Don't buy a LitterMaid!!

by asleif_dufansdottir 19 Replies latest jw friends

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  OK, this is kind of lame, but if I keep one person from wasting their money...

  Those of you who don't know about this, there is such a thing as a 'electric cat box' that scoops itself. Yes, really. It's not that I'm lazy, but I have 3 cats, and I take pride in keeping cat smell down to zero or close to it. Most people actually comment when they come into my house, that they are amazed they can't smell a cat box. I'm paranoid about being one of those 'cat ladies' whose house stinks.

  I wanted one of these for years. I thought it would be the ultimate luxury to have a clean litterbox without having to constantly clean it myself, so I broke down and spent the money (they are expensive) as a birthday present for myself.

  I should have saved my money! What a piece of JUNK!! I did buy the "best, most expensive, hardest clumping" litter and still spent more time screwing with cat litter than I had before I bought this thing.

  For clumping litter to work right, it has to be deep enough for the urine to form a ball *before* it hits bottom. The Littermaid isn't deep enough (I suppose because their motor burns out if litter is deep). The clump sticks to the bottom and you have to scrape it off manually. 2 or 3 times a day.

  So I went out and bought the silicone spray like the manual recommended, to coat the bottom of the pan. That helped somewhat, but after a couple of days it was starting to stick again.

  Then, tonight, SIX DAYS after I bought it, I came home to find the rake broken and lying sideways in the litter! One of the guides was snapped off. It won't work at all!

  In the last 6 days I spent more time messing with the litter box than I'd spent in the year before that! And probably spent more money on the box than I spent for litter for a couple of years, too!

  NOW, of course, I have read the consumer reports about all the problems with this product and how bad the company's customer service is. Apparently the older ones worked better, since there are people who say their first one worked for several years and they loved it.

  I wish I'd saved my money!! I'm so ticked off that I wasted all that money, after wanting one of the #(&*$ things for years!
• 

  Gadget

  If you want to make sure you don't get any bad smells try using a wood based cat litter. It just reconverts to sawdust when used and I've found it gives off virtually no smell.
• 

  Been there

  Thanks for the post! I was thinking of getting one of them. I would think you could try and return it to the store for your money back. A product is suppose to hold up to it's intended purpose. They may say you need to return it to the manufacturer, but if its only been a week I would try and make them take it back. They are selling and promoting a product that does not work the way they advertise it to work.

  I got a box that I really like. You roll it onto its lid, then roll it back forward. All the clumps are collected in a scoop that you just pull out and dump. Something I just learned from a vet. is that you should have a box for each cat plus one. 3 cats.........4 boxes. I never knew that.
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  blondie

  Good info. I don't have a cat now but I did have a couple. I found watching what I fed my cat was important too. I just cleaned the box the old fashioned way once a day and changed the clay litter once a week, bleaching the box.

  **is there any reality to those cats who go in the toilet?**

  Blondie
• 

  Satans little helper

  we had a box for a week, then got a cat flap. The cats crap in next door's flower bed now
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  Elsewhere

  I also got rid of one of those litter maids and replaced it with the type that you roll over.

  http://www.omegapaw.com/Rollaway.html

  I like the way it handles the litter that sticks to the bottom... when I have it rolled upside-down I just give the base a few quick knocks and this makes the sticking litter fall into the collection ben.
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  Hunyadi

  We were getting ready to purchase one. Thanks for the tip.
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  Sara Annie

  We bought one of these when I was pregnant with my youngest thinking it would be a good way to solve the problem of me not being able to scoop the box (which I do several times a day because I HATE smelling eau de catbox in anyone's house, especially my own) and my husband would only have to empty it daily.

  It worked like a dream--2 cats, no sticking, no stinky odor, great product for us.

  The problem? One of my cats was so afraid of it that she refused to use it. REFUSED. She registered this refusal one day by peeing on my brand new sofa. The next day she exhibited her disapproval for the new gadget by pooping in my husband's open briefcase.

  Needless to say, we no longer use this item. The most surprising part of the story? The store took it back simply emptied out and repacked into it's original box. I used the credit to my Visa towards a really nice carpet/upholstry shampooer.
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  Winston Smith :>D

  Thx for the tip!

  I guess I'll stick with training the cat to use the toilet
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  Elsewhere

  I tried to train my two cats to use the toilet... the utterly REFUSED. I even started to make changes veeeery slowly... even over several MONTHS. Nadda... the problem always happened when I was reducing the amount of litter in the toilet.

  I was using the saran wrap technique. I had a piece of saran wrap taped over the toilet bowl with a small hole cut ni the center and every day I would reduce the amount of litter on it just a little bit. The amount of litter would always get to a certain level and then the cats would "protest" all over the floor. (Bad Kitty!!!)