CatGenie Self-Flushing Self-Washing Cat Box Review

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Cats make great pets because they don’t require a lot of attention like dogs do. Just give them a bowl of food and a pan of litter and they can pretty much take care of themselves. The only down side to having an indoor kitty is that we humans have to clean their ‘toilet’ for them. Not fun… Today Judie of Gear Diary and I are going to tell you all about the CatGenie. It’s an alternative to the traditional litter box. Will our cats love it? Will we love it?

My comments are in Black and Judie’s are in Blue italics.

I’ve had cats as pets since I was a kid. Back then they were always outside pets that would only come indoors to eat and play, but would go outside to use the bathroom. When I grew up and moved into my own house, I still had a cat, but we fixed a bed and litter box in the garage for them. That is until a few years ago when I was away on a business trip and came home to find that Jeanne had brought the litter box inside so that Max wouldn’t be alone. Of course he never went back into the garage after that and I ended up being the main cat box cleaner. Yay… not.

I’ve also had cats as pets since I was a kid, and they were always indoor – outdoor cats as well. Since mom or dad always took care of the litter box, I never thought about how much trouble it could be to keep up with one properly, until I was a young adult. That’s when I had to contend with my cat Groucho’s box, which as much as I loved her, was definitely a buzzkill. After finding out that the “summer colds” I had always suffered from were actually a massive allergic reaction to cats, I had to give her away. 🙁

Fast forward to two years ago, when I threw caution to the wind and allowed Sarah to bring home the charming Miss Avah. The conditions were that Sarah would give Avah weekly baths, and that she would maintain the litterbox. As if! The duty soon fell to me, but since Avah had completely stolen my heart, I didn’t mind too much.

As soon as I get home every day after work, my first task is to clean the cat box. We use clumping litter, which is messy and dusty. My 15lb cat Max (we think he might have some Maine Coon blood in him) is a real slob. Most days there is more litter on the floor than in the cat box. So I have to also sweep up the litter with a broom and a dust pan. I suppose this chore isn’t THAT horrible, but it can be time consuming and it’s just icky.

I had the opportunity to try the ScoopFree litter box several years ago and found it to be an improvement over traditional cat boxes. But it was still messy and required me to clean out the ummm…. nuggets every few days, so it really wasn’t THAT much different from a regular box. I know you’ve tried other cat boxes too, what did you think of them?

Avah was fairly young when I was able to ditch her basic litter box and replace it with a Litter-Robot I’d been sent to review. Not only did she take to it like a fish to water, I was thrilled with the fact that I no longer had to scoop! The one caveat was that once a week I would have to pull out the drawer and remove a bag full of “doody”, but compared to daily scooping, using the Litter-Robot was nothing short of easy street.

Jenn from Pocketables was the first person to tell me about the CatGenie after I had reviewed the Litter-Robot, but there were a couple of things which kept me from really considering one. The CatGenie has to have access to a water line for cleaning and disposal purposes and to an electrical outlet, but the way my bathroom and laundry room at the San Angelo house were set up, installing one simply wasn’t feasible.

After Kevin and I had begun renovations on our new house in Eldorado, it quickly became evident that there would be extra space in the utility room. About that time, both Julie and I were offered CatGenie review units. Coincidence? I think not. 😉

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Package Contents

CatGenie cat box and associated parts
2 Boxes of washable granules
2 SaniSolution cartridges
Installation instructions

The CatGenie can be installed one of two ways. Either in the location where you have your washer installed, or in a bathroom.

Space is a major deciding factor when setting up the CatGenie; the CatGenie is fairly large, as you can see in this diagram…

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Neither of our new home’s bathroom’s were properly laid out for an unobtrusive installation, so the utility room was our only real choice. From reading information on the CatGenie site, I also knew that it would be my preferred location, because utility room installation offered true automation with no human interaction. You see, when the CatGenie is installed using a washing machine’s cold water supply line and drain pipe, there is nothing to manually remove after the device has worked its magic; the waste is automatically flushed into sewage, or in our case – the septic system.

