[AddFran]

Okay, so for the last year or more, I've had the LitterMaid LM600 model (that you can buy from Target). Overall, I think it's worth it, but there are a few things that irritate me...like how the litter gets stuck in the grooves along the track...

Most of all, I'm not crazy about the fact that you have to tug pretty hard to remove the "waste" receptacle and you basically can't remember the dirty kitty mess without touching it. The removal process of this thing is not the greatest. My older cat loves it though. It's always clean inside. The kitten hasn't even found it yet.

On a daily basis is really nice not to have to scoop. However, just the other day I noticed that mine kinda pooped out. The light was flashing and it wasn't scooping the mess. I turned it on and off and it reset itself, but in the event it's time to retire it, I'm intersted in others opinions on the machine overall.

I have seen a new box called the "Purrforma" by Petmate. Now this looks like a cool machine. It has adjustable timing, the waste receptable is in the back. It has bags with little handles that sit inside the bin, this way you just open the door and pull the bag out and tie it up. No mess to TOUCH. It's 200.00 bucks though...

Has anyone tried this? If so, what are your thoughts. AND, again...what are your thoughts on the LitterMaid.

 

[AddFran]

Nobody??
Okay, my littermaid is definately on the fritz...was kind hoping I could get some input before i put the money into another one. Does anyone here have one, do they like it? Would you buy another? And again, do any of you have the purfforma?

I was also thinking about getting that Omega litterbox. It's not mechanical, but you tilt it to the side and the mess is supposed to fall into a little drawer that you just pull out and empty.

Thoughts????

 

[Zalensia]

I dont use any automatic litter boxes, so I cant help.
Just wanted to say that so you didnt think you were being ignored

 

[AddFran]

Thanks! That was very nice of you!

 

[kristi]

I have a littermaid and I'm looking forward to its death so I can buy a Litter Robot. Haven't heard of the Purrforma. Here's info on the Litter Robot:

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

 

[AddFran]

I was just looking into the litter robot. It seems a little pricey but if all the testimonials are true, it might be worth it. The only thing i don't like is that there is no ramp. I have a 9 week old kitten and that would take some reachin'. I know we could come up with something, but you'd think for that price, they would have EVERYTHING covered. I have considered buying yet another littermaid even for the interim because I've seen the refurbished ones on ebay for about 50 bucks.

Kristi, what do you hate about the littermaid? I really, really hate that waste bin removal. I'd almost rather scoop than have to maneuver that thing out of there. Icky!

The purrforma looks nice too. Less than the litter-robit, but looks much better than the littermaid. I just haven't met anyone who actually has it...yet it's on back order on nearly every website...so surely someone has it. Check it out.

http://www.petmate.com/Catalog.plx?ID=1678

 

[OsnobunnieO]

if I had the money, I might consider getting an automatic litter box, but its simply not an option right now. Plus, I've used clumping litter, but for some reason it doesn't clump right. Every time I would try to sift it out of the litter, it would just break up into a bunch of little pieces and mix in with the rest of it.

 

[AddFran]

I know what your mean. It is an investment. It's hard to drop that much cash on a kitty john! :O

I've had some problems with clumping litter breaking apart, but it turned out to be the litter. What are you using?

 

[OsnobunnieO]

I just use the crystals now, but I think I was using Tidy Cats. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure if it was clumping or not :? I'm a dork.

 

[AddFran]

I loved the crystals. Can't use them with the littermaid though. It's give and take, like anything I guess. The more i think about it, the littermaid is pretty cool...I just really want to hear from someone who has tried the purrforma.

I think for our second box I might swap it out for the omega paws. Atleast you don't have to sift/scoop - it does it foryou and you just have to empty that built in drawer!

 

[OsnobunnieO]

I think that other one, the Robot or whatever looks really good. I don't think my cat would ever go in it... it looks so tiny!

 

[Kittys Mom]

I *almost* bought the purrforma. It's a petmate product, so I thought it sounded pretty good. My old littermaid had died (after 5 years of use) and I thought I might get a purrforma for the second time around.

