.
Consider a sifting litter box. It takes up to a minute a day to maintain and is TOTALLY worth it!
Also new or newish on the grocery store shelves: "lightweight" litter (Tidy Cats and Arm & Hammer varieties, I think), and one that claims it won't stick to the box (Arm & Hammer Slide?).
But the sifting box sounds great!
fwiw, I keep a piece of newspaper in front of the box as a "door mat." Easy to lift and pour the displaced litter back in the box.
full disclosure: I'm not trying any new kind of litter since Himself actually uses the current stuff.
Yes I used a sifting litter box with the Slide litter. Truly a match made in heaven!
Scully said:
Yes I used a sifting litter box with the Slide litter. Truly a match made in heaven!
The one that uses a motor? The one I had to return was the kind you lift and turn over and back again to drop the poop into a scooper which pulls out for emptying. There's the issue for me: turning the very big and clumsy box upside down - and with litter 
The $100 variety doesn't appear much wiggle room for the cat.
No, not the mechanical one (my mother had one of those - too labor intensive).
Mine are manual (two models $14.95 and $49.99 both equally good) that come in nested layers. The top is a huge sieve. Once a day you lift it straight up and all the unused litter falls back into the box. Then you tip the remaining clumps into the garbage and replace it.
Seriously, a minute's work.
Works with any clumping litter but Slide REALLY makes it easier (I'm lazy).
I got my first one from Luuup.com for $49.95 and the second one (equally good at $14.95) from Chewy.com
We had the Luuuuuup one and it was a failure; when I'd lift the things up to sift, there'd always be stuck litter, and even after attacking that nasty damp mess with paper towels, I felt like we weren't getting it clean enough. (Also had a decent amount of litter falling through onto the floor underneath, and around the garbage can when I'd try to dump the top pan out.) We were using Fresh Step simply unscented -- did not know about this Slide stuff until right this minute.
We've switched to the Nature's Miracle automatic box, and I'm not happy with that, either -- the waste box is difficult to remove without it flicking some of its content in your face, the middle-of-the-night cycles wake me up (even with the window A/C running, so that'll be fun in the winter when it isn't), and it regularly gets "stuck" and needs a power cycle and manual scoop assistance to fix itself.
I'm on the verge of giving up and going back to the disposable Nature's Miracle boxes, but I think I may try this Slide stuff in the automatic box and then, as one more step, try the $15 sifting box with it -- I threw the $50 one away when I couldn't take that mess anymore.
Definitely try the $15 sifter box from Chewy.com with the Slide litter. That's where I ended up after a LOT of experimenting and it's a whole different ball game.
And upon reflection you're right. The $15 model IS cleaner and easier to use than the Luuup.
From the reviews, that one on Chewy's looks too small for my two cats, one of whom is a bit on the jumbo side.
My spoiled fur balls each have their own litter (not a problem when they're this easy to keep up) and weigh 10 and 12 pounds respectively.
The Luuup is larger if that helps and once you get into the routine it's still a quick change
Seriously even if you don't get the box check out the Slide litter. It's a game changer all by itself
Hi Scully - can you please link to the litter box you're referencing? I'm not finding it on chewy.com...
Scully said:
Definitely try the $15 sifter box from Chewy.com with the Slide litter. That's where I ended up after a LOT of experimenting and it's a whole different ball game.
And upon reflection you're right. The $15 model IS cleaner and easier to use than the Luuup.
bets (hi!) if I don't get this right here then I'll have to ask Metaphysician for help in the morning. In the meantime go to Chewy.com, type 'sifting cat litter' into their search box, then page down a bit and you will see a blue and white litter pictured. It's apparently $15 now. I use it without the topper piece BTW as my cats don't like it.
The Luuup box has three sifting trays which have all over grids for sifting. The $15 model has one lift out tray which shows smaller sifting pattern. Is that important in ease of collecting poop? I am really overthinking this stuff, but changing litter is more and more difficult for me , both in time, as well as physical ability to do it. Have to make life easier! 
if that is even possible. 
I have both and prefer the $15 model with the Slide litter.
Once you get used to it it takes less than a minute a day - seriously. WAY easier (for me, anyway) than the automatic models.
beside awaiting the upcoming eclipse, I am tense and worried over whether my cat will deign to use the shining, new Luuup litter box which art ivied this morning! I opted for the $$$ Luup after way too much research into the matter.
I rejected the motorized box because, along with the initial outlay of cash, it needs a lot of expensive upkeep - also the thing looks like it is ready to bite!
The Luup is as simple as it gets -- now let's see whether the 12 year old cat digs it. 
the cat used it several times yesterday - the day it arrived - and I just changed it in maybe a minute!!
I placed it in the same spot and tossed the other box in the trash, so there was no going back.
The instructions call for 15 ounces of litter, more than I normally had used, but with 3 trays I guess that assures the top tray remains full longer.
No more scraping concrete clumps for me 
Thanks for all the MOL input!!
In an area where once champagne glasses and candles might have stood, it now reserved for our fur ball-- note the paw prints in the litter
Cat Genie... Best thing ever. Haven't had to worry about or touch a litter box in years.
I have to chime in. As a professional cat sitter for the last 15 yrs., having scooped MANY boxes, including my own cats' boxes, I detest self cleaning boxes. Main reason - you may not be apprised to a time-sensitive health issue which can be life threatening. How do you know whether your cat has had loose stool, excessive urine output, NO urine output, etc. Worst invention, ever. Honestly, how long does it take to scoop a box? Part of being a responsible cat owner.
cats said:
I have to chime in. As a professional cat sitter for the last 15 yrs., having scooped MANY boxes, including my own cats' boxes, I detest self cleaning boxes. Main reason - you may not be apprised to a time-sensitive health issue which can be life threatening. How do you know whether your cat has had loose stool, excessive urine output, NO urine output, etc. Worst invention, ever. Honestly, how long does it take to scoop a box? Part of being a responsible cat owner.
No longer an issue as the OP got a sifting litter - the best of both worlds.
Simple to use, takes literally a minute a day once you get used to it but you still can eyeball the litter for health issues. Win-win.
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need to find an easier cat litter box - changing litter and litter spritzed on bathroom floor. Pricey self cleaners intimidate me, don't know how the 12 yr old would take to motor noises!
Returning one to Costco today - you have to turn it upside down to get the poop in the tray scoop! Way to heavy and clumsy for me. Filled with litter it weighs a ton.
Any thoughts?