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(More customer reviews)I have owned a Littermaid automatic litter box and when it died (after 14 months) I decided to look at alternatives. The reason I didn't want to get another Littermaid was because of the design. Sometimes my male cat would urinate over the back of the Littermaid and I'm pretty sure that's what caused the unit to fail. I did some research on the internet and found that others had the same problem -- urine would get into the electrical components. On the Smartscoop, all the electrical components are outside the litterbox, so unless my cat stands outside the litterbox and "hikes his leg to pee", I doubt any urine is going to damage the unit.
Also, the Smartscoop is much easier to clean. Everything except the motor unit can be immersed in water. The entire unit comes apart easily. The only parts of the Littermaid you could put in water were the litter compartment and the rake. This made it hard to clean because the rake runs along a track which is on the inside of the frame -- not the litter compartment. The track is so close to the litter compartment that moist litter would get stuck to it. No matter how hard I tried, I was never able to get the whole thing cleaned. Also, emptying the waste compartment on the Littermaid was a messy job. On the Smartscoop, it only takes a few seconds and there is no mess.
On the other hand, the Smartscoop does not do quite as good of a job scooping the litter, it does leave more waste behind than the Littermaid. Also, my cat tends to urinate at the rear of the litterbox in front of the rake. The rake does not sit flush against the rear of the unit so there is cat litter behind the rake thus causing a clump of litter to be stuck to the rake (that I have to scrape off). I think the makers of Smartscoop should make a few improvements such as putting more tines on the rake (spacing them closer together)and solving the problem with the litter behind the rake.
When I received the Smartscoop, the motor would not cycle automatically. I guess the sensor was defective. I called the people at "Our Pets" the makers of Smartscoop and they sent me a replacement motor within a few days. They also sent a toy for my cat with their apologies. It was refreshing to have such courteous, prompt service. A little additional information - the Smartscoop comes with a 1-year warranty - the Littermaid only comes with a 90-day warranty. A friend of mine bought a Littermaid and it died after 95 days.
All in all, I would recommend the Smartscoop. I only gave it 4 stars because of the 2 problems I mentioned above.
Click Here to see more reviews about: SmartScoop No-Touch Waste Bags
Simply place No-Touch Waste Bags over the waste tray - when it's full, just toss!
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