Do self-cleaning cat litter boxes really work?
Friday, October 30th, 2009 at
12:12 pm
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Filed under: Cat Litter
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I’ve been told they scare the hell out of cats and so they start using the bathroom in other places (like the floor).
I know a lady who has I think 7 cats, and she scoops the litter boxes daily. She says she they stay clean for a long time when you do that.
My cat has a stomach problem, so her litter always smells. We bought a different kind of liter that has odor absorbing crystals in it. This really seemed to make a BIG difference. At pet store they also sell things you can add to your litter to make it smell better as well.
The kind I buy at Pet smart is : ExquisiCat Extra Strength Scoop (purple and yellow label on a big white plastic bucket with handle) that comes in an unscented formula. It’s a clumping litter (but not flush-able) that clumps pretty well and has the odor absorbing crystals. It’s about $12 for a 40 lb box I think.
yes
Not the one I had for my cat!
Yes but not really. You still have to empty the box and fill it back up. It still smells pretty bad and it scares the crap out of older cats.
The general rule is to have 1 box for each cat and one extra box. So for two cats, you need to have 3 boxes ideally. I would not have less than 2 boxes with 2 cats. Then you need to scoop the poop out once a day and change all the liter in the boxes once a week. I try to always do it on the same day, then I do not forget when it needs done. Litter makes a difference, also. I use Fresh Step. My mother likes Tidy Cat, but I don’t like it…it smells. If you do these things, you should not need a self-cleaning box. These are expensive and you still have to do routine maintenance.
No they don’t work. Think about it. How is it clean? The waste is still in there! Besides the noise they make has scared many cats into NOT USING the box at all. For two cats you should have 2-3 litter boxes. Use clumping litter and keep them sifted. Are your cats neutered? That does help cut down the smell.
It really depends on the cats…my receptionist has one and her cats LOVE it…they actually wait til it goes through its cycle so they can have a clean box. My cats seem to like it as well…it just didnt work well for me….the thing kept jamming. I think they work well for one cat..but not for multiple cats.
Our family has a female cat and we thought the same thing. it worked fairly well but the problem was our cat got scared when the thing moved across the box before she left the area around the litterbox so she decided she’d rather pee on the floor instead.
After Katrina, my cat lived at my boyfriend’s house for a month; he had an automatic litter box. My cat would do his business, jump out, watch the box clean itself, jump back in, mess up the litter, jump out and watch the box clean itself. He did that for the first week, then he got used to it. I think he was playing with it. You do have to change out the container fairly often, especially for two cats. You might have a problem making them share the same box, too.