Litter Systems - the good, the bad and the STINKY

AllUpHill · 06-11-2008, 05:35 AM

Do any of you have litter systems that dont include you doing all the work? I HATE having my house smell like nasty cat litter. It's driving me

batty.

In the Low Prices....

I found and tried the new Breeze and after 3 weeks am ready to throw it away. If they only peed life would be great. But they cannot cover feces effectively so I end up cleaning the pan 4-6 times a day and the house WREAKS worse than ever. Not the time saver or help I was hoping for.

In the medium range there are the Littermaid style boxes. I've heard the Littermaid system units are not reliable in the long run. One friend said it only worked a couple months and then she was stuck with a $100 scoopable litter pan. So I have been reluctant to shell out money for something that has not so great reviews from the 2 people I know. This has been a couple yrs so maybe it's improved??

So up to the big expensive ones....

I have a friend who has the The Cat Genie with 3 cats using it and she swears by it. I bought one and it will arrive today. I will let you know what I think in a couple weeks.

The Cat Genie is quite an investment. And it still leaves me with one problem - I need an upstairs litter pan for a cat that doesn't like to be downstairs. Buying a 2nd of these is not in my forseeable budget.

How about others people have tried? The great outdoors would be lovely, but not an option where I live.

Horses&Soccer · 06-11-2008, 11:12 AM

We use the Fresh Step clumping litter in a covered litter box. When they scratch it releases a perfume to cover smells, the stuff sticks to the poopies and clumps around the wet spots. The pan I have has four sections - the domed cover, two bottoms and a screen-type section. The screen is supposed to catch the clumps and allow the loose litter to fall through into the bottom when you pick it up Then you dump the dirty litter. What we do is scoop the clumps, since he tends to pee on the edges so we have to scrape that off anyway, put the screen part back into the bottom dump the good litter into that then put the 2nd bottom underneath both. Sounds more complicated than it really is! Works well for us, very little smell unless someone gets into something they probably shouldn't have anyway.

jkponies · 06-11-2008, 11:50 AM

We used to have a Littermaid box and didn't have any problems with it as far as reliability goes--we just got rid of it because we had too many cats for it to work right. The rake starts 5 mins. after the cat leaves, but the problem is if another cat comes in during that time, the 5 mins. starts all over again and it doesn't get raked! But if it would mainly be for the 1 upstairs cat, it should work.

Akita it Girl · 06-11-2008, 11:53 AM

I use *Sweat Scoop* Mixed with * Arm and Hammer flushable* Both are flushable, and biodegradeble. It smells great, it's easy to cleaan and dispose of. The cats LIKE it. And it is fairly inexspencive.

Sirita_88 · 06-11-2008, 11:54 AM

I don't know what happened with your experience. It's AMAZING here. I hate those automatic ones, the poop sits there for days and stinks. The BREEZE is amazing, no cat litter all over the house, no nasty pee smell.... We have two cats, one breeze litter box and we only have to clean the poop out a few times a day. Heck, with regular litter you would have to clean the poop out just as much if you want to reduce smell. I would reccomened the BREEZE to anyone. It has mad a HUGE difference, no more smell! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!!!

Kemstar · 06-11-2008, 12:02 PM

My neighbor has one of those automatic jobs that scoops 5 minutes after the kitties are done playing in them. While watching her cats one week while they were out of the country, I heard a loud grinding/churning noise coming from their laundry room. I dashed upstairs to find a possessed litter box frantically scooping and tossing litter everywhere. Both cats sat watching, highly amused.

My solution is easy: I have a litter pan in an bathroom upstairs and 2 in our basement. They get scooped twice daily by me BY HAND and my house never smells.

BTW, I have a kitty, Lucy, who loves using the toilet! Not sure how, where, or why she's learned that, but we do leave the seat up for her in our bathrooms. Late at night, you can hear her using the toilet. It's actually pretty funny. What's even funnier is the indignant look on her face when I accidentally walk in on her (well, close the door, for cripes sake....!)

lawcat · 06-11-2008, 12:49 PM

I had a few Littermaids and thought they were terrible...maybe they work if you only have one or maybe two cats, but at the time I tried them I had eight cats (and bought 4 littermaids thinking that would be enough since they scoop themselves) - well maybe it was my evil cats, but they would constantly step in and out of the things, causing the Littermaids to have a complete melt down.

I now have four inside kitties and use covered litterboxes with Arm & Hammer multi cat litter - I have had several people comment that the house doesn't have an odor (and I'm not the best about daily cleanings)

I'll have to give the cat genie a look...

