Your Litter-Robot 4 warranty is ending: what to check first

Where you stand

Every Whisker robot ships with a one-year warranty included at no extra cost. WhiskerCare, Whisker's optional extended warranty, currently costs $100 for the Litter-Robot 4 and stretches total coverage to three years — but it's worth confirming the exact figure on Whisker's site before you decide, since service pricing can change. The one detail that trips people up: you can only buy WhiskerCare within the first year of owning the robot. Once that year is up, the option is gone, whether or not you ever needed it.

WhiskerCare covers accidental damage, power surges, mechanical and electrical breakdowns, and software support, with no deductible and free return shipping. What it doesn't spell out publicly is a line-by-line list of exclusions, so if you're not sure whether a specific issue would be covered, the fastest way to find out is to ask Whisker's support directly rather than guess.

None of this matters if you don't know your actual purchase date. Check your Whisker account or your original order confirmation email — that date is what both the one-year clock and the WhiskerCare purchase window run from, not today's date.

Why check now

A warranty claim only helps if the problem shows up while you're still covered. Based on Whisker's own support documentation and verified-purchase reviews, motor wear on the Litter-Robot 4 has been documented anywhere from two months of use to roughly three years — there's no single moment when it becomes safe to stop checking. Our long-term reliability report goes through the full pattern of what tends to go wrong and when, if you want the longer version.

The point isn't that your unit is about to fail. It's that a check now costs you ten minutes, and a check after the warranty window closes can cost you a repair bill instead.

Six things to check

Each of these takes a minute or two. If something looks off, the linked guide walks through the fix — this list is just here to help you notice it in time.

Curtain and cat sensors. Dust or fur on the sensors can cause a false "cat detected" reading, or stop the unit from detecting your cat at all. A dry microfiber cloth or cotton swab is usually all it takes to clean them — our cat sensor and motor fault guide covers the full check.

The drawer-full indicator (DFI). If the light flashes blue with an empty or near-empty drawer, the laser sensors that measure waste level may need cleaning. See our DFI troubleshooting guide for exactly where to look.

Motor sound and cycle behavior. Listen to a full cleaning cycle. Grinding, stalling partway through, or hesitating before it starts are all worth a closer look now rather than after the warranty ends — our motor fault guide explains what each sound usually means.

Globe liner and seal strips. Liners that stick to the globe walls, or seal strips that look worn or gapped, are an early sign of wear that tends to show up around the two-to-three-year mark. Our globe liner guide has the fix.

Pinch detect and bonnet fit. This is the safety sensor that pauses a cycle if something is in the way. Confirm the bonnet sits flush and the cycle doesn't pause unexpectedly with nothing blocking it — details in our pinch detect and bonnet error guide.

Carbon filter and general buildup. Not a warranty issue on its own, but an overdue carbon filter makes odor problems look like something more serious than they are. Our cleaning and maintenance guide covers the full routine, including how often to swap the filter.

If you find something

If anything above looks or sounds wrong while you're still within your warranty window — base coverage or WhiskerCare — that's the moment to contact Whisker's support team through their support portal, not after the coverage lapses. If it's something small and free to fix yourself, like a dusty sensor, the linked guide above will get you there faster than a support ticket would.

Frequently asked questions