I cannot recommend these litter boxes highly enough!
I know I usually wait till the end of the post to give my recommendation, be it positive or negative, but I feel so strongly in favor of these litter boxes, that I wanted to put it at the very top! They are the best litter boxes I have ever used in over 30 years of being a cat Mom......but let me start at the beginning of how and why I bought three of them and discovered how awesome they are.
I live in a really small house. 3 bedrooms, 1 and a half baths, kitchen and a tiny family room. There was only one place to put the litter boxes and that was in the closet in the front foyer. An awful place, truly, but their simply was no other place with enough room to put three litter boxes. (yes, I have multiple kitties) I kept the doors cracked so they could easily get in and out and opened them fully to clean them. With new litter boxes, it was fine. We cleaned them daily and swept around them and there was no smell. This was at first.
After about a year I began noticing the smell, light at first, but worse with the passing weeks. I knew I had to do something.
Thus began parade of different types of litter boxes.....
I tried so many styles of litter boxes. First I tried the ones like little houses with doors, thinking that a cover would help keep the smell down. Worked for a while, but the cats didn't like them and the covers didn't keep the smell down. Tossed them and decided to try the stacked three tray boxes that you were supposed to be able to grab the top one, shake it and all the clumps would stay in the top one for you to dump cleanly, and them you put that tray on the bottom. The system looked great in the ads but in reality, the clumps stuck to the tray and I ended up having to wash them every day to keep them clean. They were thrown out in just a few weeks, $100 wasted.
Next we tried the manual rolling kind that supposedly flipped the interior of the covered box and put the clumps in a bagged compartment for "easy disposal." HA! It was a nightmare to roll and all of the clumps never ended up in the compartment, so it was pretty smelly most of the time. Another expensive cat box failure.
By this time I was frustrated beyond measure. I took my old plastic litter boxes and washed them and put them back in the closet. Within a week, they were back to smelling. I just didn't know what to do. Getting rid of the cats was out of the question, they are my babies. The only thing I had left to try was one of those electric self cleaning litter boxes like Litter Robot. They always get great reviews and people seem to love them......but I looked them up on Amazon and they are like $749. I just cannot afford three of them at that price, and what if my cats wouldn't use them?
I was out of ideas. Then one day I was shopping on Amazon for a new litter scoop, as my old plastic one had recently cracked. I decided I wanted to get a stainless steel one so it would last, and there they were, right under the stainless scoops: STAINLESS STEEL CAT LITTER BOXES! I looked a bit closer, chose one and went into the product page. In the narrative it said that most of the time litter odor was exacerbated by older plastic litter boxes. The feline urine soaks into the plastic over time and no matter how many times you wash it, the smell is there for good. That made sense to me. My boxes were always good at first, but after a while.....daily cleaning did not get rid of the smell. Stainless steel boxes could be the answer!
Not only was it impossible for the urine to penetrate the steel, but the clumps shouldn't stick to the stainless, so cleaning would be quick and easy. I was kind of stunned. Could this be the answer? I talked to my husband and he seemed to think it was definitely a possibility and we needed to try it. So we chose this:
We liked it because it came in a single or two pack (two pack was less expensive each) and we would need three. We also liked the fact that it came in so many different sizes. We could order the perfect size to fit in the closet, making sure that our big cat would be happy with his new bathroom.
Medium - 17.7 x 13.8 x 6
Large - 19.7 x 12.8 x 6
X Large - 23.6 x 15.8 x 6
XX Large - 23.6 x 15.8 x 8
These litter boxes also come with sides, if you prefer them, but I didn't want the plastic in case it absorbed the odors.
Stainless Steel Litter Box with Sides
If you are going to go with Stainless Steel Litter Boxes, you may as well get a stainless scoop as well, I did! I love this one and it comes in 10 different colors!
When the litter boxes arrived, we threw out all the litter and started with fresh. I have not had a smelly litter box in my house since. As long as they are cleaned regularly, these boxes do not retain any smells. We have had them for 7 months and finally no litter box odors AND they are easy to clean! Sweet success! I will end this post the same way it began.......
I cannot recommend these litter boxes highly enough!
These stainless steel litter boxes sound like the perfect solution to your problem, Tracey. I am going to tell my daughter about them as she may also find this information helpful. She has two cats in a small apartment.
ReplyDeleteI am very happy with this find and I have recommended them to several friends who have cats. I am sure you daughter would be happy to have them instead of plastic, especially since they pretty much last forever!
DeleteHow awesome! I had no idea there were stainless steel kitty litter boxes. Since my grandkitty doesn't live in our home, or even the same state, it has not been a daily problem for us, but I remember our daughter's battle to find a litter box the kitties would use. I also remember her trying several different types of litter in the hopes of cutting down on the smell. Now, I wonder if she has the stainless steel litter boxes. I will definitely have to ask her. I am sure she would prefer them.
ReplyDeleteI am sure she would. I also prefer the look of them, they just look cleaner than plastic. If she doesn't have them, send her a couple as a gift, I guarantee she will love them!
DeleteTracey, these stainless steel litter boxes sound like the perfect solution to a perennial problem for cat parents. Thanks so much for the excellent recommendation!
ReplyDelete