As luck would have it, Kevin’s brother Mark is a plumber. All I had to do was hand him the boxes, and when I returned the setup was complete (like magic!).

Installation isn’t that difficult, however. The only tool that you need is a pair of pliers to attach the larger T-Adapter.

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The only change from the installation shown in the photos and the paperwork that accompanied my CatGenie was that you should not attach the hook to the Genie Drain Hose anymore; instead, the CatGenie’s drain hose is to placed directly inside the laundry drain, next to the washing machine’s drain hose.

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The black hose is my washing machine's drain; the ribbed off-white hose is the CatGenie's drain, and the smooth white hose is its water supply.

After attaching the water line and the drain hoses, all that’s left of the installation process is adding the supplies (which Julie will talk about in a moment) and then plugging in the CatGenie.

Since Max’s litter box has been located in the spare bathroom and my washer / dryer was in the basement, I went with the bathroom install. I was worried that he wouldn’t adjust to going to a different location very easily.

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Installation in a bathroom requires the smaller T adapter. You have to add the fitting to the water line coming into your toilet. While it’s not difficult, I didn’t want any surprises, so I had Jeanne’s brother Dusty (who is a plumber) come over and do it for me. 🙂

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Before installation of the T adapter

Hook up requires you to turn off the water to your toilet and install the smaller T adapter. It took Dusty less than 10 minutes.

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After installation of the T adapter

The White hose is the water supply line. It connects to the CatGenie and provides water to fill the bowl where the washable granules are located.

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The Beige hose is the drain hose. You attach the flexible drain hook to the end of the drain hose and place it over the edge of the toilet. This is where the waste water from the CatGenie will drain. It’s up to you to flush the toilet.

The only steps left to setup the CatGenie are to snap in a SaniSolution cartridge and pour the washable granules into the bowl.

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A scented cartridge was included with our kits, but they are also available unscented. I think the scented version smells pretty good, especially since it only gets activated when the cleaning cycle is running, but it bothered Kevin.

The cartridge and granules are the only consumables for this product. Each cartridge should last for approximately 60 flushes of the CatGenie and the granules never need changing. You just need to add some to the bowl to always keep the level at the fill line.

In the month+ that we have been using our CatGenie, I have only had to top off the granules once.

I’ve not needed to add any yet.

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Unlike conventional cat litter, the granules don’t have dust that you breath in (yuck). They look like tiny pieces of uncooked pasta. These granules are not absorbent and are cleaned during the washing process.

Allow me to digress for just a moment. That the granules are not absorbent is both good and bad: good because the granules are reusable; nothing gets wasted, poo doesn’t stick to them, and they are economical in their own way. But I also think that they are bad because they aren’t at all absorbent. This becomes especially noticeable if you have uncarpeted floors…you will see kitty paw prints leading away from the CatGenie, and that’s not mineral water allowing their creation. 😛

I’ve not had this issue yet because for some reason Max doesn’t dig in this box. He just does what he needs to do and hops out.

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The cartridge easily snaps into the top of the unit. The CatGenie alerts you when there are only 10 wash cycles left. Next to the cartridge slot is the control panel. There are just two buttons that you use to set the cleaning cycles.

The idea here is to watch your cat and see when he or she is usually asleep; once you’ve decided a certain time is safe, you need to be at the CatGenie to press the Auto Setup button. When you press it, successive Daily Cycle’s numbers will light up. If you want the CatGenie to only operate once a day, you’ll hit it once; for two times a day you tap it twice, and so on. I have only Avah, so once a day has been more than enough. If you have an extremely potty-prone kitty or more than one cat, you’ll want to set the box to clean more often.

The CatGenie site says that “one CatGenie works best with 2 to 3 cats of average size.” If you have more than three cats, then you might need to get another CatGenie. This device is also “best for kittens 6 months and older,” probably because it would be a bit of a climb for a small kitten.

