Litter Robot issues

[Melonie]

You have no idea I live in litter robot hell. I completely clean the thing weekly, as in take it apart scrub it in the tub. This takes HOURS to do. I reach my arm clear up inside and get everything. I have tried every single cleaning product imaginable, including ones made just for cat pee. My filters and seals are perfect, although with all the cleaning I am getting new seals. I have tried putting activated carbon in the drawer and in the bag, I have tried that carpet stuff you vaccuum up in the bottom. I have tried baking soda, different types of litter. I even have a small carbon plug in order thing right next to the box and the stupid filters for it are 12 bucks and I notice zero difference. I have put a special carbon odor air filter in my furnace. I also have smelly thing that go directly in the heater vents. I have millions of plug in things and candles. It is sitting on a hard piece of plastic so yes on a hard surface. The door the poo falls down does not like to close all the way, but since that is in the globe part it should not be causing issues. I have taped all seams and holes where odor could be escaping. I change the bag DAILY even though its not even full at all. It is like the urine has seeped into the pores of the hard plastic and is there to stay. I completely stopped using the second one as it was too much work to clean them both all the time, although I have noticed that one was worse then the other as far as smell. I have started feeding my cats a ton of wet food because the more hydrated they are the less concentrated their urine is. I would like to say this is NOT a poop smell, pure urine and no none of the cats are going outside of the box, even set up a webcam to prove that one. I cannot stand being home, the second you walk in the house it smells like pee. I can smell it all the time and it drives me bonkers. I do not have time to scoop boxes for 5 cats. I am very very very busy and even had to leave my kid at grammas just so I could have litter robot cleaning time. I scrubbed the sucker multiple times tonight took me from 7-9 and now everything is drying. Yet it still smells like pee to me sitting completely empty with NOTHING in it. No litter, no pee, no poop. At this point I am thinking of getting rid of cats because they have become a chore instead of a joy. I LOVE my cats but if some of you remember some very stressful weird things happened and my life has changed drastically. I am not talking about it since this forum is public and their are prying eyes but its like non stop drama. I am so busy with school, work, kid surgeries, kid appointments, me appointments, homework, ect that when I get home the last thing I want to do is take apart the darn box and scrub for hours. I have tried going back to regular boxes but with 5 cats a small house a toddler who likes to dig in litter boxes, I do not have room for a ton of boxes and all that caused was cats to poo and pee outside the box because even though I scooped in the am, I didn't get home until late and they all of course have to use the same one so it was full. It is a freaking nightmare like I said and I am so tired of cleaning the box. It was fine up until it started smelling like pee. Its not healthy for the cats me or the kid and blah I am very frustrated and kind of venting but eff I have to carry a planner with me at all times because if not I would have no idea where or what I need to do next. Whew there my vent. Basically I am thinking of rehoming cats not all just a few but how the hell do you pick? Oh sorry you pee is ruining my life cat. Not to mention my cats have to go to people who either have no cats or can beat this feline clamydia because I STILL have issues. I have one with HCM who would of course stay, one is a sister to a cat that had HCM. I even plan on moving to a new house soon. Looking for one that I can have a cat room and more litter box places. I am so frustrated I have no idea what to do. Everytime I say ok thats it no more darn cats then I cry. It is not their fault. If I could have planned for all the bs that happened then I wouldn't be so overwhelmed. You don't even want to know the last time my cats had a "real" bath. We live off cat wipes and ear wash around here. Anyways litter robot rant over. And no I have not had a chance to call the company. Nor do I think it will do me any good. What else is there to try? My warranty was up long ago, and I am at the point where I am gunna take the damn thing apart and make my own Litter Robot 3.

 

[MissMySphynxBoys]

Oh Melonie. <hugs>

The Litter Robot was supposed to make one part of your life easier, not harder.

The plastic may be impregnated with cat urine, and may never come out. But before you give up you may want to try one more homemade remedy.

Once the unit is washed and dried completely. Stuff the barrel with crumpled up newspaper. If you can, put the whole thing outside in direct sunlight for a few hours. After a few hours (3-4) remove the newspaper and repeat with more crumpled up newspaper until the smell is gone or until you get so tired of dealing with the damn LR that you kick it to the curb.

 

[Melonie]

Well one is completely broken now. It is stuck in mid cycle. Nothing helps to fix it so I will be calling when I get a chance, it was just a vent very frustrated that day. Today is take apart litter robot and scrub day. I would set it outside but its cloudy and like 5 degrees out. This one is not the one that smells as bad so maybe the broken one was defective or something. Also, on a side note, one of my medications says a side effect is heightened sences. So maybe only I can smell the pee? I don't know. LOL I will let you all know what happens with cleaning of this one. I have gotten smelly garbage bags, new carbon filter in my furnance, a carbon air filter thing right next to the box and a new pet cleaner that says it is specifically for hard pore filled surfaces. As well as several other things. I am bound and determined to get these SOB's to work, or just buy freaking new ones. At first they were a dream. Now its a nightmare.

