What's your take on Litter-Robots?

Johnv713

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I scoop my cat litter boxes multiple times a day but the smell is still unbearable. It's simple not healthy for me or my cats breathing in the stench. Does anyone own a Litter robot? Is it worth shelling out the $$ to get one? Thanks!
 

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In my opinion, it's not worth the money. If smell is your issue and you already scoop multiple times a day, then having a robot scoop multiple times a day isn't going to change anything.
You should look into better odor-controlling litter, air purifiers, litterbox additives to help control smell, or something else along those lines.
 
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Johnv713

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I've tried just about everything under the sun to control the odor to no avail. I changed their diets, litters, probiotics, air purifiers , etc. The only thing i havent tried is to bring my cats to the vet to have them tested. I thought Litter robots move the poop to an enclosed reservoir/compartment to help woth the smell, no?
 

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What litter are you using? I have one cat with especially stinky deposits, he’s been tested for everything. We just call him stinky. My other cats have normal levels of poo smell.

In my opinion the litter robot is not worth it. It does not lock away the smell first of all it just festers in that drawer. A litter genie is better for trapping the scooped smell,

Secondly when it spins it sometimes leaves nice streaks of dirty litter, pee or poo on the inner dome so that when your cat uses it the fur rubs up against the soil. Yes I tried with varying timers, it still does this from the way it spins. You can imagine how good they smell after that. Also no litter I found would stop the inner part from being coated in dust daily (yes even natural clumping litters) so unless you are taking it apart daily to wipe it out your cats will be rubbing against soiled walls inside of the globe . Even the smaller cats because these robots are not big enough for average cats to turn around. I think the litter robots create more gross sanitary problems than they help. I know some of you use and love them but honestly just looking at photos or videos from people that say “there’s no mess!” I can see all thedust, debris and stuck litter inside the globe! Your cat is potentially (likely from the videos Igot) rubbing against it or being adverse to it.

Also the way the grate is it allows for small chunks of pee and poo to stillbe inside the box after “cleaning” no matter what litter you use. This resulted in some fun poop feet.

Are your boxes covered? Honestly covered boxes trap the smell and make it worse.
 
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Johnv713

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I'm currently using Tidy cat Naturally Strong clumping litter which i find helps the most. I tried non clumping, unscented litter, pine pellets, wood shavings, crystals, etc. My boxes are high sides and uncovered.
 

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I've tried just about everything under the sun to control the odor to no avail. I changed their diets, litters, probiotics, air purifiers , etc. The only thing i havent tried is to bring my cats to the vet to have them tested. I thought Litter robots move the poop to an enclosed reservoir/compartment to help woth the smell, no?
What are they eating? I've found that diet is the culprit more often than not when there is litterbox odor. When I first got the girls from the shelter, they were eating Science Diet dry food which is what they recommended (what I didn't know at the time is that the shelter is sponsored by Hills :rolleyes: ). I didn't know any better so I did. The smell coming from the box could have a knocked a buzzard out of the sky. I could have scooped 20 times a day and it wouldn't have helped one bit. I found this site and from everything I read, I decided to put them on a mostly wet food diet. The journey to find the right wet food is a story unto itself but they still eat mostly wet food. Their poop does not smell AT ALL. Lilith still demands dry food so she gets it. The only dry she will eat is Dr. Elsey's chicken. It's a very high quality food. Sophie is a wet food fan so she pretty much ignores the dry unless she needs a snack.
 

crouton

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I'm currently using Tidy cat Naturally Strong clumping litter which i find helps the most. I tried non clumping, unscented litter, pine pellets, wood shavings, crystals, etc. My boxes are high sides and uncovered.
Honestly that’s one of the worst litters I used for smells. For us dr elseys unscented is best for the smells at least. I’ve tried all the litters too.

I agree on the food point. What are they eating?
 
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Johnv713

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I went from cheap walmart dry food and Friskies cans then switched to a raw diet. Now everyone on Purina one grain free and Fancy Feast. I swear you can smell their poops way up in the International Space Station :)
 

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I went from cheap walmart dry food and Friskies cans then switched to a raw diet. Now everyone on Purina one grain free and Fancy Feast. I swear you can smell their poops way up in the International Space Station :)
They could have a reaction fo the grain free food and fancy feast making the poops stinky. If my cats touch a food with the peas, flax, beans, chickpea,lentils, inulin and other ingredients common in grain free food they fart up a storm before having terrible poops and the smell is horrendous.

Why did you stop the raw? My cats can’t handle raw due to protein issues. They do better on a diet with some grain.
 
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Johnv713

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I prematurely stop feeding raw because some of my cats didnt like it. The ones that did still have smelly poops. How how much better is the litter genie?
 

