I finally caved and bought an automatic litter box. After a lot of research I decided to try out a Scoop Free Ultra. If you have cats and don't have one of these you should consider it.

The litter box uses a 2" deep litter cartridge that is prefilled with Scoop Free Crystals. Each tray cost about $16 and will last up to 30 days with one cat.  It is a little expensive, but if it works as advertised it will be worth it. You can also purchase a Forever Litter Tray or Permascoop Litter Tray which are permanent trays that cost around $50 If you have more than one cat, the cartridge will have to be replaced more often. We have two 13 yr old cats and one tray lasted 2 to 3 weeks. There is little to no smell!

The Ultra has a Health Counter that counts how many times a cat gets in the box. The box also has an adjustable rake delay timer that that can be set to rake 5, 10 or 20 minutes after the cat exits the box. If a cat gets in the box while the timer is counting down to scoop, the counter starts all over again. The sensors also keep the rake from activating while a cat is in the box.

The Ultra comes with a hood which will help keep litter in the box and give the cat some privacy. When Chester weighed 24lb he could not fit in the box with the hood on and  Hershel,our 8 1/2 lb cat, liked to stand on the side of the box. Chester is now under 20 lbs and does not have any trouble using the box with the hood on.  Hershel adjusted to the hood quickly.

If your cat covers his gifts up, you probably do not have to worry about things sticking to the rake. However, if they do not cover it up this may happen. There is an easy solution. Wait until the gift is dry, lift the box like you are going to change the litter cartridge, gently shake the box over the litter and the gift will fall off the rake. The refuse fills up in about 6 days with two cats. When it fills up I scoop the refuse which is no big deal because it's all dehydrated and then we're back in business for 6 days.