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Automated cat infrastructure: automatic USB water fountain[0], food dispenser[1], Litter Robot 3[2] (as of recently, with a homebrew controller[3]). These allo

Automated cat infrastructure: automatic USB water fountain[0], food dispenser[1], Litter Robot 3[2] (as of recently, with a homebrew controller[3]). These allow me a good four days of absence from the house - for camping or whatever else. Doesn't happen often that both the wife and I are MIA, but when it does, these things are indespensable. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WGLYV22/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WGLYV22/ [1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIXRB6O/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIXRB6O/ [2]: https://www.litter-robot.com/litter-robot-3.html https://www.litter-robot.com/litter-robot-3.html [3]: https://litter-controller.smaslennikov.com/ https://litter-controller.smaslennikov.com/

mdeeks 6y ago
I second this. It’s an incredible time saver. I don’t do the powered water fountain anymore though. The last two filled with a disgusting bio film in the pump that was nearly impossible to clean and is unhealthy for the cat. I had to dump both. You need to clean them super regularly. Easier to just use a bowl and swap it out every few days. Or a large bowl when we go on a trip.
- justsid 6y ago
  The problem with bowls is that cats love love love running water. Stale water is super gross for them, so they’ll only drink out of it if there is no other option. Our cat refuses to drink from anything but her fountain.
melenaos 6y ago
So you automated your cat! This reminds the automaticon nanny from the Ted Chiang's book.
bot41 6y ago
The litter robot looks good but for 500 dollars I think I'll stick to manual scooping the litter
- nunez 6y ago
  I was considering getting the robot until my wife got these sifting litter box trays. They come in three layers, with one being for filtration. To recycle litter, you dump the old litter into the filtration tray. This filters litter through while leading solids behind. Throw the solids away into a garbage bag. Done. No scooping. Takes 30 seconds. $15/set.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
rozab 6y ago
I wonder if you've noticed any change in your cats behaviour towards you as a result of this? People often claim that cats only like their humans because they're the ones who feed them etc
- joeyjojo 6y ago
  Now I know why my girlfriend's cat was such a little prick, swiping me in the face and drawing blood. She had an automatic feeder.
- nunez 6y ago
  Cats are easier to deal with thanks to our auto feeder
- bloodorange 6y ago
  Those claims are false. Cats are very affectionate creatures. They are not dogs and you shouldn't expect them to behave like dogs. They are not all the same and not all of them are cuddly (especially if they are not taught to share affection via touch since a young age) but if someone says that cats only like people who feed them, then I have to disagree based on my experience raising more cats than _most_ people. However, I do concede that sharing food is an easy way to form a bond with an animal (including our very own species).
flowersjeff 6y ago
Litter robot 3 owner here... take note, the company's tech support ain't at all as it should be. My partner got the device, I'm responsible for its running. Had issues and tried to interface with their tech support. Unless you email with the person's email that bought it - nothing. Then when you email them with that person's email - nothing. There are a number of systemic issues that I think can be fixed either in firmware (which I guess they don't believe in updating) and/or a hardware upgrade kit (which I'm willing to buy - if I felt that they understood the issues.) In this day and age, not allowing easy community access to root out issues is just not excusable. They need to spend more on updating their site for honest feedback and less on the advertising that they have been up to of late.

mdeeks 6y ago

I second this. It’s an incredible time saver. I don’t do the powered water fountain anymore though. The last two filled with a disgusting bio film in the pump that was nearly impossible to clean and is unhealthy for the cat. I had to dump both. You need to clean them super regularly. Easier to just use a bowl and swap it out every few days. Or a large bowl when we go on a trip.

justsid 6y ago
The problem with bowls is that cats love love love running water. Stale water is super gross for them, so they’ll only drink out of it if there is no other option. Our cat refuses to drink from anything but her fountain.

melenaos 6y ago

So you automated your cat! This reminds the automaticon nanny from the Ted Chiang's book.

bot41 6y ago

The litter robot looks good but for 500 dollars I think I'll stick to manual scooping the litter

nunez 6y ago
I was considering getting the robot until my wife got these sifting litter box trays. They come in three layers, with one being for filtration. To recycle litter, you dump the old litter into the filtration tray. This filters litter through while leading solids behind. Throw the solids away into a garbage bag. Done. No scooping. Takes 30 seconds. $15/set.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

rozab 6y ago

I wonder if you've noticed any change in your cats behaviour towards you as a result of this? People often claim that cats only like their humans because they're the ones who feed them etc

joeyjojo 6y ago
Now I know why my girlfriend's cat was such a little prick, swiping me in the face and drawing blood. She had an automatic feeder.
nunez 6y ago
Cats are easier to deal with thanks to our auto feeder
bloodorange 6y ago
Those claims are false. Cats are very affectionate creatures. They are not dogs and you shouldn't expect them to behave like dogs. They are not all the same and not all of them are cuddly (especially if they are not taught to share affection via touch since a young age) but if someone says that cats only like people who feed them, then I have to disagree based on my experience raising more cats than _most_ people. However, I do concede that sharing food is an easy way to form a bond with an animal (including our very own species).

flowersjeff 6y ago

Litter robot 3 owner here... take note, the company's tech support ain't at all as it should be. My partner got the device, I'm responsible for its running. Had issues and tried to interface with their tech support. Unless you email with the person's email that bought it - nothing. Then when you email them with that person's email - nothing. There are a number of systemic issues that I think can be fixed either in firmware (which I guess they don't believe in updating) and/or a hardware upgrade kit (which I'm willing to buy - if I felt that they understood the issues.) In this day and age, not allowing easy community access to root out issues is just not excusable. They need to spend more on updating their site for honest feedback and less on the advertising that they have been up to of late.