LitterMaid LM900 Self-Cleaning Litter Box

I had wanted one of these for *years* and finally broke down and bought one.

I should have saved my money! I did buy the "best, most expensive, hardest clumping" litter and still spent more time screwing with cat litter than I had before I bought this thing.

Litter has to be deep enough for the urine to form a ball *before* it hits bottom. The Littermaid isn't deep enough (I suppose because their motor burns out if litter is deep). The clump sticks to the bottom and you have to scrape it off manually. 2 or 3 times a day.

So I went out and bought the silicone spray like the manual recommended, to coat the bottom of the pan. That helped somewhat, but after a couple of days it was starting to stick again.

Then, tonight, SIX DAYS after I bought it, I came home to find the rake broken and lying sideways in the litter! One of the guides was snapped off. It won't work at all!

In the last 6 days I spent more time messing with the litter box than I'd spent in the year before that! And probably spent more money on the box than I spent for litter for a couple of years, too!

NOW, of course, I have read the consumer reports about all the problems with this product and how bad the company's customer service is. Apparently the older ones worked better, since there are people who say their first one worked for several years.

I wish I'd saved my money!! Save yours!!


Illusions: Confessions of a Littermaid owner   May 19, 2005
Todd B. Bauer (Akron, OH USA)
35 out of 37 found this review helpful

I have two cats and would never consider going without a Littermaid unless cats were somehow outlawed or child services took them away from me.

I find it interesting that people have such complaints about how the Littermaid is different from a manual litter box. Yes, it definitely is different. If you are a person who lives in fear and does not take well to change, please, keep doing what you are doing, this device is not for you. However, if you embrace change and can handle two things: 1) The Littermaid is not magic, you have to do periodic maintenance and 2) The Littermaid is different than a manual litter box, so there are some new factors to cope with (such as the litter tray), then you might want to give this home automation device a spin.

I have used the device (Mega-model, two cats (7 and 10 lbs)) for two years now. Here are some observations:
* It's great, I would never even consider using a manual litter box
* Dunno what abuse come cats/people dish out, but it has never broken in the two years time
* It is easy to control the smell by purchasing some of those pink urinal blocks from a janitorial supply. Break one up and put a piece in the tray between changes. Any little odor that attempts to sneak out will be caught
* It runs better with less litter than more. Remember, this is a different concept here. The device is raking out the waste. The waste is not intended to be buried. I never fill mine anywhere close to the fill line and tend to keep it closer to empty. It sounds gross, but trust me, the problem with waste sticking to the rake goes away with less litter in the pan
* It does conserve litter since only what sticks to the waste or clumps up is discarded (raked into the tray).
* I don't know what some cats or people are doing to this thing, but I never clean it outside of changing the tray and wiping down the exposed plastic now and again. I don't understand the complaint about "it's a pain to clean"
* The tent is a complete waste of resources. If you want to keep the Littermaid out of sight, build a cabinet to keep it in. There are a variety of vendors who sell these online if you don't feel that handy in a woodshop
* To avoid issues with waste sticking to the rake, use super-premium clumping litter (Petsmart house-brand will do) and keep the litter level low, low, low.
* (Ultimate Hack) Build a cabinet that goes underneath the Littermaid. Cut a hole in the top that matches the dimensions of the litter tray. Cut the buttom out of the litter tray, tape a trash back into it (double-bag is best). Place trash bag inside the cabinet (mine hinges opens on the side). Now the unit rakes into a trash bag instead of into a teeny tray. I empty mine about once every 3 months. Note the trick above about using urinal cakes to cover the smell. I never smell the thing, ever. It sounds gross, but you never see a thing and never smell a thing. The only reason I have to empty it so often is that 3 months of waste weighs about 80 lbs. Much more than and my back will break.
* Enjoy. The logic and design of this device is well though-out and proven by thousands of happy owners. It can also be modified to become almost maintenance free (I fill mine about once a week, change the bag and clean about once every quarter). There are other hacks such as automatic litter refill that I haven't even tried to do, but wouldn't be that hard.
* Thank God we live in an age of such cheap accessible technology

Enjoy.


It works, but............don't throw away your scoop.   April 25, 2002
F. Gillett (Sun Valley, NV USA)
34 out of 34 found this review helpful

In a household with three adult cats I was constantly cleaning the litter box. With the Littermaid LM900 I need only empty or replace the waste container about twice a week. The litter is kept clean and smoothed by the automatic raking action. Odors are minimal since waste is stored in a closed container and the exposed litter is continually cleaned. Make sure you only use premium, clumping litter. That's the good news.Now for the not so good news. The unit is noisy with a capital "N". Don't plan on placing it near the living spaces in your home if you value your peace and quiet. Waste frequently lodges between the teeth on the rake so I'm finding myself visually checking anytime I'm near the unit and using my scoop to clear the rake. About every other day I need to use the scoop to scrape along the bottom of the pan to loosen anything sticking to the bottom so the rake can catch it on the next pass. Lastly, the included ramp which is supposed to keep your cat from tracking litter is a joke. It simply isn't big enough and my cats usually jump over it rather than walk down it. To solve the problem, I continue to leave a small area rug in front of the unit. That seems to catch about 75% of the tracked litter. the unit isn't cheap. Taking into account the noise and the other problems, I would still buy the unit if I had to do it over again primarily for the conveninence.