Well, I did a bunch of research on the purrforma. I found that it had been released too early (with too little testing done) and had a zillion problems. In fact petsmart pulled it from there shelves and stopped selling it until all the issues are resolved. I haven't seen it back at petsmart yet, so...I assume it's still being purrfected. :wink:

So I went ahead and bought another littermaid. I love 'em. One tip, like you said, when you remove the recepticle the litter kinda goes everywhere and you end up touching the cat stuff. I don't really have this problem. I buy those cheap garbage bags, the ones that come on a roll...Ruffies I think, the 4 gallon bags are perfect, 400 for a dollar or something. I line the recepticle with the garbage bag then...at the end of the week I just pull the bag out of the recepticle. You have to be careful you done tear the bag...but otherwise a lot easier than removing the plastic container. Also, you can just reline the same container...which saves a lot of money. One package of 12 plastic containers last me about a year.

 

[AddFran]

Wow! Thanks for the information on the Purrforma. I'm so bummed, it's looks so cool and the concept seems so much better. But....NOT if it has problems like you mentioned.

The idea of placing the bags inside the plastic container on the littermaid is a great idea. Thanks!

Also, which model of did you buy for your new littermaid, it seems that some models do better than others???

 

[Kittys Mom]

I bought the LM900. It's the largest box and allows more litter than the LM600 and LM500. I'm not sure what other differences there are, but I think the that the 500 and 600 each only have one sensor that stops the rake at the far end of the cycle. This broke on my old littermaid, and the new LM900 has 2 sensors, one as a back up. So that pleased me.

Here's a link to a discussion about the purrforma and the littermaid. I got a lot of my info from these people's experiences. They are discussing automatic litter boxes and moved into a comparison of the purrforma and the littermaid. Here's the address:
http://www.catfancy.com/anforum/topic.a ... hichpage=3

 

[AddFran]

First....your link actually was a link not just the typed address.
Good, but strange I think!

Next, thank you for the link to this forum...it's very useful. I think for now, I'll stick to the littermaid. They both seem to have there ups and downs, but the littermaid is less costly and I'm familiar with it.

I really appreciate your help. Thanks again. I reccommend that anyone else who was considering changing from the littermaid read that link to.

I've looked more and more at the litter-robot, but it just seems strange to me. Almost too good to be true and the opening is very tiny, while the machine sits up VERY high. Not so sure about that one, unless I can read testimonials that DON'T come straight from their website.

 

[Artful Badger]

I considered the performa as a littermaid replacement too but I think I may have read the same or a similar thread as what Kitty's mom linked to and had second thoughts.

What I don't like about littermaid is that the receptacle is too small (I have the mega model and my cats love it but with four cats it needs emptying before my garbage pickup). I also dislike the noise and the way it so easily gets bogged down if there's a millimeter too high of litter. I hope to find a box that is bigger, less mess, quieter and more reliable. Easier to clean would be nice too. Meanwhile I have used plastic bags to line the bin (as mentioned), put the thing on an appliance timer so we don't have to be woken by the noise, and I always leave it less than full litter-wise.

I agree about the litter robot. It would be nice to hear from someone who used it and is talking about it somewhere other than the manufacturers site. In a way the lack of negative reviews on cat forums is a good sign since the unhappy people would be sure to complain to others. Still it is pretty expensive and big to get on a whim.

~Heather

 

[kristi]

Here's a great forum set up just like this one but all about automated litter boxes--separate forums on the litter robot, littermaid, and a few others. It's why I decided on the Litter Robot once my Litter Maid dies.

http://www.litterbox-central.com/forum/

I hate getting the stupid receptacle out of the litter maid; you're always sure you're going to flick some crud in your eye. Plus, the bottom gums up so often and gets stuck if you don't scrape it every day. I used to have 2, but one died, and I actually find maintaining one is easier--I guess b/c I'm forced to check it more often and thus prevent more clogs.