I don’t know about you guys but I think those robotic cat boxes/trays are an abomination and don’t work! What has been your experience?
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Had one at a sit once and yew! 
My experience is limited to one sit that had them. I have no other friends or family that I am aware of that have them. It was actually awesome. I did check it to make sure it was still functioning. I was a little scared of it frankly as I did some online research and read that some cheaper models have killed cats. I don’t think I’d want one. The other reason I probably wouldn’t choose one is because of the possibility of cats having health issues revealed in the box including polyuria, diarrhea, blockages etc and that I might “miss” something important.
Yes!! I feel bad to break it to the pet-owners who invest in these things because they are not cheap ($500 US) but they suck, don’t work most of the time, take up too much space and honestly make a mess.
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I’ve seen a few of these as I only sit cats. Most are useless but I have used one that worked perfectly and didn’t scare the cat! Can’t for the life of me remember the make or model though as it was 2 years ago now.
Great if they work, but I would rather sit without them, because I don’t want to get stuck trying to figure out how to get one going again, should it stop working.
Funny, I sat with one that reminded me of the Death Star from “Star Wars.”
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I did a couple of sits recently with automatic machines. The first used regular litter and scooped it out into a bin below that we had to empty and we had no issues.
The second one was one I had not seen before–it would automatically clean the plastic litter pellets and break down the poop, and it would all flush out through the hose connected to the toilet. So besides cleaning up the litter that tracked out of the box, we didn’t have to do anything. The only downside was that it was pretty noisy–they kept it in the bathroom in their bedroom but it never seemed to wake us up–either we totally slept through it or they didn’t use the boxes much overnight.
A complete waste of money for a number of reasons.
Most important, they’re never, ever completey clean. Sure, the big clumps are usually swept but only if they’re dry.
Cats need to be introduced to the devices and many won’t adapt. Aside from the noise, I suspect that part of the problem is, again, the cleanliness issue.
Finally, we get so many clues about our cats’ health from seeing and cleaning the litterbox contents. Relying on a machine may contribute to missing early symptoms of health and behaviour changes.
Yep, I’m odd because I don’t mind cleaning litterboxes and have been known to clean my two three x /day.
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Flushing litterbox contents is illegal in many parts of the US (Can’t speak to the rest of the world). Clogs and pipe damage (due to litter expansion) often result. Further it is a huge health hazard due to the introduction of parasites, etc. into local water supplies.
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Well I can’t speak to any of that…don’t know the rules where they lived. But in this case, there would be no litter entering the pipes. It was plastic pellets–or perhaps another material that looked plastic-like– that were rinsed clean and remained in the box.
We love our litter robot. Got it after sitting for two different HO’s who had them. Our cat took to it right away and we have now had it for two years with zero problems. We also got an automatic feeder, a water fountain and the modcat scratching “posts” after seeing them all in action during sits. So i guess these gizmos attract us like moths to flame!
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I have sat for multiple households with Litter Robots, and they almost all have been faulty. I can’t think of any house where the machine has worked perfectly every time. I have had to troubleshoot Litter Robots on every sit that had them. It has certainly deterred me from ever getting one for my own cat
We’ve actually had a really good experience and genuinely love cat litter robots. Yes, they do “malfunction” occasionally, but most of the time that’s the safety system doing its job and stopping a cycle if it thinks a cat might be in the way, or if something is a bit off. Each version is getting better and better, so that’s encouraging if you are considering getting one.
The nice part is also that technical issues have been easy to troubleshoot at home in our case (things like recalibrating sensors, checking for too much litter, or power‑cycling the unit), and support/resources online are pretty decent when you need them. For us, the convenience and not scooping every day has massively outweighed the occasional hiccup.
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My cat refuses to even look at a litter box and prefers the garden, but one of my friends recently got a cat litter robot for her two young cats, and she absolutely loves it! It does seem very convenient, and the cats had no problem getting used to it.
I suppose it depends a lot on the brand and model.
I recently had to deal with a litter robot at a sit though and I didn’t like it at all.
- It was smelly, as the tray didn’t seal properly.
- I had to constantly reset it as it went into some error mode once a day on average. So I would be paying attention to the lights all the time, else the host would get bothered with app notifications during their holidays.
- It stressed me out a bit as the “thumbling cycle” was actually attracting the cat and he would be reaching into it trying to play with the clumps as they were being “filtered out”. As it was a new cat I was sitting I couldn’t tell if he was capable of getting himself into trouble.
- Cleaning it was not ideal…
I think it’s easier to scoop.
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Our daughter has one for her 2 cats and she says it’s been a game changer. The smell of the cat litter has completely gone from her house and she says she can go 1 week without emptying the poo tray. There are different products on the market so maybe they all don’t work the same?
We had one ourselves when we had multiple cats, after seeing one at a cat show. When somebody had the trots it was an absolute nightmare to clean and we reverted to covered litter trays soon after!
I’m glad to see sitters complain about them, as previously I’ve seen posts that sitters find them a big plus. I am just generally against electrifying things that aren’t that big of a deal, and also spending big bucks on something that takes me 2 minutes to do myself, so I’ll never get one.
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I love them, they work, don’t know what model you’re looking at but as a full time sitter of mostly cats, I’ve become picky enough that I apply mostly when they have litter robot. I’ve used many different models and it’s great.
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My cats are not particular but even they would not use plastic pellets.
Plastic does not degrade and flushing it is irresponsible (unless it’s going to a septic tank), but then it would just clog the tank?
I would report that HO to the water district…. probably illegal.