Report - self-cleaning litterbox

As I mentioned in a previous post, my breother gave me (us?)
a Littermaid for Christmas. The cats have adapted well,
other than a couple of initial incidents with Melisande. She
had gotten in the habit of parking with all four feet in the
old box, but the "business end" hanging just enough over so
her solid deposits were often made to the floor, requiring
me to use a piece of tissue to relocate them. With the
Littermaid, she couldn't quite get past the rim of the box,
but a deposit onto the LID of the waste receptacle had the
same effect (at second-hand). When the rake moves across,
the lid raises and tips backward to allow the rake to empty
its contents into the bin. Of course when the lid raised,
it tipped contents on its surface onto the floor!

Having a box that is always free of prior waste deposits
seems to be correcting that habit. Now if I can just
persuade her not to curiously watch the rake's operation,
then get into the box to sniff at the rake when it returns
to "home" position.... (There are sensors which register
when there is a cat in the box and then set the rake in
motion about ten minutes after the cat leaves, so she has
prompted quite a few unnecessary cleaning cycles!)

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

Now if I can just
persuade her not to curiously watch the rake's operation,
then get into the box to sniff at the rake when it returns
to "home" position.... (There are sensors which register
when there is a cat in the box and then set the rake in
motion about ten minutes after the cat leaves, so she has
prompted quite a few unnecessary cleaning cycles!)

She'll probably get bored with that after a while.

Joyce
--
To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

Well, Willow cat had at first felt the need to jump in after any of the
other two had been there just to make sure it returns to the correct
position, She got bored with it and while still does sometimes, not as much.
wrote in message
...
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

Now if I can just
persuade her not to curiously watch the rake's operation,
then get into the box to sniff at the rake when it returns
to "home" position.... (There are sensors which register
when there is a cat in the box and then set the rake in
motion about ten minutes after the cat leaves, so she has
prompted quite a few unnecessary cleaning cycles!)

She'll probably get bored with that after a while.

Joyce
--
To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

On Jan 19, 3:25*pm, wrote:
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

* Now if I can just
* persuade her not to curiously watch the rake's operation,
* then get into the box to sniff at the rake when it returns
* to "home" position.... *(There are sensors which register
* when there is a cat in the box and then set the rake in
* motion about ten minutes after the cat leaves, so she has
* prompted quite a few unnecessary cleaning cycles!)

She'll probably get bored with that after a while.

A friend of hubby's has two of those. Both of his masters, litter
mates, boy and girl (but I don't know their names, sorry) seem to like
to sit there and set off the sensors.

When they are bored, usually at 2 or 3 in the morning. He comes out
and they are jumping in, jumping out, and sitting and watching. He's
had his for a couple of years now. They still aren't bored with it
(hee).


Joyce
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To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

"Smokie Darling (Annie)" wrote:

She'll probably get bored with that after a while.

A friend of hubby's has two of those. Both of his masters, litter
mates, boy and girl (but I don't know their names, sorry) seem to like
to sit there and set off the sensors.

When they are bored, usually at 2 or 3 in the morning. He comes out
and they are jumping in, jumping out, and sitting and watching. He's
had his for a couple of years now. They still aren't bored with it
(hee).

That's hilarious. A waste of energy, but hilarious.

I still don't understand why they don't make manually operated littermaid
boxes, that will only do their thing when you press a button or flip a
switch, etc. That way, there's no risk of having the thing go off at the
wrong moment, and scaring the cat off ever using the box again, or having
them play with it at 3 in the morning.

Is there a *disadvantage* to a manual switch? I mean, other than the
human having to, OMG the horror, actually push a button?

Joyce
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To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

kirjoitti:
"Smokie Darling (Annie)" wrote:

She'll probably get bored with that after a while.

A friend of hubby's has two of those. Both of his masters, litter
mates, boy and girl (but I don't know their names, sorry) seem to like
to sit there and set off the sensors.

When they are bored, usually at 2 or 3 in the morning. He comes out
and they are jumping in, jumping out, and sitting and watching. He's
had his for a couple of years now. They still aren't bored with it
(hee).

That's hilarious. A waste of energy, but hilarious.

I still don't understand why they don't make manually operated littermaid
boxes, that will only do their thing when you press a button or flip a
switch, etc. That way, there's no risk of having the thing go off at the
wrong moment, and scaring the cat off ever using the box again, or having
them play with it at 3 in the morning.

Is there a *disadvantage* to a manual switch? I mean, other than the
human having to, OMG the horror, actually push a button?

Joyce

Do they operate by an electric cable plugged into a wall outlet or some
kind of battery?? Or something else entirely?? If by cable, then one
could just unplug it, and if by battery, take it out when you don't want
the box to operate.

--
Christine in Laitila, Finland
christal63 (at) gmail (dot) com

Christine K. wrote:

I still don't understand why they don't make manually operated littermaid
boxes, that will only do their thing when you press a button or flip a
switch, etc. That way, there's no risk of having the thing go off at the
wrong moment, and scaring the cat off ever using the box again, or having
them play with it at 3 in the morning.

