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I will be doing an in-depth user review of the LitterMaid LM980 Mega litter box, I will be covering all the main features, how it works, The Pros and Cons about the unit as well as some useful tips and tricks along with my final conclusion and recommendations.
What you get with the Litter Maid?
The Littermaid automated litter box is one of the most popular entry-level cat boxes on the market today, most new customers of these appliances tend to purchase the Litter Maid, based on its affordable price tag, good user reviews and the ability to cater to multiple cats quite easily.
This unit is very simple to use and its incredibly easy for your cat to make the transition from a manual litter box to an automated system.
This is generally due to the Littermaid LM980’s simplistic classic waste box design, which helps cats that are not used to big transitions, especially when it comes to their litter pans.
The unit works on the basis of sensor technology which is fitted with motion detectors to detect your cats use of the cat trey.
Once your cat is don with their business, The litter pan engages the units cleaning cycle after a time delay.
The waste receptacle container is very spacious and easily caters for multiple cats with in the house hold, however the unit wouldn’t be complete with out the waste container being sealed along with a carbon filter to stop any cat odors releasing in your house, so if you are not fond of cat odor making your home smelling like a cat sand pan, this unit is the answer to your prayers of an odor free home.
The Design of the LM980 Mega
The LitterMaid features an innovative high wall design to prevent all litter kicking cats from ever kicking litter out of the litter box and onto the floor ever again, which is a common issue with most household cats.
This waste box also comes with an anti litter trailing ramp to further prevent litter to stick to the paws of the cat, resulting in your cat leaving a trail of litter around the house for you to clean up.
There is no question about the consideration that the unit has in regards to making a clean free design which is capable of preventing annoying litter trailing and litter kicking cats.
The advanced motion sensors is what drives the automatic self-cleaning design, the sensors are activated once the cat has entered the waste receptacle to do his/her’s business, once the cat leaves the litter receptacle a delay of 10 minutes is then engaged before the cleaning cycle proceeds to clean your cats waste.
Features
- High wall design
- Automated rake scooping design
- Anti Litter Trailing paw cleaning Ramp
- Safety Bar
- Dual setup capabilities in Automatic and Manual modes
- Spacious waste container that can hold 60% more litter than other cat boxes.
- 4x Waste receptacles
- 4x Carbon Filters
- Caters to multiple cats
- Uses clumping clay litter for easy automated cleaning
How does the litter Littermaid work?
The LitterMaid works a lot like all other other rake driven cat trey on the market the only thing that separates The litter maid LM980 from the others is the affordable price tag, however, we will go in-depth on how the self-cleaning process of the unit works.
This self-cleaning waste receptacle runs on a series of sensors which are activated before the cleaning cycle, just after the cat has finished his/hers business and leaves the litter container.
Once the cat has successfully left the litter box the Litter maids on-board program engages a 10 minute timed delay period before the self-cleaning process is activated.
The delay process enables the litter to clump any feces and urine as well as giving your cat enough time to finish his/her’s business, leading your cat away from re-entering the litter container during the litter cleaning cycle.
If your cat does re-enter the litter pan at any given moment during the delay or cleaning process the machine will reset itself for another 10 minutes before the cleaning cycle is reactivated.
After the 10 minute delay period the rake is then engaged for the self-cleaning cycle, the rake combs through the litter and catches all the waste clumps in its tracks.
Once the rake has reached the other end of the cat pan the waste receptacle opens and the waste is disposed accordingly, leaving no traces of dirty litter and waste in the waste box, keeping everything clean for the next use.
The litterMaid LM980 is a fully automatic self-cleaning litter pan suite, however, there is also a manual mode on this unit, a push button process which enables you to clean the litter box manually by pressing a button, and the unit skips all the delay processes and gets to work for you.
Note: With all rake driven cat treys there is always a chance of litter being caught in the rake, however the LitterMaid team has made it easy to clean with a push-button rake release button that releases the rake module for really easy cleaning.
Demonstration Video
Tips and Tricks and best practices
- It is recommended that you do not overfill the litter tray as this can cause the rake to jam and would require manual assistance, best to keep the litter below the red line to be safe.
- If there is a power outage and the power is reconnected the unit will remain off until the unit is switched back on again.
- It is recommended to never get the sensor wet as this can damage the functionality of the unit.
- If the litter box is close to a bedroom it is best to turn it off at night as this unit can be really loud
- There will always be a little bit of mess around the litter box so I recommend looking at the cat litter mats
Important information:
The unit needs replacement waste containers and they are very easy to purchase and they are not expensive, however, some users of the unit have figured out a way to reuse the waste containers so there is minimal waste of the disposable containers.
Tip: The best way to reuse these containers is to get a normal shopping bag (Plastic bag) wrap the garbage bag around the container and place it in the waste receptacle.
This will allow you to use these containers many times over and over again with out having to regularly buy new containers every few weeks.
Pros:
- Automatic rake scooping functionality.
- Non-scooping design
- Easy removing of rake for easy cleaning.
- Proven advancements from the last LitterMaid self-cleaning litter box.
- 10 minute delay time before the cleaning cycle.
- Comes with litter ramp to clean the paws of the cat leaving the cat box to prevent litter trailing.
- This Litter maid LM980 is a bigger design to cater to larger cats.
- Collects waste quicker with no fuss.
- Tightly sealed waste receptacle and carbon filters to eliminate odor in its tracks
Cons:
- Waste can get jammed in the rake which would require manual assistance.
- The LitterMaid LM980 Mega needs premium clay clumping litter or it dosnt handle soft feces well.
- The waste storage container is a little small so it requires daily cleaning for more than 2 cats.
- litter container depth is not enough to put the recommended 2-3 inches of litter.
- The mechanism noise is pretty loud.
- Additional purchases of waste receptacles
I recommend the unit to:
- Cats owners who are interested in purchases their first self-cleaning litter pans
- Owners looking for a solution that keeps up with constant maintenance of their cats litter box with no much hassle.
- Owners who own multiple cats.
- Looking for an affordable solution.
- Owners bothered by cat odor
I do not recommend the unit to:
- Owners looking for a totally scoop-free solution as there is some manual cleaning involved just as may suspect of a competing product called the Omega Paw litter box.
- If you are not looking to purchase additional supplies to make the unit work.
My Final conclusion on the Litter Maid
My thoughts on the LitterMaid self-cleaning litter box is as follows, I find the unit is a well made and easy to use, it eliminates odor as promised and makes life a little easier to manage a cat pan.
Its perhaps not a completely hands-free, non-scooping solution however it performs very well for the affordable price it starts at.
The only issues I had with the litter pan is the manuals, they are not as clear as what you may expect and the unit is a little hard to set up if you don’t have the instructional video as the unit comes with a lot of pieces to assemble.
All in all, I think the unit performs well for the price range, that being said its certainly not the best automatic cat receptacle on the market however it is a bang for your buck.
The High-Capacity litter disposal system for Litter Maid
If you are concerned about the waste containers becoming a hassle for restocking I found the very helpful and innovative attachment which will enable more waste and easier bagging process as well as still cutting down any odor.
Disposal Features
- Eliminates need for waste receptacles
- Permanent chute funnels waste into a large bag underneath
- Extra-large capacity lasts for weeks, impossible to overflow!
- Compatible with ALL Littermaid litter boxes, including Elite models
See other litter maid product reviews of the LM580 Classic, Multi Cat and LM980 Mega
Go back to have a look at the Natures Miracle reviews | Click here to read the Scoopfree Reviews
