The Best Self-Cleaning Litter Box for Multiple Cats? – Check out Litter Robot

You’re thinking about buying a self-cleaning litter box, but you’re also maybe concerned that this is totally extra. Been there, done that. When considering adding this space-aged poop scooping device to our household of 4 cats (and 2 dogs), I knew I needed to do my homework so that I chose the best automatic litter box for our family. After all… they can be kind of expensive. Fortunately, I found my way to the Litter Robot.

What exactly is a Litter Robot?

Simply put… it’s an automated system for cleaning up your cat poop box. It’s a covered litter box consisting of a big sphere on top of a box. The box is what contains a compartment for the waste to fall into, and that’s lined with a plastic bag – which is the only thing you’ll be dealing with. No more poop scoopin’ for you my friend!

But if you’re keen to know the mechanics and what makes it so special, here’s how it works…

How the Litter Robot Works

The sphere is what your cat will actually walk into and do their business. Once a cat is inside of the sphere, the Litter Robot has sensors that pick up on the weight of your cat (it’s ideal for cats to weigh at least 5 pounds before using this product so that sensor acknowledges them) and it’s this sensor that will trigger again once your cat has finished doing their thing and has left the “box”.

Once your cat leaves, the Litter Robot will get to work in 3, 7, or 15 minutes – whichever you choose (which you can totally control from the app if you buy the Litter Robot 3 Connect).

That’s when the magic happens, and the clean cycle begins.

The sphere portion of the Litter Robot will begin to rotate and essentially it will sift the litter through a sort of netting. Whatever doesn’t sift through the netting is dumped as waste into the bottom compartment. Goodbye poop! The sphere will turn and resettle the litter so that it’s ready for its next use.

Why you’ll love it (and your cats will too!)

If you’re anything like us, you have multiple cats and a heck of a lot of litter boxes to regularly keep up with. I mean, we’ve got 4 cats and 5 litter boxes across a 2 story home. It’s a lot of work to keep them clean, and our cats never hesitate to let us know when it isn’t up to their standards.

To be fair, I wouldn’t like it very much if I had to step on my poop to use the bathroom either. So let’s start there…

✅ Hygenic & Better for Cats

If you’re grossed out by the idea that your cats have to step on their waste in order to use the bathroom, you’re in good company. The Litter Robot eliminates this problem by automatically cleaning the litter box for you. You get to choose between 3 different wait time settings (3, 7, or 15 minutes) depending on your needs.

If you’re like us, that means choosing a 7 minute timer so that the litter has time to clump, but also isn’t sitting out in the open box for too long. This leads to a huge reduction in odor. This has been the biggest plus for us because most of our regular litter boxes are upstairs, and even with regular cleaning I feel like the smell can become… well, a bit much.

The Litter Robot cleans up the waste for you and traps it into a compartment and I swear… you can’t smell it.

Oliver was immediately curious, and I’m pretty sure he was the first to use it. I like that there’s a night light to help elderly cats during night visits (although none of ours are quite there yet).

✅ Goodbye Kitty Krunchies

If your dog is disgusting and thinks the cats are leaving presents just for him (ugh why are our dogs so freaking gross!?), then you’ll love using the 3 minute setting so that the box gets cleaned up faster. Hey, no judgement from me… because I don’t think I’ve ever managed to scoop litter boxes myself within 3 minutes of my cats using it.

I find our dogs are less prone to sticking their heads inside of things. A regular litter box is so open and… dare I use the word “inviting”? Gross. Soooo gross. I genuinely think that due to the size of the Litter Robot, our dogs view it as just another piece of furniture. Pair that with the lack of odor, it’s like they don’t even notice it.

Our kitty krunchies eaters, Alfred and Bane. They aren’t Litter Robot fans, for obvious reasons. haha

✅ Less Litter Outside of the Box

Do any of your cats kick up litter like it’s their life’s mission to make as much of a mess as possible? That’s what it’s like living with Thea, cat #3. Bless her little heart, it’s like she can’t help herself. Believe me, she knows what she’s doing and she stops when we call her name.

Fortunately, this litter box has helped a lot with this issue. Yes, she still kicks litter around like the little asshole she is, but at least now there is a large enough enclosure that she can’t get much (if anything) outside of the container. When paired with the ramp (which I totally recommend getting), you’ll find a lot less tracked litter.

I consider this the biggest of wins, because there’s nothing my husband or I hate more than to step in litter with our bare feet. Gross.