I should mention that since there is no clock, just a timer, the cleaning cycles will run in either 24, 12, 8 or 6-hour intervals – all based on the original time that you set during the Auto Setup.

With that said, if you ever need to run the CatGenie an additional time on any particular day, you can hit the Start Cycle button and the CatGenie will get busy.

I wish that the CatGenie had an automatic mode that would start the cleaning process 5 minutes after the cat hops out of the box. After all, it does have the sensors to know when a cat is in the bowl. It uses them so that it won’t start the cleaning process while the cat is inside. It doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult to add that feature.

It probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal to add such a timer, but I think the reason that there isn’t one is because cats will go to the bathroom several times a day, and it takes so long to do a full cleaning cycle (never mind the cost of the SaniSolution). Since Avah is an indoors only cat (she’s declawed, after all), the litter robot would be going off ten times a day, if it were touch sensitive like the Litter-Robot was.

I have not been setting the CatGenie to run at different times during the day. I press the button to start the process manually. Especially now that it’s warm weather and Max is outside most of the day. I find that he isn’t using the box all that often, so I don’t want to waste any of the SaniSolution.

Yeah, that’s partly why I am running the CatGenie only once a day; I figure that way I can get two months out of the SaniSolution cartridge. See? I can be frugal! 😉

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The  cleaning process takes a little less than 30 minutes from start to finish. The bowl start spinning and the slotted scoop will extend down into the bowl to collect the cat poopies and drop them into the hopper. Liquids automatically drain into the slots in the bottom bowl.

This process is a bit startling and loud the first few times! Water will just start entering the basin, and it sounds similar to a washing machine starting. There are various stages of operation which all have their own crazy sounds…

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The bowl spins both clockwise and counterclockwise.

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It does this process three times and shakes the scoop to make sure that as few granules as possible are also flushed.

It makes these crazy clicking sounds when the scoop is shaking itself; the first time I heard it, I thought something was broken!

During this part of the cleaning operation, there is a lot going on that isn’t immediately evident. In case you were wondering, the cat poo isn’t sent through the tube into the sewer or septic intact; it is first ground up and liquefied – hairballs and all, so that nothing harmful can clog your drain line or mess with your septic system. The entire basin is also thoroughly washed and sanitized with the SaniSolution; when the cleaning process is over, it’s like you have a new CatGenie again!

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Then the bowl will fill up with water and the slotted scoop will sift the granules around to clean them in the SaniSolution. Finally, hot air will blow the granules dry as the scoop aerates them.

It’s at this time that the scent from the SaniSolution becomes really evident. It doesn’t smell bad, but it smells more like a State Prison than a field of flowers 😉 Right!

This is another reason why I manually kick off the cleaning process… it is pretty loud. Max’s bathroom is not far from my bedroom. The cleaning cycle would definitely wake me up if it happened in the middle of the night. It’s as loud as a washer or an older dishwasher.

Exactly! This is definitely not a process that you would want running in the middle of the night; I made that mistake once, and the next day I made sure to reprogram. 😛

I was worried that it would take Max a long time to become accustomed to the CatGenie and actually use it. I know that it took him forever to finally try the ScoopFree catbox. The instructions that came with the CatGenie suggested that you should leave the original cat litter box in the same room and not clean it. That the cat would finally go to the CatGenie instead because it was cleaner. I could only tolerate that for about 2 days before I just took the old box out of the house and told Max that he either had to hold it or use the new box 😉 I caught him at one point sitting on the toilet seat looking down at the CatGenie in either confusion or annoyance. He didn’t go to the bathroom at all for 24hrs, but he finally got a clue and used it. Yay!

When I first looked at the instructions, I nearly panicked. Avah was coming from using the Litter-Robot, and there was no way I was going to set that up in addition to the CatGenie. I thought about it for a minute, and realized that when she was a kitten, all I did to potty train her was put her in the box and help her scratch at the litter; she immediately got the concept, and has never had an accident. So when it came time to use the CatGennie, I didn’t even give Avah the opportunity to be finicky.