AllUpHill · 06-11-2008, 06:36 PM

My Cat Genie came this afternoon. WOW is that heavy and doesn't seem quite as simple as the web site made it seem. BUT I have not installed it yet, just putting the shell and pieces together. I will post an update when I figure out how it will work for this smelly bunch.

Sirita, I wish my Breeze experience had been even 1/2 what you describe. I would probably be satisfied enough to call it a success. But we clean it all the time and the smell just lingers.

Our other litter pan is the Arm And Hammer scoopable and it works better but all that litter - oy!

SOOOOO, onto the next experiment.

kshnooks · 06-11-2008, 06:46 PM

The Littermaid is horrible for multiple cats. Maybe if you had just one it would be ok, but the rake motor always breaks and it always gets all gunky. I am interested to know if the Cat Genie is successful, though. Are your cats flingers? Mine "fling" litter everywhere so I think the problem with the Cat Genie is that those little reuseable balls would be EVERYWHERE!

)
We have a Litter Robot, and it has been a minor success. Minor because it does not really accomodate larger cats (under 15 lbs is the best) and one of my cats insists on sticking his butt out the hole when he pees, which totally defeats the purpose. Other than that, it is fairly stinky free once it cycles through. However, it is pricey. Brand new its over $400, we got a reconditioned model for under $300.

kellidahorsegirl · 06-11-2008, 07:25 PM

I have 3 cats inside (but they go outside...but not a lot during winter). I have one of those pans with the roof over head. I put a little bath mat in front of it to collect the litter.

It would always smell really bad, so I keep one of those buckets that litter comes in with the lid next to their box and every couple days, I go in there and scoop the messes into the bucket and seal the lid. Keeps the box clean,,,,and the bucket keeps the smell inside. When its full, I dump it outside in our trees (we have a LOT of trees

).

I looked at the Genie deal and I KNOW it would fail my cats simply because they LOVE to pee on the walls of the box....and with that thing it'd shoot right out the side

pasomystic · 06-11-2008, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kellidahorsegirl

I have 3 cats inside (but they go outside...but not a lot during winter). I have one of those pans with the roof over head. I put a little bath mat in front of it to collect the litter.

It would always smell really bad, so I keep one of those buckets that litter comes in with the lid next to their box and every couple days, I go in there and scoop the messes into the bucket and seal the lid. Keeps the box clean,,,,and the bucket keeps the smell inside. When its full, I dump it outside in our trees (we have a LOT of trees

).

I looked at the Genie deal and I KNOW it would fail my cats simply because they LOVE to pee on the walls of the box....and with that thing it'd shoot right out the side

I do the same, but have a bag inside the sealed bucket and when it is full it goes in the outside garbage can. That bag goes out with the trash once a week--and I have no lingering odors. My two large dogs contribute two of their own bags from outside using the same kind of system.

AllUpHill · 07-20-2008, 11:12 AM

I have had my Cat Genie hooked up for over a month now and I really like it. Only 2 of my cats use it regularly, the other 2 opting instead to use the non-motorized version (I am working on that). All in all, I would truly recommend this to anyone looking for less work and a nice clean kitty litter pan. I wish I could put one in upstairs also but I dont have a spot for it so I will find a Littermaid or something along those lines.

**taelesean** · 07-20-2008, 11:36 AM

I like the Litter Robot. No need to plumb it, all it needs is an outlet. It's fast and handles multiple cats.

http://www.litter-robot.com/default.... QOIFQodGQP9lA

Jordyn · 07-20-2008, 12:03 PM

I have 3 cats and I went out and bought the largest plastic storage tub with a lid. It's probably 3 feet long, 20" inches wide and about 18" inches high. I had a little 8x8 hole cut out for the door on one end, high enough where they can step in comfortably, but not spill litter out. They can go in there and throw litter around all they want with no mess. The extra high sides and all around containment is also great for the cats who tend to get creative with "sprinkling" their pee from time to time. Also, I think there is a litter from Fresh Step or somebody that is made for Small Spaces. It smells great and covers odor very well.

NOTE: You can also have a round hole cut in the lid for an extra exit. Actually, if you have fairly agile cats, you can just have the hole in the top for entering and exiting. I had to make a hole on the end for my old kitty who could not make the lid jump.

