Automatic and self cleaning cat litter boxes are becoming increasingly popular. The Litter Maid is a well known brand that has mixed reviews. There's also the Cat Genie that washes the litter. After a thorough evaluation of features and trade-offs, we became convinced the Litter-Robot II is the best auto cat litter box available.

We purchased our first Litter-Robot II in June of 2007. Recently, we upgraded to the new version that has the odor control feature. This article compares the features of three top automatic cat litter box brands and discusses our experience with the new Litter Robot II odor control feature.

The Litter Maid uses a rake to comb through the litter. The rake separates clumps from litter and deposits them into a special receptacle. Receptacle refills must be purchased separately. They are not very large and cost a lot. They are sold 12 in a box for about $19.99. For just one cat, they need to be changed every 5 days. That adds up to $120.00 per year. Over a typical 15 year cat life span, the cost is $1800. Many users have reported problems with the Litter Maid rake getting clogged. It needs to be cleaned often. The Litter Maid reduces the effort of scooping, but requires maintenance of the rake, a dirty, disgusting job, and costs $1800 over the life of one cat due its special receptacles.

The Cat Genie is an interesting concept. It uses special cat litter that is washable. The unit connects to plumbing in your home. After the cat completes his business, water enters the litter area, the litter is washed and solid waste is pushed through a grinder before exiting the unit to the sewer. The cat gets his own toilet, literally. Now for the down side. Just like a toilet, the Cat Genie's grinding mechanism can clog. This is very disgusting to clean out. Another down side is the special litter. Surely a little is lost since the cat tracks it out little by little. What if it was no longer available? The Cat Genie would end up in the trash.

The Litter-Robot II has an ingenious design. A removable globe sits atop a base having a very large removable drawer. Inside the globe is a sturdy, heavy duty filter that sifts litter from waste as the globe rotates. A trap door rotates around until it reaches the bottom. The waste reliably falls through the trap door to the drawer below. A cat sensor detects the presence of the cat. There is a timer that does not start the globe rotating until 7 minutes after the cat is gone. This also allows the clumps to solidify, enabling extremely reliable performance. The cat sensor also detects if the cat comes back while the globe is rotating. The globe stops for 15 seconds.

There are only a few negative things that can be said about the Litter-Robot. These are publicly disclosed by the manufacturer, adding to the integrity of the product. One is that the Litter-Robot II is not recommended for tiny kittens or cats less than five pounds. Tiny kittens may not have the sense to get out if the globe starts while they are inside. The cat sensor may not detect a tiny kitten and the poor thing could get hurt by the trap door. Second, it is not recommended for diabetic cats. Third, it is not recommended for cats larger than 15 lbs, although users having cats up to 20 lbs have reported successful Litter-Robot II adoption. However, Litter-Robot II comes with a 60 Day Money Back Guarantee, even if it is used by the cat. So it's definitely worth a try for large cats. Unused Litter-Robots purchased from Paradise Robotics by Chicago area residents may be returned within 60 days to Paradise Robotics. This avoids the return shipping cost, if it doesn't work out.

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