When we moved into this house, I put the Litter-Robot in storage (just in case she hated the CatGenie), put her in the CatGenie’s bowl, swished her paw in the “litter”, and walked away. She didn’t go immediately, but in a few hours Kevin nudged me so that I could catch Avah doing her business. YAY!

Besides not having to deal with cleaning litter clumps out of a box, the other great benefit that I’ve noticed is that there isn’t a ton of cat litter on the floor after he’s used this box. The granules do not stick to his feet as much as the other litter. I only find a few of them on the floor and they are easily swept up with a dustpan every day or two. Now we don’t feel disgusted when we need to use that spare bathroom because it feels so much cleaner without the old litter box in it. The initial cost for some folks might be a bit high, but for me, it’s totally worth it! Max likes it and I like it.

My experience with granules on the floor was a little bit different than Julie’s. I don’t know if Avah was just used to the dome on her Litter-Robot or what, but when she would get into the CatGenie she would swish granules everywhere! I am not sure if it’s because she is declawed and her pads are grabbing granules – or what, but every time she would exit, she brought a bunch of granules along with her. I was getting a bit frustrated because I absolutely loved the obvious benefits of the device, but my house was getting littered with litter!

Max doesn’t dig at all, so if he starts, I might end up with that same problem.

I solved that problem by buying the optional GenieDome and GeniePaws 3-Pack (I only needed two of them). Now, once again, Avah has a completely covered and contained litter box. An added benefit is that I do not have to see her exposed poo in the hours before or after a cleaning cycle. Any litter that gets trapped in the GeniePaws gets dumped right back into the CatGenie, and it seems like it might also be helping to wipe her paws a bit…although I still see the occasional cat paw print on our bamboo floors. 😛

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There’s no way to get around the fact that the CatGenie is pricey. Let’s break it down for a moment: You have the initial cost of the CatGenie itself ($297 for the “Tabby” package), you’ll have to buy supplies (granules and SaniSolution) throughout the year as needed, and for many people that be enough. But as mentioned, I decided that Avah needed the GenieDome ($34.99) and the GeniePads ($24.99).

One thing worth mentioning is that the GenieDome is actually a combination of two products – the dome and the Genie SideWalls. The SideWalls are the extra gray plastic shown above the bowl, and the separate dome pieces are white. I honestly think that the SideWalls would have been sufficient to keep the litter in the box on their own, but during installation I decided that covering the box with the dome would make the whole thing look much better; as I mentioned, we wouldn’t be able to see the poo laying there in between cleanings anymore.

So far I’m using mine as it came. I’m afraid that Max won’t fit in the box with the top on it 😉 And knowing how finicky he is, he might not even try to go in.

One of the big concerns that I had was whether or not the CatGenie would work properly and safely with our brand new septic. The last thing I wanted was to foul it up or back it up somehow, but I needn’t have worried. Because the granules aren’t absorbent, even if some of them do wind up passing through to the septic, they won’t harm anything.

FYI: Mark mentioned that the three things which can really harm the septic are egg shells – because they never break down, and potato skins or rice – because they swell up, take up space, and take forever to break down.

I was worried about the septic issue as well. The first time I ran the CatGenie after Max had gone #2, I thought I’d see a disgusting slurry in the toilet waiting to be flushed. Surprisingly, it was mainly just soapy looking water. The CatGenie really does a good job of breaking down the poo.

I didn’t think that it was possible, but I have found the CatGenie to be even more convenient than the Litter-Robot was, simply because there is absolutely nothing for me to do other than keep the supplies replenished. Julie has to flush her toilet after the CatGenie runs, but other than that? There is nothing else to do.

I’ll take flushing the toilet over stooping, scooping, dumping and sweeping any day! 😉

The only caveat that I can immediately pinpoint, other than its price, is that extra thought that has to be put into where the CatGenie can be placed. There are just some homes where it will not work, and in a home like that, I would recommend the Litter-Robot without hesitation – simply because it only needs an electrical plug to run. But if you have a good spot to place one, the CatGenie takes litter box cleaning and convenience to a whole new level.