This big litterbox is out in my garage. My indoor only kitties use a doggie door that I had inserted into my garage door. A true lifesaver and they learned to use it in 1 day! My house does not smell like litter, and neither does my garage (I clean the box 2x a day).

Of course, this set-up is not convenient for someone who parks regularly in the garage (which I do not). Though, I am in the thinking stages of "chicken-wiring" a small enclosure just off of my inside garage door, so I could park or open the big garage door without worry of my cats getting out, if they happened to be in the garage at the same time.

merleliz · 07-20-2008, 12:40 PM

I use the plastic bag in the sealed bucket system that Kellida and Pasomystic described, clean in twice a day when I feed Kitten, and I have no odor or mess. I tried every system on the market when we got Kitten, my previous cat Thomasina went outside, but Kitten has asthma and isn't allowed outside, so this was the first time in a long, long time I had dealt with the litter box. Nothing worked as well as just cleaning it twice a day, and I get the super cheap Publix brand clumping litter, it works just as well as the high dollar stuff!

**Range** · 07-21-2008, 10:04 AM

My kitty used the toilet...no muss no fuss. Until - he fell in one day. And that was the end of that!

leslie645 · 07-21-2008, 10:52 AM

Alluphill- Im thinking of getting the genie. How long does the bottle of sanitizer last?

Is it truly a hands off expeirence?!!? Did you get the hood too?

Thanks,
Leslie

AllUpHill · 07-21-2008, 04:44 PM

Hey Leslie, I did the get the whole thing with the hood. I dont have the hood on yet. the bowl is pretty deep so they haven't made too much mess so far.

The hardest part of the install was putting the scooper hand thing on because I had trouble grasping that what they said would actually work

The longevity of the solution depends on how many times a day you run the machine which in turn depends on how many cats you have. I think if you run it 4-5 times a day then its only 3 weeks for a cartridge. We are still warming up to the process so still have the 1st cartridge in.

It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it is pretty heavy also. So be sure you choose well where you want to put it. Sure beats moving it later

.

AllUpHill · 07-22-2008, 05:06 AM

I have been reading up on this one for the upstairs. I think this could be my upstairs answer! Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by taelesean

I like the Litter Robot. No need to plumb it, all it needs is an outlet. It's fast and handles multiple cats.

http://www.litter-robot.com/default.... QOIFQodGQP9lA

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06-11-2008, 05:35 AM
AllUpHill Yearling Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US Posts: 660	Litter Systems - the good, the bad and the STINKY Do any of you have litter systems that dont include you doing all the work? I HATE having my house smell like nasty cat litter. It's driving me batty. In the Low Prices.... I found and tried the new Breeze and after 3 weeks am ready to throw it away. If they only peed life would be great. But they cannot cover feces effectively so I end up cleaning the pan 4-6 times a day and the house WREAKS worse than ever. Not the time saver or help I was hoping for. In the medium range there are the Littermaid style boxes. I've heard the Littermaid system units are not reliable in the long run. One friend said it only worked a couple months and then she was stuck with a $100 scoopable litter pan. So I have been reluctant to shell out money for something that has not so great reviews from the 2 people I know. This has been a couple yrs so maybe it's improved?? So up to the big expensive ones.... I have a friend who has the The Cat Genie with 3 cats using it and she swears by it. I bought one and it will arrive today. I will let you know what I think in a couple weeks. The Cat Genie is quite an investment. And it still leaves me with one problem - I need an upstairs litter pan for a cat that doesn't like to be downstairs. Buying a 2nd of these is not in my forseeable budget. How about others people have tried? The great outdoors would be lovely, but not an option where I live.

06-11-2008, 11:12 AM
Horses&Soccer Started Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Warrenton, MO Posts: 2,727	We use the Fresh Step clumping litter in a covered litter box. When they scratch it releases a perfume to cover smells, the stuff sticks to the poopies and clumps around the wet spots. The pan I have has four sections - the domed cover, two bottoms and a screen-type section. The screen is supposed to catch the clumps and allow the loose litter to fall through into the bottom when you pick it up Then you dump the dirty litter. What we do is scoop the clumps, since he tends to pee on the edges so we have to scrape that off anyway, put the screen part back into the bottom dump the good litter into that then put the 2nd bottom underneath both. Sounds more complicated than it really is! Works well for us, very little smell unless someone gets into something they probably shouldn't have anyway. __________________ When life gives you lemons - find someone to throw them at!

