What the hell is going on!
Written: Sep 13 '01 (Updated Sep 22 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: If it worked it would be a fantastic idea.
Cons: Does not clean itself 10 minutes after use.
The Bottom Line: Buy one if you plan to be home each day. If however, you bought it, so that you could take a vacation, your cat will be really mad at you.
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| Susie-34668's Full Review: Litter Maid Advanced Deluxe Litter Maid Litter Box |
We always have a friend to take care of our two cats when we go on vacation. However, our friend will be away at the same time as ourselves. We only plan on 3 days, so out I went and purchased a Litter Maid Advanced Deluxe litter Maid Litter Box, a water dispenser, and a food dispenser.
We purchased 2 weeks in advance of our little break.
The box contained
Little Maid self-cleaning litter box.
Low Voltage AC Adapter.
Cleaning Brush.
Installation and Operation Manual.
Warranty/Consumer Info Card.
Premium Clumping Litter and Batteries not included.
Bonus of 12 Waste Receptacles.
Before I knew it my husband had it out of the box, manual in hand, and all put together. This took less than 10 minutes. I thought great, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to get this thing working.
We keep two boxes with Scoop Away Clean multi-cat formula in them. The manual suggested we leave one box with litter already in it. This way the new box would have clean litter, which cats prefer.
Now you can use 8 "D" batteries, but going away we would hate for them to stop. Hence we used household current to run it.
Okay so we are ready to fill the litter tray. There is a line showing how much to put in. Great, I am really happy.
YT, my 10 year old is really interested, so in he goes and does a pee. I stand and watch and wait. The pee goes hard and forms a clump and it sits, and sits, and ........ sits there.
When the cat enters the box it is supposed to trigger off the sensors at both sides of the box. 10 minutes later the raking cycle should begin and scoop out the clumps, and the rake deposit the waste into the receptacle, closing the lid and returning to the start position. This did not occur. My husband and I spent the entire morning trying to trigger the sensors. In the end we switched it off and on again. This did work and the full action took place.
Frustrated I told my husband just to ignore the blasted thing and see what happens later. Well we left it until the following morning and to our surprise there was cat waste in the compartment.
Okay, we will be away for 3 days so we must keep an eye on it for that time period. Out for breakfast and arrive home to find a dried clump in the box and no movement. We wait in case it was recent. No such luck. The only way to clear it is to switch off and on again.
We continued with this litter tray for a full week giving it time to show what it could do. The cats used it as well as their usual box. On several occasions poop remained in the litter tray. We either switched off and on again, or tried to get the sensors to work.
When the litter tray did work part of the clumps stayed on the rack. We tried to clean them with the brush, but the bristles were too soft.
So what were we to do?
I took it back to the store today and got an exchange. Yes, we are gluttons for punishment. When my husband gets home he will put this one together and we will see if we have better luck. If so, I will add to this review, and possibly change my rating.
More useful information for you.
This is distributed by
Applica Consumer Products Inc,
6 Armstong Road,
Shelton,
CT 06484.
Telephone 1-800-LITMAID (548-6243)
www.littermaid.com
On the box it states
Veterinarian Recommended.
As seen on TV.
One year warranty.
My final thoughts on this product.
I will give it until we go on vacation. Anything is better than a regular litter tray. After that period, if this new one does not work correctly, I will take it and get my money back.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
~Susan~
I got my replacement litter tray. Set it up and it works sometimes. If the cats do their business in the middle of the box, it works pretty good. If however, they do it at either end, it gets stuck to the side of the box, or the rake. I had to leave a second litter box for them while I was away.
No I am not very happy with this second one. The idea is good but the machine is very limited in what it can do.
This one too will be going back.
~Susan~
Recommended:
No
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