 

Product Information

Price:$329.00
Manufacturer:CatGenie
Pros:
  • No more scooping and dumping of litter
  • Easy hookup
  • Extremely convenient
  • Self cleaning - nothing to throw away
Cons:
  • Needs more timer functions
  • Noisy
  • Cleaning process takes about 30 minutes
  • You have to manually flush the toilet
  • It's pricey

20 thoughts on “CatGenie Self-Flushing Self-Washing Cat Box Review”




  1. Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
  2. We’ve been thinking about getting a cat when/if our aging dog passes on, and the litter box has been one area of concern. $400 (roughly) for the first year with typical bells and whistles isn’t too bad really since the cost drops sharply and you need to compare it to the other supplies and your time and effort.

    I just wish I had a better place in the house to park it… and some idea of the average utility life span would be nice too!

  3. Looks like the sanitizers are $59 for a 3 pack which is good for 180 days if you clean once a day so you need $120 a year for those.

    My scoop-able is about $20 every 2 months or $120 a year and I have to deal with scooping and washing the box now and then.

    So after the initial investment the ongoing cost seems like a wash for me and I never have to scoop again. I’m sold.

    One thing I wondered about is if they stopped making the cartridges you would be in trouble since they have a chip in them kind of like printer ink so you wouldn’t be able to get along on your own without them. I’m not overly concerned about this anymore since the product has been out a good while hopefully there are a fair number of them on the market. Is the cartridge recyclable? Looks like a huge chunk of plastic.

  4. @Vince That’s a good question regarding the plastic shell for the SaniSolution cartridge. I will try to remember to take a closer look at it tonight to see if it can be recycled.

    I also wanted to mention that you actually get 2 cartridges and 2 boxes of granules with the CatGenie when you buy it.

  5. LOL! Can you see the pattern of how we’ve been burned in the past? Companies that stop making supplies, plastic machines that wear out in weird ways, etc.?

    I am less concerned about parts as I am about overall long-term functionality. There is a lot going on with this device- it combines plumbing issues with mechanical issues and the added excitement of electricity. It sounds like there is a lot for Murphy’s Laws to work with. But- I am also a worrywart! 🙂

    Cool device!

  6. That was a very well written review, or maybe I was overly interested being that I’m a clump scooper myself! Thanks for the info ladies!

  7. Very intensive review! We’ve considered auto-litterboxes in the past and have just never been so bothered by scooping that it’s worth the expense & trouble. Maybe if we ever “start from zero” with a new kitten I’d give this a shot though.

    One consideration: What our pets leave behind often tell us things about their health. One of ours is diabetic (Yeah, what the #$^% right??) and it’s important that we kind of keep an eye on his urination so it’s not excessive. Any of these automatic boxes would eliminate that possibility, as well as needing the occasional stool sample for the vet. Just a thought.

    Great write-up guys!!

  8. I’ve been using one with two cats for several months. It’s amazing! Well worth the cost, and I find the recurring cost of supplies to be lower than regular clumping litter. Look for good deals on the cartridges on eBay or when retailers have coupons or sales. Also, the unscented cartridges are a big improvement over the scented ones that ship with the unit. At least in my case it looks like the boxes of litter will last a long time as I only need to replenish about 1/2 cup per month. Installation is easy.