06-11-2008, 11:50 AM
jkponies Weanling Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bardstown KY Posts: 411	We used to have a Littermaid box and didn't have any problems with it as far as reliability goes--we just got rid of it because we had too many cats for it to work right. The rake starts 5 mins. after the cat leaves, but the problem is if another cat comes in during that time, the 5 mins. starts all over again and it doesn't get raked! But if it would mainly be for the 1 upstairs cat, it should work. __________________ Cowboy codes: A cowboy always helps someone in need, even a stranger or an enemy.

06-11-2008, 11:53 AM
Akita it Girl Weanling Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Md Posts: 344	I use Sweat Scoop Mixed with * Arm and Hammer flushable* Both are flushable, and biodegradeble. It smells great, it's easy to cleaan and dispose of. The cats LIKE it. And it is fairly inexspencive.

06-11-2008, 11:54 AM
Sirita_88 Long Yearling Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Mt. Juliet, Tennessee Posts: 1,269	Breeze I don't know what happened with your experience. It's AMAZING here. I hate those automatic ones, the poop sits there for days and stinks. The BREEZE is amazing, no cat litter all over the house, no nasty pee smell.... We have two cats, one breeze litter box and we only have to clean the poop out a few times a day. Heck, with regular litter you would have to clean the poop out just as much if you want to reduce smell. I would reccomened the BREEZE to anyone. It has mad a HUGE difference, no more smell! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!!! __________________ Paradise Performance Horses. http://www.freewebs.com/paradiseperformance/index.htm

06-11-2008, 12:02 PM
Kemstar Yearling Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Salem, Virginia Posts: 852	My neighbor has one of those automatic jobs that scoops 5 minutes after the kitties are done playing in them. While watching her cats one week while they were out of the country, I heard a loud grinding/churning noise coming from their laundry room. I dashed upstairs to find a possessed litter box frantically scooping and tossing litter everywhere. Both cats sat watching, highly amused. My solution is easy: I have a litter pan in an bathroom upstairs and 2 in our basement. They get scooped twice daily by me BY HAND and my house never smells. BTW, I have a kitty, Lucy, who loves using the toilet! Not sure how, where, or why she's learned that, but we do leave the seat up for her in our bathrooms. Late at night, you can hear her using the toilet. It's actually pretty funny. What's even funnier is the indignant look on her face when I accidentally walk in on her (well, close the door, for cripes sake....!) __________________ May we all ride as well as we do in our dreams!

06-11-2008, 12:49 PM
lawcat Halter broke Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Southern California Posts: 144	I had a few Littermaids and thought they were terrible...maybe they work if you only have one or maybe two cats, but at the time I tried them I had eight cats (and bought 4 littermaids thinking that would be enough since they scoop themselves) - well maybe it was my evil cats, but they would constantly step in and out of the things, causing the Littermaids to have a complete melt down. I now have four inside kitties and use covered litterboxes with Arm & Hammer multi cat litter - I have had several people comment that the house doesn't have an odor (and I'm not the best about daily cleanings) I'll have to give the cat genie a look...

06-11-2008, 06:36 PM
AllUpHill Yearling Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US Posts: 660	My Cat Genie came this afternoon. WOW is that heavy and doesn't seem quite as simple as the web site made it seem. BUT I have not installed it yet, just putting the shell and pieces together. I will post an update when I figure out how it will work for this smelly bunch. Sirita, I wish my Breeze experience had been even 1/2 what you describe. I would probably be satisfied enough to call it a success. But we clean it all the time and the smell just lingers. Our other litter pan is the Arm And Hammer scoopable and it works better but all that litter - oy! SOOOOO, onto the next experiment.

06-11-2008, 06:46 PM
kshnooks Coming two Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: California Posts: 1,828	The Littermaid is horrible for multiple cats. Maybe if you had just one it would be ok, but the rake motor always breaks and it always gets all gunky. I am interested to know if the Cat Genie is successful, though. Are your cats flingers? Mine "fling" litter everywhere so I think the problem with the Cat Genie is that those little reuseable balls would be EVERYWHERE! ) We have a Litter Robot, and it has been a minor success. Minor because it does not really accomodate larger cats (under 15 lbs is the best) and one of my cats insists on sticking his butt out the hole when he pees, which totally defeats the purpose. Other than that, it is fairly stinky free once it cycles through. However, it is pricey. Brand new its over $400, we got a reconditioned model for under $300.

