Current Events > Bought a $500 litter box; cat won't fucking use it.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.litter-robot.com/litter-robot-iii-open-air-with-connect.html

Bought this son of a bitch, and it's been three days... cat won't go anywhere near it. What I've tried:
*Placed same litter inside the thing that they've been using for years now,
*Placed the Litter Robot at the place their old litter box was,
*Their old litter box is next to the Litter Robot but has been kept dirty (i.e. no scooping) for three days to encourage them to use the Litter Robot, and
*Placed treats around/on the Litter Robot to associate good things with it.

But they won't freakin' use it. The old litter box is dirty as fuck and it's really smelly... I'm thinking of just removing the fucker and giving the cats the Litter Robot as their only choice.
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its the emf the thing is emitting, maybe the cat just doesnt like it
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Leave it as their only choice. I was really debating getting one of those because my wife has 5 cats, just expensive af
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Didn't you make a topic about how amped you were to get this thing?
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500$ down the drain.
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i dont blame the cat, that thing looks very unwelcoming
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DrizztLink posted...

Didn't you make a topic about how amped you were to get this thing?

Yes. The thing is pretty solidly built and over-engineered... I can see why this thing costs $500. I'm just pissed 'cause these fuckers won't use it.
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You're giving them a choice, what do you expect?

Take the other one away.
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I imagine automatic cleaning types of litter boxes would scare the kitties too much : (

Steve Nick posted...

You're giving them a choice, what do you expect?

Take the other one away.

But that's what the manual said. Give them a choice, but make the old one dirty, so they'll naturally move to the cleaner one.
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ayyy lmao

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I put one of the cats in there, it sniffed around, dug a little bit, then jumped out. Making progress.
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Sorry to hear of the troubles. But yeah, get rid of the old one, but put some of the litter from the manual box in the new one. Not just the same brand but actual litter.

It shouldn't take too long once it's their only choice.

i dont understand the point of these things. my cats use a plastic tote i bought for 5 bucks.

scoop in the morning and night, change out their litter every week (dont just keep scooping the same dirty litter) and wash it before adding the new litter.
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SSJCAT posted...

i dont understand the point of these things. my cats use a plastic tote i bought for 5 bucks.

scoop in the morning and night, change out their litter every week (dont just keep scooping the same dirty litter) and wash it before adding the new litter.

username checks out
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SSJCAT posted...

i dont understand the point of these things. my cats use a plastic tote i bought for 5 bucks.

scoop in the morning and night, change out their litter every week (dont just keep scooping the same dirty litter) and wash it before adding the new litter.

We go on vacation quite frequently (numerous 3-5 day trips and 1-3 two week-vacations a year). Every single time we go, we hire cat sitters to come clean the litter box, which costs $30-$50/visit (rate changes depending on demand and how often you hire them in a row). So with this, we're hoping we hire our cat sitter much less (e.g. don't hire them at all for the 3-5 day trips, and hire them maybe once or twice per two-week vacation).
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thats a lot of fuckin vacations
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SSJCAT posted...

thats a lot of fuckin vacations

We're fortunate enough to have good vacation/make-up time benefits. We work four days a week (4x10hour days), and we can switch up our rest days whenever; so we take Friday through Monday (4 days) off regularly and just go travel. We also get 200 hours of personal time off per year, so gotta use those 5 weeks of vacation somewhere.
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I removed the manual litter box. Hopefully the cats don't start shitting everywhere and use the Litter Robot...
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SSJCAT posted...

i dont understand the point of these things. my cats use a plastic tote i bought for 5 bucks.

scoop in the morning and night, change out their litter every week (dont just keep scooping the same dirty litter) and wash it before adding the new litter.

Because we don't want to scoop multiple times/day and have the means to buy something like this? I change a bag in a drawer once/week, a quick wipe once a month, and she washes it out once every two or three months. The time savings from not scooping or smelling it ever is more than worth it for us. A friend who owns one likened it to paying someone a nickel every poop/pee instead of scooping yourself.

You keep your $5 box and scoop all you want, I'm quite happy with the past five years of no scooping.

My cats pee and shit outside
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IdiotMachine posted...

*Placed treats around/on the Litter Robot to associate good things with it.

IIRC, cats generally won't respond well to food placed in a location they associate with litter areas, and vice versa.
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Username checks out
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Lol its a waste cuz your cats wont shit on it.
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You need to lead by example. Climb in there and shit in the box.
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Don't let it go to waste, start using it yourself. Maybe the cats will pick up on it.
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even the cats in the promo pics look scared of it lmao
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I wouldn't want to get inside that, either. What the fuck is that thing?
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It looks like a joke to me. Are you really surprised the cat doesn't want to use it?
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I was going to say to have the top open for a few days, until they get used to it, but from the pictures, that's not an option. Some cats flat out refuse to shit in an enclosed space.
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Cats are conservative fucks. Just get rid of their orthodox option and let them try the new one.
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Tell your cat to stop being a pussy

lmao


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DarthGravid posted...

I was going to say to have the top open for a few days, until they get used to it, but from the pictures, that's not an option. Some cats flat out refuse to shit in an enclosed space.

Their first litter box was an enclosed one. I've read cats don't like enclosed ones because of the smell if you don't clean it religiously, so I switched to a regular tray.
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They finally pooped in it! Yay
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wronganswerfool posted...

Tell your cat to stop being a pussy

pretty good
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My fat cat would not be caught dead in that thing. Happy to hear that yours are using it now though!

Both cats are regularly using it, now that they have no choice. When the cleaning cycle starts, they're both still mystified and stay and watch the whole thing happening.
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How does it go about cleaning itself?
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Kombucha posted...

How does it go about cleaning itself?

The globe rotates, putting clean litter in a separate container (through a mesh), and the clumped up stuff down the chute where it collects the poop/pee.
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You're gonna wake up to dook in your shoes
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One of my cats pooped right outside the Litter-Robot...... Fucking bitch.
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