  9. I build custom wooden furniture covers for Litter pans, automatic pans, etc. Therefore, I have tried most all of them, (the companies send them to me so that I will put them on my website.) The Cat Genie folks haven’t sent me one, but I don’t think I would want to take up space in the bathroom or laundry room for one, although I have sold a couple of Hiders for them. And, I like the fact that the Litter Robot doesn’t take so long to cycle. Plus……..just to be on the safe side, I won’t put anything like that in my septic tank. I have had to have one dug up and emptied and don’t want to go through that ever again, LOL!
    So far, the Litter Robot is BY FAR the best of any I have tried. You would not believe how your litter bill will drop like a stone. Also, I have not noticed any odor at all, (and I tried the least expensive clumping litter I could find just to see how it would work). I haven’t even put it into one of my Hiders yet, but……the noise of it rotating is not nearly as loud as I was led to believe by some of the posts on other sites. This machine is IT if you don’t want to scoop. I have sold many Hiders for them…….now I see why. Quite a few of my clients have gotten rid of some of the more popular machines and bought the LR. They have been extremely happy with them also. If you would like to see one of them in one of my Hiders, go to http://www.hawkswillwoodwork.com/LitterBoxHiders.html and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Fantastic product. And the people who make them are very pleasant and helpful to deal with.
    KP

  10. @FubarGuy: Funny enough, I started using the CatGenie *because* my cat had diabetes. He was drinking way, way too much water – maybe half a gallon a day – but there was nothing that I could do about it; he had lung and heart conditions that contraindicated any kidney medication (and vice versa).

    I had been using the ScoopFree box, but he was soaking the trays, and then deciding to use the bathtub instead. The CatGenie was the perfect solution, since it could handle huge amounts of liquid without overflowing (it just ends up in the drain).

    @Mark Adkins: you’re right; there are a LOT of moving parts, and many failure modes. Cat Genie’s inventor seems to be a perpetual tinkerer, and they’ve made many engineering improvements over the last year or two (redesigned scoop, more-accessible sensor, redesigned impeller system). Even the granules were engineered; he’s written about optimizing the “angle of repose” vs. keeping them sharp enough to scrub the bowl.

    They’ll usually send you the updated parts for free, too. But I wouldn’t recommend going away for more than a few days without someone checking up on the box. At worst, if they unplug it, it becomes a manual litterbox till you get back. There’s a whole forum devoted to automatic litterboxes at litterbox-central.com, and folks there have been really helpful to me.

  11. I had the first CatGenie incarnation, and I really liked it, despite the bugs. Even with the few issues that I had with it (would sometimes “stick,” I was hoping for more cleaning options), it was still way better than the ol’ scoop-the-poop method. As an existing customer, I was able to get a great upgrade to the new model (the 120), and I swear, it’s like my prayers were answered. The new model is quieter, more efficient, and has cat-activation (how great is THAT?), so it cleans after my cats (I have two) use the CG. Great break-down of how the unit works, btw. I love the two-opinion play by play.
    Anyway, I also prefer the unscented sani-solution, but not because I think that the fragranced stuff smells bad, but it interferes with my automatic air freshener doo-dad. Too many smells = yuck.
    I had had a litter robot, but swapped it for the CG because you still have to dispose of waste with the LR, PLUS you have to buy regular litter, which is not so great for our dear Mother Earth. Judie, I think you said it best: CatGenie takes litter box cleaning and convenience to a whole new level.

  12. Looks like the utility of the item is roughly the time the warranty runs out. I have two and the motor just went out on the one used daily as well as the pin in the scoop. Waiting for a response from catgenie to see if they will repair the worn out pieces or if I have to decide if I want to buy another one.

  13. i need a part for a cat genie that i bought from craigs list to see if i liked it ect. it needs a new drive gear (impeller ?). the motor is fine i just need the rubber gear and shaft. i went to the cat genie website and they are not selling any parts for the 60 machine unless you are within the warranty period and have proof of purchase. my inclination to try this with my cats and then upgrade in about six months is slowly evaporating. if i buy a new one and i can only obtain parts for two years then the machine becomes exceedingly expensive. does anyone have a suggestion about how i might get the part i need.

