I’ve had cats nearly all my life, and like many cat owners have settled in using just a regular large-sized plastic cat litter box. For years and years, I’ve used the clay type litters, such as the Hartz Mountain brand, then switched to Fresh Step as I preferred it’s odor absorbing capabilities. I’ve only used the clumping, sandy type litter once, and neither I, nor my cats liked it, so back to the clay type of litter.
Anyone who owns a cat or cats knows that keeping one’s environment cat odor free, one has to clean out the litter pan on a regular basis. Even cats, who are fastidiously clean animals don’t care for and won’t go and use a dirty or heavily soiled litter pan, and may even start having accidents, if their litter pan isn’t clean enough to their liking.
Like so many of us who own cats, we long for a better cat box system. I’m supposing, like many cat owners, when the LitterMaid Electric Litter Box came out some years ago, many thought, thank goodness, a great alternative to the regular litter box problem. With this electric litter box, one would virtually never have to bother about cleaning out the litter box every time a cat used it, as it was self-cleaning. The LitterMaid has a sensor, so that some ten minutes after the cat has used the pan, the self cleaning device goes into action and uses a rake to scoop up the soiled litter and places it into a tray, which one empties out later. It also boasted of a safety bar that would stop the cleaning process at the slightest touch if another cat wanted to use the pan. Such a pan like this, would sound ideal then, if one works and can’t be cleaning out the litter pan every time a cat used it.
For a long time, I was actually considering buying this type of self cleaning pan that goes has a list price of $109.99 for the basic LM500 Model to $199.99 for the Elite Mega Advanced Model. But then I started seeing how actually impractical this pan would have been for me to purchase. First of all the mere fact that it was indeed electric. Ever since I’ve had cats, I’ve always kept their litter pan in the bathroom. The only electric outlet is the one over the sink near the bathroom light fixture. That would mean, I would’ve probably have had to resort to getting an extension cord just to plug it in. Also, there was the danger of that cord being exposed to water since it would be near the sink…a potential electrocution or fire hazard in the making right there.
Then I began reading up consumer complaints about the LitterMaid system on the Consumer Affairs website itself, that this wasn’t exactly the ideal cat litter box to use. The complaints ranged from the cleaning system itself getting jammed or breaking off to far worse complaints that the wiring of the box set one’s home on fire and in the process lost their cat of thirteen years in the fire, to another cat being caught and trapped in the box (1)
Bottom line…I nixed the idea of getting this so-called electric “wonder” for solving my cat litter box needs. For the list price of either model, it just wasn’t worth the possibility of endangering my cats lives if by some change they got trapped or caught in it, so I continued using the regular plastic cat litter box.
Then, not long ago, I heard of a new type of Litter Box system, though not an electric self-cleaning system, the Tidy Cat BREEZE System did make for a quicker, easier and better clean-up job of the litter box and boasted of a unique odor control. While it sounded ideal, I have to admit I still wasn’t too convinced, that is until a friend of mine, who also has the same number of cats I have, that is two, bought the BREEZE system herself. She, like I, never cared for cleaning out the cat litter pan, but absolutely loved the BREEZE cat pan as she found it so much easier to use.
Since my friend was raving so much about the Tidy Cat BREEZE Litter System, I finally decided to get it myself. The system which I was able to get at my nearby Target store and sold for $33.99 came complete with the basic litter box which is a self contained unit with a three sided hood that fits over the grated base, a 3.5- lb bag of the BREEZE Litter Pellets and 4 BREEZE Cat Pads. One places a super odor absorbing Breeze Cat Pad, soft side up into the drawer that slides out. This pad only needs to be changed once a week, per cat and the pellets amazingly only have to be changed once a month. The pellets do not absorb any of the urine itself, but allows the urine to pass through to the tray with the cat pad. One only needs to use the scoop, which is also included in the system, to scoop out the cat waste making for an easier clean up job.
Naturally refills of both the cat pads and pellets are available where one has purchased the System itself. In this case, since I bought the BREEZE system at Target, the package of 4 refill pads sold for only $4.49 while the 3.5 lb bag of refill pellets sold for $6.49. While this system might at first glance seem a bit more expensive initially, it really isn’t if you compare the comparative cost of buying pounds and pounds of clay or clumping cat litter on a weekly basis which you have to change more often or by buying the very expensive “premium” litters.
One does have to have patience though in using this BREEZE system…most cats are very fussy at any kind of change, including a change in their cat litter and at first my two cats were no exception . If your cat has been used to only the clay or clumping kinds of litter, it might take them awhile to get used to these pellets. I can happily say, however, that my cats now seem to enjoy using Tidy Cat BREEZE System, and consequently, so does their “mom” for the ease of the system’s use and clean up.
Information on LitterMaid Electric Litter Box
http://www.littermaid.com/
Complaints About The LitterMaid Litter Box System
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/littermaid_new_customers.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/littermaid_fire_hazard.html (1)
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/littermaid_trapped.html (1)
Tidy Cat BREEZE Litter System
http://www.breezeforcats.com/?CMP=KNC-BRZ-Goog-Brz08Q2&HBX;_PK=breeze+cat+litter&HBX;_OU=50
http://www.breezeforcats.com/totalLitterSystem.html
