I have said for a year now that if we ever get another cat, I want a Litter Maid! My least favorite part of owning a cat is dealing with the crap box. I wanted to make it as easy as possible the next time around.  On the way home from picking up the kittens last week, I stopped to purchase this one. It rates poorly on Amazon, but I didn’t know that at the time. I got a bit nervous when I saw all the reviews, but I would not be deterred.

I set it up right away. It didn’t work.  It just kept making this weird clicking sound. Rather than assuming Amazon customers may have been on to something, I decided to read the instructions. This is when I learned that the cleaning rake was strapped to the box for packaging. Oops. A quick clip with my scissors and we were in business! I couldn’t wait for one of the cats to do his so I could see it in action. (Yes, I realize how odd that is.)

We have now been using this for over a week and I have changed the receptacle once.  It is such an amazing change over scooping and dealing with disgusting litter.  The Littermaid really does keep the litter scooped throughout the day. It has a sleep setting at night so you don’t have to hear the motor (which, unfortunately, is exceptionally loud) and runs in the morning at the time you have set to wake.  If the cats are overly, ahem, productive at night, I’ve noticed the rake does have a bit of difficulty on that first run.

We have 2 kittens and it seems to fill the waste receptacle after about 5 days.  I’m sure once they grow, it fill even more quickly. I’m searching for a greener solution.  However, it is so freaking handy to just push in the lid, lift the waste arm and throw the box of crap into the garbage.  I never see it, I never touch it and I don’t even have to smell it.  I just hate the idea of throwing away a plastic box every 3 or 4 days.  I don’t even throw away butter containers!

All in all, I’m pretty pleased (especially considering the reviews I read).  I’ll never go back to a traditional litter box again.  I’ll be even happier once I get the chance to purchase a cover for it.  The cats seem to scatter the litter just by jumping into it.  Also, the handy paw scraping carpet doesn’t really have an impact if they just jump over the back upon exit.  The cover will limit they’re entry & exit to the front where the carpet can actually help scrape the litter dust from their feet (I hope). At the very least, it should stop them from tossing litter over the side of the box.

The next part of my litter box solution is finding a better home for it. It is currently in our bedroom which pleases me not one bit, but we’re currently co-sleeping.  More accurately, they’re sharing our bed while I get next to no sleep because curious kittens think it’s fun to play with Mommy’s hair.  However, I’m not comfortable letting the tiny kitten roam on his own just yet (he has a thing for electrical wires and I’m hoping to prevent a Christmas Vacation-esque moment).

Thus, the cats, and their box o’ crap, remain in our bedroom for the foreseeable future.

One Response to “Hiring a Maid”

1. 

   Allison on June 08, 2009 @11:47AM

   I’m not sure why the “box of crap” phrase strikes me as so dang funny today, but I am seriously sitting here laughing my butt off thinking about it.