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Introduction

I’ve always grown up with cats. I love how they’re both affectionate but independent at the same time. It’s true what people say – dogs have owners while cats have staff. Mike and I adopted our cat, Strike, in early 2020. She’s a rescue from a local charity and, at the age of 7 months when we first met her, she’d never been outdoors. While I appreciate that many people have opinions on indoor vs outdoor cats, we chose to keep her indoors. Firstly, to protect local wildlife from her hunting and secondly, for her own safety. Given that she’d never been outside in early life, she was absolutely terrified of the outside world, and we worried it might be dangerous to try to transition her to outside life. The only major issue with having a purely indoor cat is the fact they need to use the toilet somewhere. Traditional litterboxes never sat right with me. Mike and I both work full time so we didn’t feel comfortable leaving her with a dirty box if we were out all day and couldn’t scoop it. The smell was also overpowering by the time we arrived home, even with regularly changing the litter. It also felt incredibly wasteful to keep dumping out a whole tray of litter on a regular basis just to keep odours under control.

From the first few weeks, Strike has had a Litter Robot 3. We chose to go down this route as it is an automatically cleaning litterbox meaning no more scooping. It ensures she constantly has a clean place to do her business and also means odours are minimised (waste drops into a drawer below). After just over 6 years of service, our Litter Robot 3 came to the end of its life. It could technically have been fixed but this would have proven uneconomical in my opinion (a new base was necessary; this is around half of the price of a new unit).

We chose to upgrade to a Litter Robot 4 as we felt ready to move to the latest model given the increase in features available. I wanted to write this article as, despite it being a little different to my usual content, I personally feel that having gadgets like this in my life has been pivotal to keeping a clean, relaxing home which is vital to my mental health. I also know that there are so many people out there who will agree that having a pet is a key part of their emotional wellbeing so anything we can do to make the not-so-nice tasks easier is a bonus in my opinion.

Unboxing And Setting Up

On unboxing the Litter Robot 4, I was pleased to find that most of the packaging was cardboard and therefore recyclable. Unboxing it was easy – we simply took it out of the box, removed some of the tape holding the bonnet down and it was ready to set up. No building or putting things together required.

Set up takes place via an app which, initially, we did have some teething issues getting the unit to enter into set up mode. Once this was achieved though, the process was very smooth.

Our initial impressions were of how the Litter Robot 4 is slightly smaller than the 3. We choose to keep ours under the stairs, so it was noticeable how there was a little more space around the unit when situated in the position the previous model sat in.

Litter Robot 4 Review

As Strike is already used to using a Litter Robot, she didn’t take too long to begin using the new model. Her main reaction and concern appeared to be how quiet it was (she’s very used to hearing the old robot and wandering over to watch it cycle – I think she was taken by surprise by how quiet the Litter Robot 4 is).

We use Sanicat clumping litter, Marseille soap scented as we’ve found this to work best for us in terms of forming good clumps for the machine to sift out as well as good odour control. It’s also convenient for us to purchase via Petshop.co.uk for home delivery. The waste drawer, as with the Litter Robot 3, only needs to be emptied once per week given that it’s only Strike using it. In a household with more cats, this would naturally be more frequent.

In terms of other maintenance, the brand advise spot cleaning once per month and deep cleaning once per quarter. For us, deep cleaning looks like taking the globe (this part has no electrical components) out to the garden and washing it thoroughly with soap and water.

Pros of Litter Robot 4

These are my personal pros of the Litter Robot 4:

• Quiet – I really appreciate how quiet the unit is. Despite me beginning to stop hearing the older model as I was so used to it, I did find the noise level to be decently distracting if we had guests over or were watching something on TV (the robot is situated in our living room, under the stairs).
• Low odour – I’m unsure whether it is due to the fact the unit is newer, but I am noticing significantly less odour with Litter Robot 4 vs the 3. The unit is designed to have better odour control (more well-sealed waste drawer) but I am unsure how much of this improvement is down to the fact that there hasn’t been enough time for odours to seep into the materials – no matter how much we washed Litter Robot 3, we still felt it held onto smells in the end.
• Monitoring via the app – I really enjoy that I can see a log of when the robot has cycled as well as the cat’s weight. I feel that this would come in really handy in noticing if there were any sudden changes to her wellbeing.
• Less rubber at entrance to get damaged – the Litter Robot 3 had a liner that surrounded the entryway of the globe. Strike tended to scratch at this while digging in the litter which resulted in this area tearing before the rest of the liner had a chance to fail. Litter Robot 4 does not have this which I much prefer (the area in question is just plastic).
• Replaceable parts – both robots I’ve owned have had the ability to repair them from home with purchasable spare parts. I really like this as it means the device can last significantly longer as opposed to just throwing it away when one aspect fails. This definitely increases the sustainability of the product.
• Far less litter used – vs a manual litterbox, both of my robots have definitely reduced the amount of litter we need to use on a monthly basis. Given the fact it cycles after every use, the bulk of the litter doesn’t have a chance to begin smelling and all waste clumps are filtered into the waste drawer.
• Good support – throughout the 6 years I’ve owned a Litter Robot, the support has been really good. They efficiently advise on what troubleshooting steps to take, they’ve been great with honouring warranty where applicable and they communicate with friendliness and professionalism.
• Safety profile – I love that Litter Robot products are equipped with sensors to ensure your cat stays safe while using it. This was a major selling point for me over budget priced options out there that may not stand up to the safety profile of Litter Robot.
• Easy for pet sitters – while away, my family come over to care for Strike. Given that the litterbox is taken care of automatically, it makes life significantly easier for us as well as anyone who comes over to pet sit for us. This means more time fussing her and less time doing not-so-fun tasks.