 

[Nair Bare]

Also, on a side note, one of my medications says a side effect is heightened sences. So maybe only I can smell the pee? I don't know.

Melonie, you need a good friend with a great nose to give your place the once-over smell test. It could be just your heightened senses for that does happen under some medications.
I had to enlist a friend to help me sniff out a dead mouse in a vehicle once. Thank God for good friends!

Here is a trick I use on my LR during the winter when deep cleaning the LR is impossible in my house. After cleaning everything with "Nature's Miracle" and drying, I spray some vegetable cooking spray on the inside of the globe and wipe dry. This ensures that no pee/poop residue clings to interior surfaces. Then on the outside plastic surfaces I spray a hard wax shine product which seems to help seal those surfaces from being penetrated by urine.

BEWARE: I'm sure the LR manufacturer could nullify any warranty because some propellants in wax sprays may damage the rubber, so read the label and do this only after the warranty has expired. But I have had no trouble doing this inside and out.

My only problem with the LR was some times the dumping door did not close all the way and spilled litter on the floor. Once I started "waxing" those surfaces, nothing stuck to them again, and now the doors always close.

May all your burdens soon lighten Melonie.

 

[Melonie]

Problem solved with Out Hard Surface Stain and Odor Remover 64 oz

Just want to say this stuff is VERY smelly like make you cough. So first I scrubbed with dish soap in bathtub, then follow directions for this, then used same brand but specific cat urine one which smells nice. Let dry and woohoo it no longer smelled like pee.

I also have the febreeze air thing plugged in right next to box, and the walmart pet odor citrius thing that I put in the drawer under the bag.

I no longer have issues minus I had to completely remove the lip and whatnot because the cats kept knocking it into the litter robot causing it to get stuck stop cycling and be broke with no litter in it and poop and pee outside the box. This happened multiple times before I removed the lip and fence, and now the only smell is the citrus thingy and I think I can get rid of that because I actually think it smells bad too, but not as bad as pee.

Thank you OUT for saving my sanity.

 

[monkeybuttz]

My Litter Robot is doing the EXACT SAME THING!!! REEKING OF AMMONIA!!!

I only have 1 kitty, and I empty the drawer every other day (shouldn't have to do it that often) and it still smells. When I get on the floor to play w/ Arias, the smell hits me like a brick wall. And when you go to change the liner, heavens!! It's horrendous. I don't even know how Arias goes in there to pee (on a side note, what a good boy that he has still continued to use it!). The globe smells, as does the tray. And don't even get me started on the filter. I pulled it out and decided to give it the sniff test....which resulted in me gagging over the sink the ammonia smell was so strong that I think it burned my nose hairs and the back of my throat. I have ordered new filters and will be cleaning the entire thing w/ vinegar and baking soda today to see if I can get the smell out of there. (I used soap before but that only helped keep the smell away for a week).

I called the company and the woman I spoke to suggested that I use a bathroom cleaning product w/ bleach, but everything I read online says that you have to be very careful when mixing ammonia and bleach b/c it creates a reaction that omits poisonous gas . Neither Arias nor I need to be around that.

The LR woman also suggested that he may be sticking his butt out the globe and pee is going down the front of it. I was actually a little ticked off b/c most of the reason she gave for this happening were all "it's the cat's fault", like Arias is peeing somewhere else, or missing the box, or spraying so that pee is hitting the roof of the globe and not the litter. NONE of these are possibilities b/c 1)when he pees, his head sticks out the front (seen him do every time) so there is no way that his pee is going out the front and b)he's not a sprayer. If he was, I would have noticed this same problem w/ a normal box and this only started happening w/ the LR.

The tray is also always moist whenever I remove the liner...i guess b/c it's holding wet pee? I use world's best cat litter, which isn't the best for covering smells, but I like all natural so I'm not changing that (plus, it's what Arias has always used).

I think the answer is quite simple...it's a plastic ball, with a plastic tray. plastic holds onto smells & moisture. And even though it "scoops" after every time, all it does is deposit that urine-soaked litter into a bag that is not sealed and stays there for days. I am hoping that a deep clean will solve the issue. and removing the liner daily (what a waste!)

If this deep cleaning doesn't do the trick (I need it to last about a month, b/c I don't mind cleaning the whole thing that often) then I will probably look to "re-home" my LR w/ someone here if anyone is interested...in a stinky LR The woman from LR told me that I should only have to deep clean the unit every few months, but I don't have high hopes that this will be the case.

