My Three Year Review of the Litter Robot 4
Three years ago I splurged on a Litter Robot 4. After using it daily for a solid three years, I decided to provide an update. The TL;DR: It was absolutely worth the purchase for me. But there are some caveats to owning one.
You will still need to clean the litter box.
Many people (myself included) hoped this would magically eliminate the need for cleaning the litter box area. Nope. It still requires a bit of maintenance and every few months you must completely disassemble it and do a deep cleaning. I did not deep clean my Litter Robot 4 for almost the first year.
Y’all. That was a mistake. Do not be like me. My mistake led to a required emergency deep cleaning close to midnight at my apartment complex’s car wash station due to an absolutely disgusting infestation of flies. It was definitely a “relationship building adventure” as my pilot questioned if the investment was worth it.
However, Whisker makes the process relatively simple, and it really isn’t that bad as a two person job. Reddit also has several stories of people taking their Litter Robot to the car wash and there are some really impressive photos of others fully disassembling everything in order to truly deep clean. I recommend performing this deep clean AT LEAST every 3-4 months. Words cannot adequately describe how disgusting our initial deep cleaning was. However, by regularly cleaning it, our Litter Robot 4 doesn’t get that bad.
You end up emptying the waste drawer about once a week.
You might need to empty it more frequently if you have multiple cats or they are heavy users. However, you don’t really want to wait longer than ten days to empty it, as mold will start to grow in more humid environments ( …ask me how I know… ). I have also moved away from the proprietary waste bags and now use the EcoLeo Compostable & Plastic Free Bags.
There have been times where the Whisker App will falsely tell me that my waste drawer is almost full, but that has been infrequent in my three years of ownership. Also, there is no harm in more frequently changing the bag in the waste drawer.
You might still need a “traditional” litter box.
I was able to use only the Litter Robot 4 for over a year. Then Glitch had some health issues that resulted in his extreme pain and discomfort any time he used the litter box. He associated that pain with the Litter Robot 4 and boycotted it very dramatically by using anything BUT the Litter Robot to go to the bathroom. His health issues have since been resolved (he’s back up to almost 15 lbs after dropping down to 6.7 lbs!) but he still refuses to use the Litter Robot. We have a secondary litter box that he uses.
The Litter Robot 4 still aides in keeping the traditional litter box clean. When I “scoop the poop,” I merely chuck it from the traditional litter box into the automatic litter box and cycle it. This is much easier than scooping into a bag and disposing it into an outdoor trashcan. So although I am back to a traditional litter box, the Litter Robot 4 still makes the process easier.
You might need to eventually replace the motor.
Around November 2025, I started constantly receiving notifications from the Whisker App of “Overloaded Globe.” At first, the Litter Robot 4 would merely pause before it resumed its cycle. Eventually, it stopped cycling completely.
Based on advice received from Reddit, I ordered a replacement motor and installed it January 2026. That fixed the problem! Whisker provides excellent step by step instructions with the process being so easy that the official guide even has highly manicured nails completing the assembly!
There was slippage with the old motor, which was causing the failures.
Am I upset that I had to replace the motor? Not at all! That motor had over 5,000 cycles on it! I essentially have a brand new Litter Robot 4 (after another deep cleaning) for the price of one motor. And I expect this motor to last another 5,000 cycles.
At the time of publishing this blog post, I am at almost 400 cycles with the new motor.
Concluding Thoughts
Three years later, I am still thankful for my Litter Robot 4. It is one of the best purchases that I have made. While it does require regular maintenance through scheduled cleanings and the occasional part replacement, it is far superior to a traditional litter box.
Although Whisker has recently released their new Litter Robot 5 and Litter Robot 5 Pro late 2025, I see no need to upgrade. Additionally, I would still stick to the Litter Robot 4 over the new Litter Robot EVO. The Litter Robot 4 is still an incredibly solid product three years later.
