I have three cats, and as much as I love them, I hate cleaning litter boxes. I decided a month ago to stop cleaning my cat box. Forever. Here is my story, and why it was a great decision:
This is not my cat, and I did not take this picture.
Eight years ago, when I got married, I wanted a dog. My husband was afraid of them, but said a cat would be fine. I argued that I hated litter boxes and couldn’t clean them pregnant, and he countered with “we’ll get one that cleans itself”. He researched and found the Littermaid system. It was a great system. It sensed when the cats went in to do their business, and ten minutes later self-raked and placed the “business” in a bin at the end of the box. This system worked for us for eight years. We would have to replace a box about every 2 years due to burned out motors or upgraded technology from the company. When we got our third cat, we added a second Littermaid and continued on our self-raking box way.
Every week, I begrudged trash night because it meant that I had to get on my hands and knees, scoop out anything the box didn’t catch, remove and replace the collection bin, wipe down the sides and rake of the machine, vacuum up the litter the cats tracked out of the box into the utility room (and really the rest of the house), and replace the used litter with fresh. Recently, one of the boxes died. It just refused to stop cleaning itself, and burned out its own motor with it’s obsessive compulsion. I saw a commercial on television for the Cat Genie, and decided that maybe we should switch over to the self-cleaning box. We did, and we have never looked back! Like the reviews I found online, I find the Genie far superior to the Littermaid, as long as you have a place in your home that it is possible to install.
What’s the difference? The Cat Genie actually cleans itself. I’m not joking. The cats go into it, and go to the bathroom. The machine senses that it has been used, and literally washes off the plastic pellet litter, flushes the business out of the house, and dries the pellets for the next use. It’s a cat toilet. Genius. I teased my mother in law for wanting one in the past. Well, the joke is on me. This thing is fantastic. I literally haven’t done my litter box in a month, other than to add some pellets to replace ones that had left during a flush (you only have to do this periodically). Trash night is no longer a chore! I still have to vacuum the room, but now instead of dust, its these little pellets that are actually clean (because they are washed!) and my house never smells like cat business anymore for more than 10 minutes (because it gets flushed!). I swear I enjoy my cats ten times more because now they are less work! I could even leave them at home when I go on a trip, with a friend to feed them, because I don’t have to feel guilty asking them to clean the box – There is nothing to clean! Oh, and rather than the suggested FOUR litter boxes (vets recommend one for each cat, plus one!) we have only ONE. All three cats switched over within a week to this system, and it has eliminated any out-of-the-box business in our house.
The unit is not inexpensive, but you save tons in the long run in both time and money spent on litter and recepticals. I wish I’d made the investment sooner! I have no affiliation with the company other than that I am a user/owner. I have received no compensation for this post, but hope that I might help a few of my readers to free themselves from the scoop-a-thon of owning a non-Genie style box :).
