled with the care of this animal, less work for you.

Either way I think Texags rule dictate that you post a picture of the cat so we can see it. I think that is the minimum fee for advice in this situation.

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One of our boxes is this. I personally find it easier to just scoop it than roll the damn thing around. Smaller "bits" go through the grate that will not go through the scoop, and sometime urine clumps stick to the bottom of the box and don't come loose.

I have one cat at home (the second one went off to college). After years of dealing with the dust from clumping litter (it literally gets everywhere), I got sick of it and switched to pellets made from recycled paper.

With one cat, I fill a lined litter box with the pellets and change it once a week. Sometimes, if she has an especially stinky poop, I will scoop the poop out. Similar to the breeze system, the pellets don't "coat" the poop. They kind of absorb the urine, but not especially well.

With the liners, I just take out the used bag like I take out the trash (the liners have a drawstring) and then replace.

When both cats were at home, I had to change 2x per week.

The litter and litter liners can be purchased from PetSmart/Petco (store brand), and I'm on an auto delivery plan. Very convenient.

The pellets make a lot less mess. The cats can't really fling them around like they can the fine clay. Sometimes pellets do escape the box, but I can use a hand vac to clean them up. I cannot stress how much better this is than the clay, ESPECIALLY if you have hardwood floors. The clay litter acts almost acts like sandpaper and will put fine scratches in your floors. Not to mention, the dust will fill every tiny nook and cranny. It's gross.

I keep the box in the laundry room so the odor doesn't get all through the house. No one has ever commented that they smell it.

Occasionally the bag will get punctured, but it's not a big deal. I just toss it in the garbage can and then wipe out the box.

Ctxaggie: To my dismay...

That made me LOL!

I'm allergic to cats and much to my dismay we have a cat. The cat is easy, but the litter box situation sucks balls. Last week my wife moved the litter box and I guess the cat couldn't find it so he shat where the box used to be in the laundry room.

I set the Roomba to clean when I left for work. I came back in to grab something and it had already ran over the cat shat. Luckily, I caught it early and there was minimal cleanup, but the Roomba is ruined.

I'm allergic to dogs and much to my dismay we now have a dog. My daughter is working, getting her masters and has an internship, so we have her dog. I'll just stop there...

rlb28 said:

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Ctxaggie: To my dismay...

That made me LOL!

I'm allergic to cats and much to my dismay we have a cat. The cat is easy, but the litter box situation sucks balls. Last week my wife moved the litter box and I guess the cat couldn't find it so he shat where the box used to be in the laundry room.

I set the Roomba to clean when I left for work. I came back in to grab something and it had already ran over the cat shat. Luckily, I caught it early and there was minimal cleanup, but the Roomba is ruined.

I'm allergic to dogs and much to my dismay we now have a dog. My daughter is working, getting her masters and has an internship, so we have her dog. I'll just stop there...

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You are not alone.....we sacrifice so much!!

Can't add much. Had a very early model 20+ years ago when we had cats. It was worthless. Assume they must be somewhat better.

Agree in principle with the work for your pet advice/preaching you didn't ask for, but know that is pretty worthless too

I told my wife and daughter that they could get an indoor cat but I wasn't doing ****(no pun intended) for the damn thing.

It's a calico and is the worst pet we've ever had, including cats from a few years back. I'd drop it off at the shelter immediately if possible.

Troy91 said:

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We have a litter robot and it works great.

I would never go back to a regular litter box.

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My daughter has a litter robot in her apartment and loves it.

62strat said:

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No way I'd get one of these if my kids wanted the pet and I didn't. Teach them responsibility and make them feed it and clean the box.

Don't you still have to empty/clean these overpriced auto ones too?

My wife had one for her cat in her late teens.. the pee ball would just jam it up and it never worked. Waste of money.

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Like saying don't use a dishwasher, be responsible and hand wash dishes. Technology exists for a reason. You can teach responsibility for the cat by having them feed it and having them empty/clean the automatic litter box.

