only the best invention EVER!

First off, let me say that I love our cats -they're pretty stinkin' cool (the emphasis here, being on 'stinkin'). They've each got their own distinct personalities;


Thomas, who we acquired from my Pop when he moved up here, is a grumpy, old curmudgeon who will hiss at his own shadow but loves to be loved on if you just take the time to let him get to know you. And then there's











Chester, who we adopted as a teeny little kitten, and is now a big, squishy, love bug who will tolerate just about anything we dish out.








I love to snuggle and love them up -they're awesome furballs. Well, they're mostly awesome -with the exception of one, not so little thing. They REEK -and I'm talkin paint peeling, noxious, REEKAGE. Frankly, I'm surprised the EPA hasn't come knocking on my door, inquiring about the death cloud that hangs over my house in the shape of a skull and cross bones. -and yes, ...it's THAT bad.

Of course, when it comes to cleaning the kitty crapper, it seems no one loves these vermin. There are eyerolls and then the whole 'I didn't want a cat, did YOU want a cat?!' thing starts. Unfortunately, our house is configured in such a way that the kitty loo is located in a public area of the house, so it has to be kept clean, but it's getting more and more difficult to get the kids to keep up with this chore.

*SO*

After months of trying to justify kicking down the dough, I finally bit the bullet and bought this:




It's a self cleaning litterbox -which is actually a bit of a misnomer, since technically, I still have to dump out the poop bin a couple of times a week -but I won't haggle over this minor detail because I'm so happy that my house isn't filled with the stench of cat bombs anymore. We've also added the 'kitty cabana' which is a glorified privacy tent, to keep this marvel of technology out of view.

So, here's how it works: the cats hop in, do their thang, a sensor 'sees' when the cat jumps out and several minutes later, after the clumping kitty litter has time to uhm,...clump (gag), the 'magic rake' revs up (it sounds like a remote control car), and makes it's way across the box, carting the "deposits" into the "vault".

The bonus here? It's not only functional, but fun, too! When Ches hears the rake start up, he runs like a crazy beast to go watch it -lol! Tom on the other hand is not impressed and has been having a hard time adjusting to the magic crap remover. He's so jumpy that, just knowing the thing is going to move in, oh... 10 minutes, he's afraid to get in. *sigh* nothing's ever really easy, is it?!