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Comment by jakebasile | Hacker News Reader

Thanks for the review. Would you say it cuts down on smell? That is my biggest issue with cat ownership and I've been looking for ways to further reduce it (beyond better litter, baking soda, etc.).

Edit: Thanks for all the replies. I am still on the fence about it, and may try further options to reduce the smell (at least enough so that a cat-person like myself can live with it ;))

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I wouldn't say it cuts down on smell, unfortunately. In fact, it has the potential to make it worse, since the waste is gathered in a bin for longer periods of time (as opposed to flushable litter in a normal box).

There is a carbon filter that sits on one end of the tray to help minimize scent, but it's not very effective in my experience. I'm currently experimenting with putting various nicely-scented objects in that tray, in front of the filter (like those little scent blocks you can hang on the side of your toilet bowl, for example).

The scent will also largely depend on the cat's digestive system. My cats tend to not have very smelly or soft feces so it's not bad at all, but if one of them gets diarrhea you bet I'm emptying that litter bin right away. Likewise, if a guest is coming over I'd probably suggest emptying the litter bin beforehand just in case.

I know you already know of better litter and baking soda tricks, but there is a powder you can purchase and sprinkle into litter, which gives off a fresh scent. I found using it also helps, as does sprinkling some of it into the bottom of the litter tray itself (into the litter waste bin). I don't have the name of it on hand, but I think there are a few brands out there that are pretty common.

Edit: the _majority_ of the time there is no smell I can easily detect until I open the tray to remove the garbage. But as someone else mentioned, no smell to a cat person may not be a reliable gauge.

Another Litter Robot owner here (we are onto our second one) and I feel it does cut down on the smell.

The litter won't stay in the open part for more than 10-25 minutes and then it is cycled into the drawer which is relatively contained and has a charcoal filter on it.

We have two cats and end up changing the drawer every 2-3 days. I have a friend who manages not to change the drawer for a week and I do think it starts to smell then.

The main benefits are that we don't have to tend to the litter tray that often and when we do we only need to pull out the plastic trash bag, tie it up and replace with a new one. I also think it uses a lot less litter as we never have to fully change it out like you do with normal cat boxes.

It's an expensive item but I think it's definitely worth it. Get a reconditioned one for $50-100 less as they are perfectly clean and they will get messy pretty quickly anyway.

We pair ours with Nature's Miracle cat litter which has baking soda and other deodorizer in it.

We use BoxiePro Deep Clean, Scent Free, Probiotic Clumping Cat Litter and it is smell free, you can't smell the litter or the cat 'presents'. My wife is pretty sensitive to smells and she loves the new setup vs traditional with yesterdays news.

You will smell it when you open the drawer to change the bag a couple times per week but only till you tie up the bag to take out.

One thing I've done to help with the smell is put a smaller air purifier on low next to it running continuously. This really helps a lot in my experience compared to having nothing. It can still smell a bit if the robot is full and nothing is cycling or one of the cats has just used it, but other than that there is largely no smell. The other thing that helps a lot is changing the carbon filter on the robot on a regular basis, maybe every couple or few months, since once that goes a lot more smell leaks out.

It does not cut down more on the smell. Since the waste is basically sifted out quickly to the lower try and not left buried by the cat, it can get smelly. Litter type, cat, and how often you chant the lower tray will change that, but overall, I would not put it in a living space.

My air purifier is next to our cat litter and there’s no smell at all. I strongly recommend one (on top of helping with allergies, dust, covid, etc..)

I wonder if you mean “no smell to a cat person” or if you mean no smell to everyone else. Because I’ve been in enough cat people’s places to know the former is a real thing.

I've done the air purifier thing as well, paired with some unscented litter like Dr. Elsey's Ultra Litter and it genuinely doesn't smell most of the time, unless they've recently used the box or its not cycling due to being full.

Would you mind sharing what air purifier model you use next to your Litter Robot?

Sure, I use a Coway Airmega AP-1512HH set to low permanently. It doesn't move a ton of air on the low setting, but it is very quiet and the size fits pretty well next to the robot. I think getting something quiet is key as to not spook your cats, as one of mine hates the sound of loud white-noise-ish sounds.

I will say I think this one works well, but you could likely find something cheaper because you don't need to much air circulation for a litter box. I just happened to already have this one.

Thanks. I have read good things about that model, but don't think it's available in my country. But I was looking into a Coway Storm AP-1516D last year, and didn't end up pulling the trigger since there were just too many options to choose from. This reminds me to look into them again.

We use a system called ezi lockodour here in Australia. I believe the US name is Purina TidyCats.

Made a huge difference to the smell when we switched.

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