Owning a cat and getting home to friendly rubs and cuddles is a dream for most pet lovers. They are friendly, clean, and have a calming effect especially after a long bad day. The sound of their purring as you sleep is so relaxing.
This fairy story doesn’t end there because the thought of constant scooping of the cat’s litter box can quickly dim your plans on acquiring a cat. It can be a tedious, repetitive and gross affair that takes up your time and efforts. Who wants to keep cleaning a smelly kitty box anyway?
Lucky for you, automatic litter boxes are here to solve your biggest problem.
WHAT IS AN AUTOMATIC LITTER BOX?
Automatic litter boxes also called self-cleaning boxes are a technological advancement that makes this whole scooping business hands free as the litter box is self-cleaning and doesn’t require manual scooping.
How amazing can that be!
COMMON FEATURES OF THE BEST SELF CLEANING LITTER BOXES
They operate best with clumping cat litter.
They include:
- Gadgets that roll over and trap the litter clumps:
The Everclean Self-scooping Litter Box falls under this.
Here, the cat’s litter box may have a snap-on cover that has a scooping screen. By simply rolling the box over once, the screen proceeds to trap the litter waste clumps after which you open the lid and empty the litter waste.
The Omega Paw Self-cleaning litter box with a hood is also popular. Here, you roll the top of the box 180 degrees to the floor and return back to the original position and thus the litter waste is removed. The waste goes into a removable kitty tray for disposal. Once this happens, the clean cat litter falls back into the litter box for fresh use.
- The deluxe fully automatic systems with electric eye sensors:
These boxes barely require you as a cat owner to do anything.
They are powered by batteries and such products include the LitterMaid and the Petmate Purrforma Plus self-cleaning litter boxes.
These are generally more expensive but are fully self-cleaning.
It involves filling the box with clumping cat litter after which your cat will use the litter box normally.
About ten minutes later after the cat uses and leaves the LitterMaid litter box, an infrared sensor detects that the pet has left the crate and it signals an automatic programmed sifting comb to rake through the cat litter and scoop up any waste.
This is then deposited into an airtight sealed box. In the meantime, the brush skims easily over the litter, comes back to its original position and is prepared to rehash the cycle.
The Petmate Purrforma, in addition, is a gigantic hooded self-cleaning system that too utilizes infrared sensors to recognize when a feline enters and leaves the unit.
You fill the case with clumping litter, and after a flexible ten to twenty-minute delay, the litter box rakes the waste into an enormous capacity box, sealing away the clumps in an expendable sack.
You basically expel the sack and drop it in the waste bin.
The container accompanies a paw-cleaning incline that limits tracking litter onto the floor.
ARE AUTOMATIC LITTER BOXES WORTH IT?
To clearly understand if they are a worthy investment, let’s explore the benefits and the cons of the self-cleaning litter boxes.
Benefits:
- Saves on cleaning time that would have been spent scooping the box.
- They help reduce odors since they remove the waste more frequently.
- Cushions you in case of long absences, where the risk of finding a messy litter box is high.
Cons:
- Some don’t work as efficiently as they should.
- Not the best option for a multi-cat household unless you have one for each cat, plus an extra automatic litter box.
- It may not be 100% automatic and requires manual input such as emptying the waste receptacle to unclogging the rake.
- Your cat may just not like it. Some get scared by the automatic flushing sound and may avoid it altogether.
