If you’re considering gifting yourself—and your cat—an automatic litter box for the holidays, you’re not alone. You can tell what a big trend they are with 14 pages of different brands on Amazon alone!
They’re expensive but who wouldn’t be lured in by something doing all the scooping for you, packaging up your kitty’s waste in a nice, tidy bag?
But cats thrive on stability. They especially dislike change when it comes to where they do their business. Most of us wouldn’t appreciate finding our favorite toilets switched out to a noisy piece of equipment triple our toilet’s size either!
There are several types of automatic litter boxes. They range from about $150 to $700. The least expensive have a motorized rake that sifts through the litter up to 30 minutes later and rolls the waste into a container with a bag for disposal.
The most expensive are covered boxes with sensors that tell when the cat enters and exits. They then sweep the waste into a sealed container with a bag for disposal. Most are fairly quiet, but can still be scary to a shy cat.
These usually have a footprint about 2 feet square and 2.5 feet high, so they are not for small rooms, especially as most instruct not to put in corners.
They also must be leveled on completely flat surfaces, not on carpet. That rules out a lot of placement options and may relegate the box to bath or laundry rooms. Some companies tout their “designer” colors, but when only your cat, your washer and your dryer see the design, that’s hardly a benefit.
We all want our cats to consistently use their boxes. All reputable feline behavior experts say that you need to place litter boxes where the cats need them to be…not necessarily where you want them to be.
In multi-cat homes, one cat will often guard a box to bully others away. This is why it’s usually recommended to have one litter box per cat plus one for insurance.
Most companies say they need to be emptied twice a week for one cat, so that may be less maintenance than a regular box. But for two cats, they may need to be emptied every other day, not much improvement over daily scooping.
The more expensive ones say the chamber where the waste is stored is sealed for less odor. These weigh from about 35 – 55 pounds including litter, so moving them around for placement and cleaning is a consideration.
Ironically, sweeping the waste into a chamber increases the odor there as it keeps the litter from its normal job of absorbing odors. Most require clay litters, so if you use natural litters, they will not work for you.
They may be advertised as “hands-free” but like any litter box, they routinely need a complete cleaning with soap and water. Instead of a normal box, you will be cleaning one nearly two feet in diameter, inside and out, most likely with a hose outside.
And the ones with rakes? Think having to scrub the bars of a barbecue grill caked with clay litter.
Some designs tout less litter tracking, with some having a ledge purported to catch litter before the cat exits completely. Others come with a simple litter-trapping pad, the same as you can buy for any regular litter box.
Another consideration is access to the box. In some designs, that additional ledge is higher off the ground, which can be bad for senior kitties. Some have small entries that don’t work for cats over 10-12 pounds.
A litter box should be half again as long as your largest cats so they can turn around in it. None of the auto boxes we reviewed met that criteria for cats over about 12 pounds.
Most were dangerous for kittens under 6 months as their sensors couldn’t tell when small animals were inside and might start revolving, trapping the kitten.
In the veterinary field, cat output of urine and stool is known as their “ins and outs.” Your own cats’ ins/outs are an excellent way to monitor their overall health.
The good news about any covered litter box is that you don’t have to see or smell their ins/outs. The bad news is that you often don’t get to see or smell their ins/outs.
If you’re not monitoring their output, you could miss things like blood in urine or stool, an increase/decrease in urine or stool or softening/ hardening of stool.
The most expensive automatic litter boxes tout app that monitor your cat but they only monitor weights and when cats enter and exit, not actual ins/outs. If you have more than one cat, this is only helpful if they are distinctively different weights.
Some apps don’t save historical data so you can’t tell if anything has increased or decreased.
Most boxes require “accessories” that can add big costs to your litter box budget. These can range from specialty bags for the waste chamber to filters to “deodorizers” that add toxic chemicals to the mix. Some take special litters as well.
Keep in mind that any added fragrance does not remove odors. No fragrances in any litter or litter box is researched to be safe for any cat and are suspected of contributing to issues such as kidney disease, hyperthyroidism and cancer, to name a few.
One odd advantage is that some cats are fascinated by the mechanism’s movement and enjoy watching it work. This usually goes along with how confident your cat is.
If you (or your cat!) don’t like the box, most come with a money back guarantee, but you will have to pay for shipping to return, estimated around $75 for the large, US-made boxes. Offshore boxes will cost more to return. And you will have to clean the box thoroughly or you will be charged an additional fee.
There are lots of reasons not to use an automatic litter box, but the biggest reason for having one is if you are having physical trouble maintaining your cat’s box now. If it hurts you to scoop for your kitty, you will be less apt to meet his or her instinctual needs for a clean, sandy place to eliminate.
If you are considering an automatic litter box for these reasons, the Litter Robot 4 is the most highly recommended, with the Litter Robot 3 a close second. These have been produced since 2001 and the company continues to improve them. They are also American made, so both the quality and customer support are better than most offshore copies.
The most effective way to use one and still monitor your cat’s actual ins/outs is to keep the device on Manual so you are there when it removes the waste. Combining that with the app’s info on weight and frequency will keep your cat’s report card current.
If you commit your budget to this device, make sure you place the new auto box next to the old one, keeping the old one in place. This gives your kitty the chance to try out the new one alongside the comfort of the old one. If your cat shows approval by using the new box at least 90% of the time, you can then remove the old box.
If your cat doesn’t adapt but you still need another option, you might consider the PetSafe ScoopFree box with crystal litter. These boxes are expensive and the crystal litter may be carcinogenic, but they may work as a last resort as they can be kept on a table where they are more accessible.
If you have more than two cats, please consider getting another Litter Robot. A big fancy litter box doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a place where cats interact, leaving each other scent messages and sometimes guarding access. You may be able to get by with one litter box per two cats at a minimum.
Beware this last option: this design rotates the litter from the front up into a small space above the chamber. The sensors are not reliable and it has been known to maul or kill cats and kittens who accidentally get caught in the mechanism.
It is being sold by various Chinese companies that remove negative reviews and reappear under different names. This is the design to avoid; look for a small round opening with a crescent shaped panel at the bottom.
For most of us, daily scooping and bi-weekly cleanup of litter boxes will prove to be easier and certainly cheaper than an automatic box. And the biggest gift? Your cat will thank you by not going outside of his or her favorite normal box!
Sara Ferguson is the Director of Happy Cats Haven, a feline rescue and adoption center in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Her cats do fine with normal large boxes and natural litters.