✅ Less Wasting Litter

Speaking of litter… You’re going to waste a lot less of it. That’s because the Litter Robot does all the sifting and cleaning for you. I love that although this crazy contraption was what we consider to be expensive, we’re saving money constantly on litter (and Jeremy is pleased to not have to carry litter up the stairs as often).

Things You Might Not Like

Let’s be reasonable… nothing can please everyone, and at the end of the day it’s just a robotic litter box. There’s going to be some cons just as there are pros, and they could be deal breakers for you. Here are some things we took notice of. They may not apply to your home, but it’s worth knowing, right?

⚠️ It’s Pretty Big

Okay, maybe you’re already expecting that from the pictures… but in case you weren’t, you should know that it’s a fairly large litter box. It’s bigger than any other type of enclosed litter box I’ve seen. It isn’t likely to fit most places you’re accustomed to hiding your litter box away.

The good news is that you probably hide your regular litter box or tuck it away to keep it from dogs, or because you don’t like unsightliness of a pooped in box, or due to the smell – all of which are problems that the Litter Robot solves. I wouldn’t go sticking it in your kitchen or anything, but you might be able to have a more open mind of where to put your litter box if you have one that self-cleans.

On a personal note, whoever designed our house clearly has never had cats. There’s no place reasonable to put a regular litter box (seriously, it doesn’t even fit in either bathroom upstairs). We’ve tried covered options, but ran into issue with the dogs eating kitty crunchies (ew) before we could clean the box.

We also tried litter box enclosure furniture, but two of our cats are little assholes and like to pee against walls if the box is to close to one – which resulted in them peeing all over the inside of the enclosure furniture and ruining it almost immediately. The Litter Robot eliminated all of those issues for us.

But if all of this still seems like a deal breaker to you and you really don’t want the Litter Robot out in the open, check out their Litter Box Storage Cabinet. Not only was it designed to cover the litter box completely, you can also use it as decorative furniture!

The opening can be on either side, so the entrance to it is tucked away from the view of any of your guests (or you, if you just really want to pretend like there aren’t a bunch of cats pooping in the room with you).

⚠️ It Makes Noises

Is it loud? No, but I’m letting you know right now that the Litter Robot makes noise. One of my friends bought one too, and she commented about how she didn’t expect it to “be so loud” – although we clearly have different definitions of what is and isn’t “loud”. Haha.

I personally think any noise it makes is a small price to pay for not having to bend over and get my face all up in the litter box area and scoop up the shit my cat just proudly dropped. But if you’re easily woken up at night, or you don’t want to risk it waking up your kids during nap time, you can set Sleep Mode and turn off the cleaning function in 8 hour blocks (and change it however often you need).

⚠️ You Still Have to do Work

Try to keep in mind that the Litter Robot is just an automatic litter box, and that it’s job is to self-clean the litter… You still have to put in the work to empty it. I know, I know… I wish we could both be lazy and just never have to deal with cat poop again, but that’s the reality of being a cat owner.

Because we have 4 cats, it means we have to empty the tray more often – because 4 cats are using the Litter Robot (although we have opted to keep 2 regular boxes as well). The good news is that while we still have to do the work, we are spending a lot less time week after week sweeping up litter Thea kicked around, remembering to close the door so that Alfred doesn’t get to cat poop and have a snack, or scooping out litter boxes (and wasting a ton of litter in the process).

Is it worth it?

Would I recommend that my friends run out and spend hundreds of dollars on a self cleaning litter box? Probably not. That’s because I recognize how #extra this really is, and that the price tag can be steep for some. But if my friends were genuinely considering getting one for any of the reasons we splurged on the Litter Robot… yes, I’d tell them to buy this one.

We still have regular litter boxes in our home. Since 4 cats is the recommended maximum per Litter Robot, and because we have a 2-story home, it just makes sense to keep some regular boxes around. They are an annoying reminder of the amount of work involved in cleaning them compared to our new traditional litter box alternative.

Still, it’s really nice knowing that our beloved cats (assholes as they may often be) are able to always have at least one litter box that’s always clean – especially during times where we might go out of town for a few days. After all… we use things like automatic feeders and water bowls, so why not get the best self cleaning litter box for them too?

Have you been considering an automatic litter box?

Comment below if you have questions about the Litter Robot – I’m happy to answer them so that you can make the best choice for your family.

 

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