When Sarah and I first got Avah, one of the conditions (beyond that we would take turns cleaning out her litter box in those pre Litter-Robot days) was that we get her declawed. My only justification looking back, was that we don’t have leather furniture, and I didn’t want our chenille sofas to be shredded by a claw-sharpening maniac.

I asked our vet’s receptionist about it when I took Avah in for her first shots, and she asked me “front and back? or just front?” Doing both just seemed excessive, even though Avah is an indoors-only cat, so I responded “front,” thinking that it would be enough.

Oh stupid, stupid me.

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Of all the gadgets which I have ever reviewed, I think that the Litter-Robot would definitely win the title of most offbeat, but it was well worth doing. In late January, I unboxed the Litter-Robot, set it up, and then sat back to see whether Avah would accept this “spaceship” as her litter box.

It will have been two months tomorrow, and we have both lived to tell about it, so that should immediately tell you that things went well.

But lets go back to the beginning…

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If you own a cat, then you know that there is one part of pet ownership that can suck the joy out of the experience. No, I am not talking about hearing your cat hacking up hairballs in the middle of the night while she is sleeping on the bed next to you (not that Avah ever has or ever would do that, mind you), I am talking about cleaning out the litter box.

Ever since Sarah and I added the marvelous Avah to our family, we have taken the good with the bad: snuggles, purring, and lap-warming for twice weekly sifting. Although keeping her box tidy isn’t too big of a chore, when it is my turn to do it I can think of 20 other things I would rather be doing.

Today I received a review sample of the Litter-Robot, which I requested based on Gear Diary reader Michael Harmon’s recommendation. Michael says it is like a cement mixer, I say it is like a space ship, and Avah says it looks pretty interesting to her. Here are a series of pictures where Avah checks out her new digs (pun intended), gives her impressions in her own words, and my unboxing and setup videos come at the end.

o hai. welcum to mi spaceship

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One of the things that I dislike about going out of town is having to take my pets to the boarder; Gizmo usually tries to hide (and then seethes for days after my return), and Avah also makes her displeasure known by hiding before the fact and then ignoring me afterwards. It’s like they know that when you are breaking out the suitcases something bad is coming, and it is stressful for all involved. Then there is the issue of stopping the mail and getting someone to come by to pick up packages; it’s a hassle, and there’s really no other way around it…right?

But if you live in the Addison Texas area, you’ve got options that are not available to the rest of us - and they involve a unique applications of MMS. Let me introduce you to The Pet Nanny Addison, a company is making the most of Windows Mobile technology.

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