Cons

• Cost – Litter Robot products come at a high price tag. When my Litter Robot 3 came to the end of its life, it was definitely a hard pill to swallow that I’d be looking at spending the money again but for me, a life without scooping a litterbox multiple times per day, the reduction in odour and the fact my cat gets a better experience is worth it for me.
• Eventually repairs get too expensive – despite one of my pros being that you can repair the robots, the repairs often aren’t cheap and, once I’d done several (before calling it a day, I’d already purchased parts and fixed it twice), I was forced to question whether it was economically sensible to continue repairing an older machine or make the leap to upgrade.
• Troubleshooting can be a pain – while simple, troubleshooting often isn’t the most fun of tasks. This is because it often involves taking the machine apart to check things. This sometimes means emptying all the litter out, giving it a full clean, investigating various parts and then putting it back together again. As you can imagine, this is something that can easily use up a whole lunch hour while working from home and, after all of that, you still might need to order a part, wait for it and then spend more time fitting it. For me personally, I enjoy being able to fix the machine independently but still accept that it isn’t always fast.

Litter Robot 4 vs Litter Robot 3

Here are the differences I’ve noticed between the two models. As a note, we owned the Litter Robot 3 without app connection (there is another model that does connect to the app, but we had the one that did not do this):

• Size – as mentioned above, the Litter Robot 4 feels slightly smaller than the 3.
• App connection – Litter Robot 4 connects to the Whisker app to enable you to control the unit and adjust settings. You are able to access longer wait times before the unit cycles (e.g. wait 30 minutes after the cat uses it as opposed to the maximum of 15 on the 3). You can also see your pet’s weight and monitor litter and waste drawer levels.
• Quieter – when cycling, the 4 is significantly quieter than its predecessor. With the 3, night mode was essential as you could easily hear the unit cycling from another room. I personally think you could avoid using it with the 4 as it is almost whisper quiet besides the litter making a sound as it falls.
• More expensive – the 4 is more expensive vs what we originally paid for the 3. However, we lacked app connection with the previous model so I appreciate that having this feature will cost more.
• Larger waste drawer – the 4 has a larger waste drawer vs 3.
• Enhanced safety features – the 4 employs OmniSense® technology to enhance safety. This means that it uses lasers in addition to weight and anti-pinch sensors to make sure it does not cycle while the cat is inside. The 3 also had safety features to prevent this but these have been updated for the Litter Robot 4.
• Entryway – the 4 has a wider entry way to make entry and exiting easier.
• Liner – the liner is thicker on Litter Robot 4 (this is something I was pleased to hear as we did need to replace ours on the 3 as a hole developed after a few years).
• Individual cat recognition – if you have a multi-cat household, it can tell which one has used the bathroom.
• Litter tracking and dust – the 4 has an upgraded fence to prevent litter from flicking out as well as an enhanced sifter to reduce dust.

Conclusion

Reflecting on my six years with the Litter Robot 3, upgrading to the Litter Robot 4 was a seamless transition and a clear improvement. The high price tag is a difficult hurdle, but when you consider the savings on litter, the time saved from daily scooping, and the significant reduction in household odours, the value becomes apparent. The ability to monitor Strike’s bathroom habits for wellbeing purposes through the app is a game-changer, and the quieter cycling means our living room is now a more peaceful space. The Litter Robot 4 isn’t just a gadget; it’s an essential part of our home that has made life with our cat cleaner and easier. For anyone on the fence about an automatic litter box, I can confidently say that the Litter Robot 4 is a powerful, reliable, and worthwhile investment that both you and your cat will appreciate.

If you’d like more information, you can find Litter Robot’s website here.