06-11-2008, 07:25 PM
kellidahorsegirl Weanling Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Nebraska Posts: 355	I have 3 cats inside (but they go outside...but not a lot during winter). I have one of those pans with the roof over head. I put a little bath mat in front of it to collect the litter. It would always smell really bad, so I keep one of those buckets that litter comes in with the lid next to their box and every couple days, I go in there and scoop the messes into the bucket and seal the lid. Keeps the box clean,,,,and the bucket keeps the smell inside. When its full, I dump it outside in our trees (we have a LOT of trees ). I looked at the Genie deal and I KNOW it would fail my cats simply because they LOVE to pee on the walls of the box....and with that thing it'd shoot right out the side __________________ Kelli I'm not so good at the advice... Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?

07-20-2008, 11:12 AM
AllUpHill Yearling Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US Posts: 660	I have had my Cat Genie hooked up for over a month now and I really like it. Only 2 of my cats use it regularly, the other 2 opting instead to use the non-motorized version (I am working on that). All in all, I would truly recommend this to anyone looking for less work and a nice clean kitty litter pan. I wish I could put one in upstairs also but I dont have a spot for it so I will find a Littermaid or something along those lines.

07-20-2008, 11:36 AM
taelesean Administrator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Virginia Posts: 5,638	I like the Litter Robot. No need to plumb it, all it needs is an outlet. It's fast and handles multiple cats. http://www.litter-robot.com/default.... QOIFQodGQP9lA __________________

07-20-2008, 12:03 PM
Jordyn Newborn Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 44	Litter Box Solution I have 3 cats and I went out and bought the largest plastic storage tub with a lid. It's probably 3 feet long, 20" inches wide and about 18" inches high. I had a little 8x8 hole cut out for the door on one end, high enough where they can step in comfortably, but not spill litter out. They can go in there and throw litter around all they want with no mess. The extra high sides and all around containment is also great for the cats who tend to get creative with "sprinkling" their pee from time to time. Also, I think there is a litter from Fresh Step or somebody that is made for Small Spaces. It smells great and covers odor very well. NOTE: You can also have a round hole cut in the lid for an extra exit. Actually, if you have fairly agile cats, you can just have the hole in the top for entering and exiting. I had to make a hole on the end for my old kitty who could not make the lid jump. This big litterbox is out in my garage. My indoor only kitties use a doggie door that I had inserted into my garage door. A true lifesaver and they learned to use it in 1 day! My house does not smell like litter, and neither does my garage (I clean the box 2x a day). Of course, this set-up is not convenient for someone who parks regularly in the garage (which I do not). Though, I am in the thinking stages of "chicken-wiring" a small enclosure just off of my inside garage door, so I could park or open the big garage door without worry of my cats getting out, if they happened to be in the garage at the same time. __________________ (As seen in Newspaper Ad) - FOR SALE: Pony Saddle & Bridle, $400. Free Accessories - a smashed cart, a broken harness and one evil pony.

07-20-2008, 12:40 PM
merleliz Long Yearling Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Fairburn, Georgia Posts: 1,161	I use the plastic bag in the sealed bucket system that Kellida and Pasomystic described, clean in twice a day when I feed Kitten, and I have no odor or mess. I tried every system on the market when we got Kitten, my previous cat Thomasina went outside, but Kitten has asthma and isn't allowed outside, so this was the first time in a long, long time I had dealt with the litter box. Nothing worked as well as just cleaning it twice a day, and I get the super cheap Publix brand clumping litter, it works just as well as the high dollar stuff!

07-21-2008, 10:04 AM
Range Super Moderator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Back of Beyond Posts: 5,685	My kitty used the toilet...no muss no fuss. Until - he fell in one day. And that was the end of that! __________________ If it harms none, do what you will.

07-21-2008, 10:52 AM
leslie645 Halter broke Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Central Kentucky Posts: 84	Alluphill- Im thinking of getting the genie. How long does the bottle of sanitizer last? Is it truly a hands off expeirence?!!? Did you get the hood too? Thanks, Leslie

07-21-2008, 04:44 PM
AllUpHill Yearling Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US Posts: 660	Hey Leslie, I did the get the whole thing with the hood. I dont have the hood on yet. the bowl is pretty deep so they haven't made too much mess so far. The hardest part of the install was putting the scooper hand thing on because I had trouble grasping that what they said would actually work The longevity of the solution depends on how many times a day you run the machine which in turn depends on how many cats you have. I think if you run it 4-5 times a day then its only 3 weeks for a cartridge. We are still warming up to the process so still have the 1st cartridge in. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it is pretty heavy also. So be sure you choose well where you want to put it. Sure beats moving it later.