In other LR news, mine shorted out a couple of weeks ago. At night, sometime after dinner. We didn't realize it b/c it is in our garage in a kitty box. (we attached a box to the wall that hold the LR and a cat door from our dining room straight in it. Arias has no access to the garage from it) By bed time, Arias was acting all crazy, biting, meowing at the garage. We kept letting him in and he would run all over the place meowing like something was wrong. We couldn't figure it out and I was a bad mommy for not checking the LR. So we went to bed...Arias wouldn't calm down until the wee hours of the morning. When I woke up, I saw a puddle in the hall. Sure enough it was pee (thank goodness on the hardwood floors). I went out and opened the box and saw that his LR was frozen halfway through a cycle!!! poor guy, he had been trying to tell us all night long and we didn't get it!!! So since then, I removed the LR and we are back to a regular ol' litter box. The company is sending me a new power cord to see if that helps. But in using the old bow, I have noticed that there IS NO PEE SMELL AT ALL in our house!!!! so we shall see...

I know its NOT funny but you describing giving the filter a "sniff test" is hilarious.

 

[APCP48342]

Hi there, my name is Brad Baxter and am owner of the company (APCP) that makes the Litter-Robot. I read your post and agree that bleach is probably not the best option for cleaning - it's also very hard on any kind of metal item that could potentially corrode. It may be possible that the flexible lip at the bottom of the entry is pushed into the globe allowing a path for urine to get between the inner globe surface and outside surface of the liner and then passing through the vents in the bottom of the globe - you mentioned that you did not think that your cat was eliminating outside the opening, so this is my guess as to how the urine gets in the drawer. Check this out as the lip has a molded channel on the underside which is supposed to fit securely on the hard plastic opening. If you don't already have one, you should look into getting the 'Lip Extender' which fits over the flexible lip. The odor you are experiencing is from the liquid urine you are finding in the drawer or carbon filter. Once we determine where or how the liquid urine is ending up in the drawer, the odor should go away after a good cleaning. Feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] and I can help you further if needed. Brad

 

[Nair Bare]

Once we determine where or how the liquid urine is ending up in the drawer, the odor should go away after a good cleaning. Feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] and I can help you further if needed. Brad

Now here is a company that cares about their customers! Thank you Brad for taking a serious interest in this situation. I think I may have to buy a second Litter Robot soon!

 

[Melonie]

Just a bit of an update. The litter robot no longer smells. EXCEPT I had to remove the fence and lip as everyday I would come home and the cats had somehow knocked it inside the litter robot causing it to stop cycling with no litter in it, causing the cats to poop right outside the box. Well not having the lip worked for like 3 days. Now when I come home they have kicked out almost all the litter from the bot onto the floor and are now pooping on the litter on the floor. Seriously can I not catch a break? I am now going to put the lip back onto the robot and see what happens. I hope they do not knock it in again. I also hope that they haven't got used to this pooping outside of the box, seriously its a daily occurance when I get home from work. I clean it spotless everynight, in the am its fine, and then pm when I get home its an effing mess. If this doesn't work, I am going to walmart and getting a box I can scoop. I am doing twice as much work as I was with a regular litter box.

ETA: both my warranties expired long ago

 

[Kenneth]

I take the top outside and spray it down every couple of months. I've had mine for almost 5 years and it never smells. The best advice I can give anyone with a male cat is to take a zip lock baggie and use a heavy duty tape and tape it over the entire control panel area. I had a issues where my male would drip outside the sphere and it would run right down into the control panel. After replacing it twice the manufacture gave me this tip.

 

[Lilmustangchick]

Hi there, my name is Brad Baxter and am owner of the company (APCP) that makes the Litter-Robot. I read your post and agree that bleach is probably not the best option for cleaning - it's also very hard on any kind of metal item that could potentially corrode. It may be possible that the flexible lip at the bottom of the entry is pushed into the globe allowing a path for urine to get between the inner globe surface and outside surface of the liner and then passing through the vents in the bottom of the globe - you mentioned that you did not think that your cat was eliminating outside the opening, so this is my guess as to how the urine gets in the drawer. Check this out as the lip has a molded channel on the underside which is supposed to fit securely on the hard plastic opening. If you don't already have one, you should look into getting the 'Lip Extender' which fits over the flexible lip. The odor you are experiencing is from the liquid urine you are finding in the drawer or carbon filter. Once we determine where or how the liquid urine is ending up in the drawer, the odor should go away after a good cleaning. Feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] and I can help you further if needed. Brad

 

[Lilmustangchick]

I’m also having the horrible smell. I clean the globe inside with spray every time I change the bag which is once a day. Ive also unscrewed the liner and cleaned underneath before with nothing there. To me it seems like the smell is in the rubber of the globe. I’ve tried different cleaners, vinegar and orange glow. My filters are new too. If the smell is coming from the rubber lining what can I use to clean it. I have 2 LR and hairless cats do I have to be careful of what I can use.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Ugh…have you contacted LitterRobot directly yet? We had one and loved it until 2 started jumping on top of it and stopping it from rotating. It is a big investment so hoping they can help. Please update this thread so others will have info.