  14. Hi, I was reading a whole host of CatGenie nightmare experiences on Epinions. The CatGenie is very expensive to purchase here in Asia. Three main issues listed in Epinions were:
    1) Poo that is missed by the scooper then gets swished around during the wash cycle and disintegrate into smaller pieces. These pieces then add their odor to the saniflush fluid when the granules are dried – Have you found this to be true?
    2) Clogs can occur which is very messy and smelly to clean up. In your experience has the unit clogged up and/or filled the bowl with mucky water (due to drainage being clogged)?
    3) The granules can get everywhere if kitty loves the action of burying their poo (My cats love to do this and frequently kick litter out of their litter boxes) and since it hasn’t had the benefit of being washed I can’t imagine this being very hygienic. Do you see this as a problem after almost a year of using CatGenie?
    My mum who has arthritic knees needs a solution to scooping litter. I’m about to leave home to go back to school and she will need to care for the kitties. So I am desperate for a solution which will work and will economical over the long run. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

    1. @Preetha S
      1. I haven’t had problems with missed poo, but my cat has contracted irritable bowel or inflammatory bowel disease (we’re not sure which yet), that causes him to have diarrhea. So far we’ve only had a problem with the poo sticking to the scoop and causing an odor problem. We had to get a pair of rubber gloves, and old toothbrush and some paper towels and do a clean up job. – ICK.
      2. Never had a clog with mine (knock on wood) yet.
      3. Yes, the granules do have a tendency to get all over the floor in the spare bathroom where the CatGenie is located. I have a small dustpan and broom that I use to sweep them up and drop them back into the CatGenie bowl. We also sweep and mop the floor at least once a week.

  15. It finally happened… Over one year without problems and I had one today. After it ran a cycle, it beeped and registered an error on the touch panel. Everything looked fine though. The cycle cleaned the litter as expected. But according to the manual, it was probably a dirty water sensor. So this morning I ensconced myself in rubber gloves and set out to do the task that I have been dreading ever since setting up the Catgenie. I took it apart. And guess what? It wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared it would be. Yes, it was a little gross, but not THAT gross. As it turned out, I don’t think the problem was the water sensor – it didn’t look that dirty (I cleaned it though). But the propeller that grinds the poo had what looked like string wrapped around the shaft. It was cat hair turned into cord. I had to pull it off. That was the gross part. I put it back together, ran a cycle and no beeps or error lights. Yay me!

  16. We picked up the tuxedo package. we have 2 cats about 3 years old. We set it up and looked good. we actulay planed to have it next our washer and dryer. everything went as planned. UNTIL we took away the old boxes. Our cats refused to use the new box. in fact the basket of clean clothes, the upstairs couch, or our new carpet was aparently way better to do there busness on than a clean fresh box. so we decided to bring back one box and they did use the cat genie. but then the next problem was real edvident. it appears that if we let the system clean once a day it has a hard time of cleaning all the fecal matter out of it’s self. then when it goes into the dry mode our entire house was filled with the secent of HOT WET CAT POO with a hint of Lilac. Ugg but, Petnovations did take it back with out any hassle. we did have to completely dissaemble the unti and clean it to send it back. This is when I was able to really see how this thing worked. the emasserating pump could have been made out of stainless and disigned with a twist to reduce the noise level. there are too many blind corners and traps for particals to sit and acumlate and smell. the formula in the cleaning solution could be more nueutral and stonger chemically to break down fecal matter. the sifting arm needs a major redesign. maby a way to soak it between cleanings? and a more flexible set up with options for wash times, wash duration, solution amounts, etc. and a better way to deal with fur that makes it’s way into the unit.

  17. In the laundry room, there is no room with the dryer to connect the catgenie.
    I want to put the item under the sink and hook the drainage tube to the sink drainage after the jay loop. I just don’t know how to do it. Does anyone know how? I contacted a plummer and he did not have any ideas. Thanks

  18. When it works, hallelujah. However, every few months, get ready to enter the sewer-like interior of the machine to fix its constant breakdowns. As a long-time user, I was willing to go through this for the daily convenience, but now customer service is downright arrogant, unwilling to help me fix my (yet again) broken unit. I was willing to pay the exorbitant, ongoing supply costs. I was willing to go through crappy hell every few months. I am NOT willing to be treated so poorly by this company. There are other solutions out there. Take my advice and look elsewhere.

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