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The litter genie is great for those of us that clean boxes often but can’t get to the trashcan easily every time. For my three cats I change the genie bag every 5-6 days sometimes every 7 whenever it’s full. Are you just scooping into a trashbwg now?
 

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Both of my cats eat raw and only one has super stinky poop. It's just the way his gastrointestinal tract works :dunno: What kind of raw did you try? A commercial brand? Homemade? Some people say adding a probiotic helps minimize poop odor.

Where are your litter boxes located? A closed off location with poor ventilation is going to make odors more noticeable than a well ventilated area. You can try running a small fan near the litter boxes. Adding a container of odor absorber or just a box of baking soda near the litter boxes can be helpful. You can even sprinkle baking soda into the litter to help with odors.
 
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Johnv713

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I scoop into double grocery bags and in the outside trash can they go. I fed mostly raw chicken. The boxes are located in ventilated areas ofvthe house. Ive tried odor absorber from walmart and Amazon. Sadly they didnt help much.
 

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I scoop my cat litter boxes multiple times a day but the smell is still unbearable. It's simple not healthy for me or my cats breathing in the stench. Does anyone own a Litter robot? Is it worth shelling out the $$ to get one? Thanks!
I use Clump Seal and Slide both Arm & Hammer brands no dust, keeps odor down and you can put litter box deodorizer in bottom of litterbox before adding litter when you clean each day. How often do you change the box. With multiple cats do they have a box for themselves, they shouldn't be sharing box, this multiplies your problem.

In changing box I mean throw out the litter that is in the box and replace with new litter. You may be scooping daily but you must change that litter in that box. This coupd be your problem. I have four cats none use a litter genie and my house doesn't smell like a litter box.


crouton said:
Honestly that’s one of the worst litters I used for smells. For us dr elseys unscented is best for the smells at least. I’ve tried all the litters too.

I agree on the food point. What are they eating?
Tidy Cats litter is the worst. You need Clump Seal or Slide by Arm & Hammer. Make sure you replace the litter in box (Not talking about adding, weekly)Make sure they all have individual litter boxes. You will find one box may need more attention than the others and you can add cat litter deodorizer or Pet carpet deodorizer powders to very bottom of the litterbox then put litter on top. That way when they scratch the deodorizer smell is present.


Johnv713 said:
I scoop into double grocery bags and in the outside trash can they go. I fed mostly raw chicken. The boxes are located in ventilated areas ofvthe house. Ive tried odor absorber from walmart and Amazon. Sadly they didnt help much.
Use cat litterbox deodorizer or pet carpet deodorizer in bottom of litter box. Arm & Hammer or Love my Carpet Pet. Dollar Tree or dollar store sells them.
 
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crouton

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Tidy Cats litter is the worst. You need Clump Seal or Slide by Arm & Hammer. Make sure you replace the litter in box (Not talking about adding, weekly)Make sure they all have individual litter boxes. You will find one box may need more attention than the others and you can add cat litter deodorizer or Pet carpet deodorizer powders to very bottom of the litterbox then put litter on top. That way when they scratch the deodorizer smell is present.
I personally can’t use clump and seal because it smells like a bottle of Jean Nate drugstore cologne exploded. And it got stuck in my cats feet every single time they used it. Made their eyes water and allergies act up with the stench. Also it tracked all over despite my house having every kind of cat litter mat.

Dr elseys works fine for us.
 

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I'm currently using Tidy cat Naturally Strong clumping litter which i find helps the most. I tried non clumping, unscented litter, pine pellets, wood shavings, crystals, etc. My boxes are high sides and uncovered.
The difference in the dusty non-clumping litter is you can remove the solids and scoop less. The scoopable will allow you to scoop more without the dust. Arm & Hammer Clump Seal and Slide are the best and give 7 day guarantee before you may need to dump out litterbox and replace.
 

Lenabunnie

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What are they eating? I've found that diet is the culprit more often than not when there is litterbox odor. When I first got the girls from the shelter, they were eating Science Diet dry food which is what they recommended (what I didn't know at the time is that the shelter is sponsored by Hills :rolleyes: ). I didn't know any better so I did. The smell coming from the box could have a knocked a buzzard out of the sky. I could have scooped 20 times a day and it wouldn't have helped one bit. I found this site and from everything I read, I decided to put them on a mostly wet food diet. The journey to find the right wet food is a story unto itself but they still eat mostly wet food. Their poop does not smell AT ALL. Lilith still demands dry food so she gets it. The only dry she will eat is Dr. Elsey's chicken. It's a very high quality food. Sophie is a wet food fan so she pretty much ignores the dry unless she needs a snack.
That is soo true. Whatever you feed them if it disagrees with them will be telling at the litterbox.
 
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Johnv713

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I completely change out the litter box every week without fail. I tried an pet carper odor deodorizer from walmart 2 days ago and it seem to help a little bit. I'll try Clump Seal or A&H next time im there.
 
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