Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 26-30 of 523
 Great but short lived October 23, 2002
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
I purchased my first Littermaid about three years ago, about a year or two after they first came out. It was noisy but worked, and made my elderly, fussy (or should I say "pissy"?) cat happy. Unfortunately, the motor died about seven months later. I called Littermaid and was told to send it back, which I did. Instead of fixing it, they sent me a new, upgraded model, the Littermaid Mega Deluxe, about six months later. This unit was much quieter and did a fine job, except that now, about two years later, it is in the slow and screechingly loud process of dying. Since it is out of its warranty, and certainly beyond the warranty of the original unit I purchased three years ago, I expect to have to purchase another. Which I will, because nothing else pleases my now-doddering cat. Some warnings: 1) they're expensive, and they don't last long. If you're lucky, it'll break while it's still under warranty. 2) My younger cat initially enjoyed watching the rake, and she would trigger the machine repeatedly to watch the rake go by. I had to turn it off at night because she was driving me nuts. 3) You will have to clean the machine. Don't think this is a human-free proposition. And pregnant women should have nothing to do with it, despite the closed cartridges. 4) Speaking of which, on the Mega Deluxe, the cartridge lid fell out of the plastic holder repeatedly and the litter got dumped on top of it (and all over the floor). I've been running the unit without the lids because of this, so there's still a smell. In short, if you have a fussy cat and are having problems with inappropriate urination, I'd definitely get one. But if your cats are young and happy with their present litterbox situation, this is not necessarily going to improve your life. In fact, it might be more stressful than it's worth, what with the noise and its short life.
 Great Idea, Bad Manufacturing October 3, 2004
mricha14 (Fort Wayne, IN)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
I'm giving this product 2 stars because it was a great idea for a self-cleaning litter box, but they just can't get the manufacturing to work. Here is my experience...
I bought my first litter box and one month after the warranty expired, it stopped - just quit working. I spent endless time with the customer service department, who didn't seem to know anything about their product but just kept trying to sell me another one.
Finally I broke down and purchased another one in June through a department store. This one somehow got jammed every time the rake got to the end of the litter box and THREW the poo out on the floor. I had to just sit there and laugh.
Took that one back and exchanged for my THIRD one. This one quit working 3 1/2 months after I got it. Some how the rake got all off track and jammed up. The department store has only a 90-day return policy and won't take back the Littermaid.
So, after a year and a half, I went through 3 Littermaids, spent $300.00, and basically still scooped the litter box every week just like a $3.00 one. It's not long enough for my one cat, who tends to potty on the top of the rake, it is EXTREAMLY cumbersome to clean, and it doesn't seem to spread the litter back evenly which will make the rake go back and forth endlessly until you manually spread it back - no matter how little litter you use.
Until they can master the manufacturing, and the fact that they will not stand behind their product to give a refund... SAVE YOUR MONEY, THIS PRODUCT IS JUST NOT WORTH IT!!!
 If you hate it, you are using the WRONG kitty litter!! January 11, 2003
Michelle (Upstate, NY United States)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I bought this 3 years ago and it is one of the best purchases I ever made. Seriously. I agree with all the other reviews that give it 5 stars. If your littermaid rake needs scraping it means you are using the wrong litter! This has happened to me too when I tried other scoop products, but by far the best product for litter to use with the littermaid is Tidy Cat Scoop Immediate Odor Control for Multiple Cats. The one in the blue box. Make sure you get this type because there are other Tidy Cat products that don't work. Hope this helps!
 Good Idea - BAD CHEAP PRODUCT October 14, 2004
Wiser One
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
Had the original littermaid box for 2 years.After it broke, I had the bright idea to get 1 for each of my 5 cats. I spent over $1000 on them. Only one still works.I have replaced each of the 4 others 3 times each. They only last for approximately 1 month, then the rake stops in the 'dump' position. The company is not good about replacing them. So now I have conventional boxes. Too bad! When the Littermaid works it is very helpful...but the company has obviously skimped on production and is now selling a very lousy product. Don't waste your money or time. Look for another company to make a much more reliable product. I am!
 Convenient especially if you modify/supersize it! June 27, 2002
J. Kuo (Los Altos, CA)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
We used to use LitterMaid's relatively small plastic waste container and had to either change or empty out the waste every other day (we have 2 10lb cats) which was a pain but still a huge step above having to clean out the litter box everyday. Then we built an upgrade. We installed a pet door to the garage, built an enclosure large enough to house the litterbox in the garage so the cats can't get into the rest of the garage and with an access door for us to clean the litterbox, and installed a vent in the exterior wall to which the enclosure is attached. The litterbox sits on a platform within the exclosure except for the portion that houses the waste container. And instead of using the small plastic waste container, we built a basic frame that holds open a standard kitchen drawstring trash bag and is fitted to be positioned in place of the small plastic waste container. The trash bag thus extends down to the floor from the elevated litterbox. We still use the lid that matches the waste container to keep the smell in the trash bag. Now we only change out the trash bag every two weeks and it doesn't even smell! It is a bit noisy but it being in the garage, we don't hear it. Also, if you put too much litter in the litterbox, the rake will get stuck due to lack of sufficient power and re-attempt to rake maybe 5 times. If it is still stuck after that, you'll have to wait until the next time the rake is triggered or reset it yourself. We finally figured out the perfect balance between enough litter for the cats and not so much so that the rake gets stuck (a little below the "Full" line). If the LitterMaid gave you the option of a larger waste collection, then it'd definitely be 5 stars but the size of the containers that the LitterMaid is built for is a bit of a joke. Lastly, we bought the LitterMaid before we brought the cats home. So, they took to it immediately without any problems. So far, they've been very good about using it, even when we didn't notice that the rake got stuck for a day...
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