Self Cleaning Litter Box?

[channlluv]

How big are the dogs?

We use a baby gate, too, but mounted it about ten inches about the floor, so the cat goes under, but the labrador can't get in unless DD forgets to close the gate, which happens occasionally. The cat lives in her bedroom, so her food and litter are both in there, too. Otherwise the lab would eat both. And because they're both in the room where she sleeps, too, DD is motivated to keep the litter box clean.

Roxy

[Becky]

We use a gate hook at the top of the basement door. The hook is just long enough to hold the door open far enough for the cats to squeeze through. We've also done the baby gate thing that Roxy describes, and that works well. I'm not sure that either would work for you because your dogs are so small.

My kitties have disliked every self-cleaning and covered box that we've tried. Good old-fashioned flat pans for them!

What about a cat flap with a magnetic latch? The cat wears a fob on her collar, so only she can "unlock" the flap. The fobless dogs wouldn't be able to get through....

[Aggie_Ama]

Our critters:

Tortilla (the big burly Manx) - 18 lb
Heidi (the sneaky little Schnauzer) - 8 lb
Jens (the Schnauzer puppy) - 3 lb

We do have a problem that Heidi is actually more nimble than Tortilla! We call Heidi our little mountain goat, she is into everything, bouncing from place to place, she can jump but she has to have a clear landing so the baby gate keeps her in her "kennel". But the one with the latching door might work. Tortilla was not completely opposed to the lid on the box, she is extremely particular about her box being clean and tidy. And will only use Swheat Scoop. My animals are high maintenance!

[Atlas]

I don't have much of an idea, just a caution. The top open litter boxes are ok for smaller/younger cats. But I've heard they can be bad on the joints. Jumping up from a loose footing like litter can be hard on them, as well as the idea of jumping down into it and landing in poop. Additionally, the self cleaning boxes are pretty small litter boxes when you take all the electronic stuff into account. I hope you come up with a solution.

[westtexas]

The top open litter boxes are ok for smaller/younger cats. But I've heard they can be bad on the joints. Jumping up from a loose footing like litter can be hard on them, as well as the idea of jumping down into it and landing in poop.

I would like to kindly disagree with this. Firstly because the box isn't deep enough for them to have to jump in or out of the box - they can simply climb in/out. My kitty uses the part away from the entry hole to do his business and doesn't step in his own waste (which he buries anyway).

But secondly because physical activity helps keep muscles strong which actually helps reduce strain on joints and allows for continued activity even in the face of arthritis. It's why we recommend swimming so much for doggies with osteoarthritis in their hips due to hip dysplasia. When many pets get degenerative joint disease it's due to changes that were there since a young age that predisposed them to arthritis and not from repetitive motion injury (not that I think jumping in and out of a box qualifies as that in the least).

[trista]

We have a self-cleaner and I love it! Ours is a Litter Robot. It's 5-ish years old and still going strong. Definitely worth the money!

[smilingcat]

Wow, dog being more nimble and agile than a cat does present a very unusual and difficult problem.

18 pound cat is BIG!!!
8 pound dog is tiny.

How about a simple door that requires the needed body weight to open.
a door with a hinge on top.
a platform for the animal to open the door also hinged.
and a connecting rod to tie the platform and the door.
a counter weight to keep the door closed if the weight on the platform is below x pounds.

I think this is simple enough in concept.

[Atlas]

I would like to kindly disagree with this. Firstly because the box isn't deep enough for them to have to jump in or out of the box - they can simply climb in/out. My kitty uses the part away from the entry hole to do his business and doesn't step in his own waste (which he buries anyway).

But secondly because physical activity helps keep muscles strong which actually helps reduce strain on joints and allows for continued activity even in the face of arthritis. It's why we recommend swimming so much for doggies with osteoarthritis in their hips due to hip dysplasia. When many pets get degenerative joint disease it's due to changes that were there since a young age that predisposed them to arthritis and not from repetitive motion injury (not that I think jumping in and out of a box qualifies as that in the least).

I don't actually have one, I was just going off of what I've read about them so I appreciate your personal experience with one. It's always nice to hear from both sides of an issue (even if it's just litterboxes)

[GLC1968]

Our critters:

Tortilla (the big burly Manx) - 18 lb
Heidi (the sneaky little Schnauzer) - 8 lb
Jens (the Schnauzer puppy) - 3 lb

We do have a problem that Heidi is actually more nimble than Tortilla!

Wow, those are some tiny dogs! And here I was thinking that maybe your schnauzers were the larger version!

Maybe you could get some type of set up where the animal would need body weight to get into it? Then your cat could trigger it but the dogs couldn't...like a lever of some sort. Just thinking out loud here....