Do they operate by an electric cable plugged into a wall outlet or some
kind of battery?? Or something else entirely?? If by cable, then one
could just unplug it, and if by battery, take it out when you don't want
the box to operate.

That's a good question. I don't know.

If it plugs into the wall, you could always rig up a power strip that
has an on/off switch, and pretend it's the on/off switch on the litter
box. If it runs on batteries, that would be a pain in the butt,
especially since battery locations on machinery tend to be in hard-to-
reach places.

Also, the cleaning mechanism is triggered by an electric eye that "sees"
the cat getting in and out. So you'd have to make sure to trip the sensor
once you've plugged it in (or turned on the power strip/snapped in the
battery, etc.).

All I want is a button that accomplishes the same function as the sensor.
And a "manual mode" so the sensor doesn't operate. If there were self-
cleaning litterboxes like that, I might consider getting one.

While we're on the topic, does anyone have one of those "Cat Genie"
litterboxes? I've seen it advertised on TV, but don't know anyone who
actually has one. This one not only removes waste automatically, but
it liquifies everything, flushes it down the toilet, and then *washes
and dries* the litter. Sounds great, but also sounds like, with all
those different phases of operation and all those moving parts, there
are many opportunities for something to go wrong. (And you *really*
don't want your cat deliberately triggering the mechanism for laughs.)
I have no idea how much these things cost, but I'm sure they're not
cheap.

Joyce

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To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

hopitus wrote:


LOL - now some French from Hopitus, Evelyn...*Sacre Bleu!*
- one of my Canadian pals' favorites - I hear those Littermaids
take getting used to, not only for the cats, but owners as well.

Well, I'm a rather light sleeper, so even though it's not
loud, the whine when it goes into operation sometimes
awakens me. However, so far it shuts down after the first
or second trip. (If not, it's supposed to stop after about
five passes and simply sit there with a red light blinking
until the problem is corrected - no beeps or sirens or
anything.)

Common reaction of cats is fright at the noise it makes.

Fortunately mine seem more curious than frightened - and its
sensors are set up so if a cat re-enters the box during the
"waiting" interval, or when the rake is still moving, it
stops until the box is again cat-free, then starts the timer
again.

As
we all know, cats are not cut from a mold and all have their
own personality and temperament. Congrats on your new
Littermaid, they're expensive wherever I've seen them and
you are all lucky (you and cats). What a great holiday gift.

I thought so too! I had seen them advertised, and sort of
drooled over them, but as you say, they are quite expensive,
so I never expected to own one. (My brother has done well
for himself, financially, but I've never felt he owed me
anything - we all started out even, and if I made different
choices in life, that's no one's fault but my own.)

wrote:

"Smokie Darling (Annie)" wrote:

She'll probably get bored with that after a while.

A friend of hubby's has two of those. Both of his masters, litter
mates, boy and girl (but I don't know their names, sorry) seem to like
to sit there and set off the sensors.

When they are bored, usually at 2 or 3 in the morning. He comes out
and they are jumping in, jumping out, and sitting and watching. He's
had his for a couple of years now. They still aren't bored with it
(hee).

That's hilarious. A waste of energy, but hilarious.

I still don't understand why they don't make manually operated littermaid
boxes, that will only do their thing when you press a button or flip a
switch, etc. That way, there's no risk of having the thing go off at the
wrong moment, and scaring the cat off ever using the box again, or having
them play with it at 3 in the morning.

Is there a *disadvantage* to a manual switch? I mean, other than the
human having to, OMG the horror, actually push a button?

Oh, you CAN operate them manually - just turn the switch on
when you want it to clean and off when it finishes. (In
fact, the manufacturer suggests you do so for a few days,
until the cats are accustomed to the new box.) However, it
seems to work better if it sweeps automatically, so the
debris doesn't build up. (You have to keep the litter level
much lower than you are probably used to, or it either won't
operate at all, or keeps going back and forth without
shutting off.)

wrote:
"Smokie Darling (Annie)" wrote:

She'll probably get bored with that after a while.

A friend of hubby's has two of those. Both of his masters, litter
mates, boy and girl (but I don't know their names, sorry) seem to
like to sit there and set off the sensors.

When they are bored, usually at 2 or 3 in the morning. He comes out
and they are jumping in, jumping out, and sitting and watching. He's
had his for a couple of years now. They still aren't bored with it
(hee).

That's hilarious. A waste of energy, but hilarious.

I still don't understand why they don't make manually operated
littermaid boxes, that will only do their thing when you press a
button or flip a switch, etc. That way, there's no risk of having the
thing go off at the wrong moment, and scaring the cat off ever using
the box again, or having them play with it at 3 in the morning.

Is there a *disadvantage* to a manual switch? I mean, other than the
human having to, OMG the horror, actually push a button?

Joyce

How about a remote control? ;-)
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk