jessicarbt's Full Review: Scoopfree Automatic Cat Litter Box
I was going to be out of town for a month, and using a cat sitter. Because I have three cats, I decided to save the sitter twice daily visits to scoop the box.
I purchased the box from Petsmart at a cost of $139. This seemed to be a reasonable rate for a self-cleaning litter box. I noted that the cartridges claim to last up to a month for 1 cat. The cartridges cost $15.99 each.
When I pulled the litter box from the box, I was concerned. This litter box used coated cardboard "litter pans". Every 7-10 days for 3 cats, or 30 days for one cat, I am supposed throw this away and replace it. This is not a very "green" way to care for cats. ($45 a month for 3 cats based on the cost. I only pay $13-15 for litter per month.) Yes, you might say, I did not think the costs through before purchasing this!
I set the box up and looked at it for a few minutes, pondering how this box was supposed to function. It appeared the rack scooped the cat feces and "hides it under a cardboard flap".
Even with the claims that the crystals "hide the smell" of the cat feces by "dehydrating them", I was dubious. I normally scoop my box, and place the clumps in an empty cat litter container with a lid. This keeps the smells out of my house. I really was not sure how hiding cat feces under a cardboard flap was going to keep smells from permeating my house!
The box was set up and the cats began to use it. I left the motor unplugged so that it did not frighten the cats. The flap lifting makes a loud grinding, squeaking noise that sounds like a squeaky door hinge. (Think horror film, and you hear a door opening!)
Twice a day, I would plug it in and press the button to activate it. The rake did seem to push all of the feces under the flap, but it also pushed about 1/8 of a cup of the very expensive litter crystals with it, under the flap.
Odor control is not fabulous, the house still smells like cats. The feces do seem to be dehydrated slightly but they have odor, they are feces. When the rake is in action, the smell is released from under the flap. If this box were left in action, instead of used manually, it would release odor into the house every time a cat uses the box.
The good news is, the litter is not tracked around the house. The deep tray also means my cats do not kick litter over the sides while they are covering their tracks.
One of my cats tends to pile every scrap of litter over his business, leaving most of the box bare when he is done. The litter rake distributes the litter when rakes the litter.
I should note that my cats were not happy with the feel of the crystals. They are much larger particles than the scoopable product I had been using. It took them several days to become used to it, and I literally had to remove their other options for two of them to even try the new litter.
Give your cat a little extra privacy when he visits his litter box. The privacy hood for the ScoopFree Automatic Litter Box is a translucent private e...More at PetSmart
Give your cat a little extra privacy when he visits his litter box. The privacy hood for the ScoopFree Automatic Litter Box is a translucent private e...More at PetSmart
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