Cat Genie. Hype? Awesome?

by | Thursday | August 6, 2009 | 13 comments

Has anyone used this or heard about it? I have a LitterMaid, but I’ve never hooked it up and we’re still going old school

Flushable, washable litter. I’m always the last to hear about these things. You hook it up to a water supply and you don’t need to clean it or change it or anything.

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It even looks like a human toilet.

Starting at $329, I’m not sure I could convince my husband this is an experiment worth conducting- but given the $10 a week I spend getting litter, it doesn’t really seem that bad.

Filed: Daily Life, Reviews
  • Sara

    Read some reviews on it before you buy. Awhile ago I was convinced I should buy an automatic cat box but all the reviews I read were remarkably negative. For instance, should this one clog, it may overflow cat poo soup everywhere. Course in our profession we’re kinda used to dealing with cat poo soup ;)

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      Oh BLEAH!!!! That would still gross me out.

  • silvergrey

    If I were to try a >$300 box, I think I’d try the litter robot. Mostly because it looks like a little space ship rather than a human toilet. http://www.litter-robot.com/

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      OMG. That is AWESOME!

  • http://diyinsanity.blogspot.com Gene

    In California you’re not supposed to flush cat waste because of Toxoplasma gondii. It’s believed to cause problems for sea otters because it doesn’t get filtered by municipal waste systems and then gets concentrated in mussels and other filter feeders that otters eat.
    http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2007/02/06/discuss-the-whats-killing-the-sea-otters-tv-segment/

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      Interesting. I wonder if this is why I haven’t seen them in the stores.
      The Toxoplasma thing is interesting- considering how few people use flushable litter I would have to assume sprinkler runoff is the bigger culprit there.

  • http://thepailriderssaloon.blogspot.com/ heather

    i thought about this briefly but my female is soooo picky about her litter box that i don’t dare try it. (the last time i bought a new one i bought a different color, everything else was the same, and she refused to use it choosing instead to pee and poo ~next~ to the litter box!)

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      A new color?? Oh dear. lolol!

  • http://divingslug@comcast.net Suzanne

    Dr. V- I have tried about 5 different kinds of automated litter systems but not the one you are looking at, mostly due to the fact I just don’t have the space that it would require near an toilet. I now have a Litter Robot and 3 cats. It is a great machine and works wonders for handling the “gifts” of 3 indoor cats. I am on my second one and still going great. Customer service is excellent also. It is pricey but as you said, with the cost of litter, I feel it is worth it’s weight in gold. I should also point out, that I live in Florida and the Litter Robot is on the back porch that is screened in, It doesn’t get wet but is in the heat and humidity.

  • jess

    I’ve heard mixed things about the CatGenie – don’t get me wrong, the idea is awesome, but something within me says “why is it that something that should make your life easier needs to be hooked up to your water AND electricity?”

    We ended up going with the ScoopFree box (scoopfree.com) – only needs an outlet and it basically does the rest. You have to replace the litter trays every few weeks, and we stir the crystals around some so the urine gets equal absorbtion, but this has been our ‘fix’ to the cat litter box issue. i think in the end, people have to find the box thats ‘right’ for them, and for us its the ScoopFree.

  • Arwen

    I’m intrigued by the idea, but convinced that my cat would take one look at it, see it operating, and go “I’m not touching THAT ever again!”

  • http://gutsandshame.blogspot.com CarrieP

    I have used the CatGenie and…well…it has its problems just like every other automatic litterbox. The one thing it did reliably do is get rid of the litterbox odor, and thus I would probably still use one today if I had cats. Here are some drawbacks:

    1. The litter pellets stick to cats and get EVERYWHERE.
    2. The solution cartridges can get expensive
    3. Like any other electronic product, there can be issues with the computery parts
    4. The cleaning process is pretty loud
    5. The hose got clogged once and I had to take the whole thing apart to clean it out…an awkward and gross process, but mostly because the hose was routed behind our washing machine which was in a laundry closet, so hard to get to.

    But the benefits outweigh the drawbacks I think. If I could just figure out a way to contain those little litter pellets…

    PS: I have also used the litter maid, litter robot and scoop free and I would recommend the cat genie above all of them. Just FYI.

  • Kristin

    My sister has the Cat Genie and she LOVES it! I wish that I could, but one of my cats is an odd-ball and pees like a dog standing up…so we are limited to old-fashioned hooded boxes to contain him.