I’ve tested the Whisker Litter-Robot 4 and the Litter-Robot 5, and though our family cat Azula took to both of them, I had trouble reconciling the fact that I couldn’t fit either machine in the piece of furniture that houses our traditional, analog litter box. In the end it didn’t matter: My 24-year-old child, grown and flown, moved out with both Litter-Robots and Azula. Positioning the Litter-Robots became his decor dilemma.
Meanwhile, lots of furniture brands were popping up on Amazon selling cabinets that could fit Whisker’s automatic litter boxes. It was not just a me problem! Now (trumpets!) Whisker itself has a line of litter box sheds literally made for the self-cleaning litter boxes.
Pros
- Hides your self-cleaning litter box
- Credenza top gives you new storage space
- Open the front doors to easily dump the litter drawer
- Cats may love the extra privacy
Cons
- Takes two people some time to build the cabinet
This is the smaller choice in the line of Whisker cat sheds, yet it fits either the Litter-Robot 4 or the Litter-Robot 5. It measures 36 inches tall and 35 inches wide.
“It definitely requires two people to build,” said Henry, my 24-year-old, who put the Litter-Robot Cabinet together with a friend. “They state very clearly in the directions which steps need two people and they were right every time!” It took them just under two hours to assemble, and Henry said, “It was very satisfying to build and it’s beautiful.”
Azula was interested in the process and climbed in right away. The new piece of furniture inspired Henry to create a cat corner, with a new spot for Azula’s beloved cat couch. He said, “It’s larger than I expected and has a lot of surface space on top. You could easily use it as a TV stand. It’s discreet, and no one would know that there’s a litter box inside.”
There’s a larger cat shed option as well
This Credenza is the larger choice. It fits either the Litter-Robot 4 or the Litter-Robot 5 and gives your cat a little more room at 36 inches tall and 51 inches wide. It also gives you a larger surface area on top.
For $100 more you can get a larger Credenza. Both the smaller Cabinet and the larger Credenza come in two color choices, either light or dark wood.
How the new litter box sheds work
With either shed option, the cat enters through a short end. The Litter-Robot is on a lazy Susan turntable and can be spun 360° to face the front doors, which you open when you need to empty the litter drawer or add fresh litter. A hole cut in the back of the shed accommodates the Litter-Robot cord. Note that you have to unplug the machine and snake the cord in through the back of the furniture, then reattach it.
For new customers, Whisker is also selling several bundles. For instance, you can get the Litter-Robot 4 with a Credenza right off the bat (it’s $50 off at the time of writing).
Do you need a litter box shed?
The pros of buying one of these sheds from Whisker include:
✔️ These are large enough to hide the Litter-Robot: A lot of other cabinets do not have a large enough interior to house the nearly 30-inch-tall automatic litter box. These are built for one!
✔️ Suddenly you can use the space above the Litter-Robot: Even if your automatic litter box was somewhere out of sight of guests, like in the laundry room, it’s nice to have a useful cabinet top, rather than just dead space above the large Litter-Robot.
✔️ Your cat might be very into it: Some cats like an open box, some like a covered box. (There was actually a small study that concluded that some cats exhibit a preference.) The Litter-Robot is already covered, but placing it in a cabinet gives a cat additional privacy, away from a snooping dog or curious kids.
My final thoughts: Two months in, this is working well for Henry, Azula, and their living space. It’s a chic way to solve any issues with having a self-cleaning litter box out in the open, and for that matter, it could be used with a traditional litter box as well. The fact that there’s the cat door on the side, and then the cabinet doors open wide for you to deal with the box, means it’s easy for pets and their owners.