Bought a Litter Robot 3 eight years ago when an ex-girlfriend had a cat she didn't maintain the litter box for. She got pissed I spent so much on it, and (unrelated) moved back to Michigan 6 months later. Left her cat with me. I've had it ever since. Only issue I've had was I accidentally swapped the power supply on the robot with a different one so it started to throw errors. Took the whole thing apart and replaced a lot of components (easy to do, to this day ALL parts readily available parts for repair) got it all back together and eventually found out the cause of the problem. Hasn't had an issue from its own failure in the entire time I've owned it. It is the most consumer friendly, reliable product I've ever purchased.

Eight years of not having a stinky house nor dealing with scooping litter twice a day. Spent $400 on the litter box and ~$40 on plastic liners. $440. Would've been 6,000 times scooping piss and **** I didn't have to do. $4/mo to not have to deal with litter other than once a week emptying the drawer.

Of all of the technology I've purchased over the years, and I've purchased A LOT, it is easily the best money I've spent. Anyone that has the disposable funds to buy one that doesn't is causing themselves problems they shouldn't have.

Have it in my laundry room. Cat uses the box. Box empties itself. Robot vacuum sucks up any litter the cat drags out of it on their paws.

hph6203 said:

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62strat said:

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No way I'd get one of these if my kids wanted the pet and I didn't. Teach them responsibility and make them feed it and clean the box.

Don't you still have to empty/clean these overpriced auto ones too?

My wife had one for her cat in her late teens.. the pee ball would just jam it up and it never worked. Waste of money.

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Like saying don't use a dishwasher, be responsible and hand wash dishes. Technology exists for a reason. You can teach responsibility for the cat by having them feed it and having them empty/clean the automatic litter box.

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You're an adult taking care of the cat, you do what you want. But I'll reiterate, if my kid wanted a cat that I DIDN'T want, I'm not going to spend hundreds of dollars on tech to make it easier for the kid. Why not just get an auto feeder/water as well?? The technology exists for a reason. Just let the child enjoy petting the cat but have no responsibility to take care of it? No, the compromise for getting the cat, that I don't want, is you take care of it without a bunch of tech.

Your dishwasher comparison is weak at best for this scenario.

Getting pretty personal and grumpy about a cat that isn't your cat. The OP asked for commentary on automatic litter boxes, you provided parenting advice and commentary about littler boxes that you have no experience with. I provided commentary based upon actual experience and an argument that there are better opportunities to learn about responsibility than a circumstance where failure to live up to it has the house smelling like piss and poop with litter tracked all over the house and people in the family, multiple times a day, interacting with a vector for disease. The automatic box takes a daily chore and turns it into a weekly chore and mitigates those other concerns.

The OP is an adult, after all, can't they decide what lessons to teach their kids and how to spend their own money?

The reason you think the dishwasher comparison is a bad one is merely a consequence of time. In the 1950's I"m 100% positive that a person of your mentality would advise a friend with kids that a dishwasher is an extravagance and a waste of money, because they have kids with working hands that can learn about cleanliness and responsibility by hand washing dishes rather than responsibly putting them in the dishwasher when dirty and putting them away when clean. I'm just the guy with the dishwasher 70 years ago saying it's totally worth it for someone that can afford it, and society learned he was right as will cat owners of the future who will wonder why they didn't get an automatic box sooner.


ETA: If I were buying today I'd go on Facebook Marketplace/Craigslist. Try to buy a used one for $150 or less and if it didn't function properly would replace parts. The teardown/rebuilt process is not hard and like I said as far as I can tell all parts are available for purchase.

hph6203 said:

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Getting pretty personal and grumpy about a cat that isn't your cat..

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I'm not even the first person to have this viewpoint fyi.

Had two cats that were really sweet for about 12 years. I had never had a cat before we married and we got these even though I was really trying not to. Will never get cats again. With that said, I have a 2-year-old daughter, and you know how that goes.

With that said, first time I changed the litter (traditional dusty clay type litter) I thought it made sense to just dump the clumps into the toilet and flush it. Simple man solution. DON'T DO THAT!

Good luck my man.