Help with litter boxes
I’m thinking of getting a cat and would like to get a self-cleaning litter box. The problem is that I don’t have $650 to spend on the best rated one, Whisker Litter Robot 4. Some of the cheaper ones ($100 +) get poor reviews.
What do you do for a litter box? Any suggestions for how I can get an option that is minimal hassle without breaking the bank?
= new reply since forum marked as read
for easy scooping. It clumps very well & is made of ground corn cobs so it is low dust & flushable.
I use the multi cat formula as it seems to clump very nicely.
Hard to describe, but it clumps so well I only have to wash the box once a week or so.
Also, it does not have those chemical crystals in the litter, yet does not smell.
Good luck!
barring health issues, I really don't get the angst over a litterbox - they literally take a minute to scoop, then you dispose. I have had to do several litter boxes at one time and it really wasn't that big of a deal. 
I’ve simplified my life by getting a three-layer litter box with two trays and an extra one with holes so you can sift out the lumps, the litter falls into the clean tray, and then you clean the first and stack it on the bottom.
I also use the clumping crystal litter so we can scoop the crap out a couple times a day, leaving the clean litter (if you let it sit, the damp crystal litter kind of welds itself to the plastic tray, so scooping often helps eliminate that). I keep both near the toilet so it’s no effort to scoop as you’re already sitting there. 
I use what’s essentially a diaper genie for the stuff I scoop, so there’s really no odor. Clean it out once a week and you’re good.
We have two cats—one huge and one tiny—and if we had room for more, I think more than one poop station would be a must.
I’ve heard from someone who went the $700 route for a robotic litter box and she complains about it a lot, not the hands-off solution she expected.
Hobbes and Pixie, my prolific poopers:
I think I got it at Petco for about $15. Two regular trays and the sifting tray is visible in this picture.
I’ve also tried the closed-in boxes that you roll over and the lumps fall into a small tray you pull out of the top front. Colossal PITA and Hobbes (tipping the scales at 17-18 lb) didn’t handle the size well.
Note the Litter Genie is identical to the Diaper Genie, except that it comes with a poop scoop. I know I’ve seen Diaper Genies in thrift shops so that could be a cheaper way to go than buying a new cat one. I’ve also started just using regular small trash bags inside that instead of the weird roll of plastic tubing that you have to knot at both ends. Either way, it’s a bit of a hassle except that it closes off the cat poop until you can empty it so no one has to see or smell your furbabies’ works of art. 
We had an old lady who ran the PO at college, Hazel. They finally made her retire in her late 90s, and she had started this quilt and never finished. I inherited it from her and somehow, managed to piece it together and put it together—all by hand. 
My late cat Andreas was allergic to it. It hurt his paws and it was back to Tidy Cats.
