Best There Is.....For a Price
So like many reviews you've already read have said, this system works amazingly. The litter, the tray, the powered box itself, they all result in an end product that is greater than the sum of its parts. Cat smell is near non existent unless you just happen to be unlucky enough to go right next to the box in the 2 minute window between when your cat took a giant stinky and the time your box takes it away. Once it's raked, the smell is totally gone. Even more important (for me) than the complete lack of odor is the ease of cleaning it. Slide used tray out, cover it with included lid, slide new tray in. The whole process takes less than 15 seconds and there's absolutely 0 cleaning involved. The machine is durable, and I'm only on my 2nd one even though I started using this system 6 years ago. After 5 years and a few months, the motor finally started to go. It still worked most times, but every 5th or 6th rake the tines would stop half way through and I'd have to give them a nudge. Rather than dealing with all that, I got more life out of it than I had expected upon first purchasing, so I scrapped it and got a new one (which was a revamped model, seems they changed them over the years). New model is improved in every way. Smaller footprint in all 3 dimensions while keeping the same litter space, function buttons are better laid out and easier to use, and digital display is much easier to see. It even still uses the same tray system, so the 3 trays I hadn't used yet didn't go to waste. The only thing I don't know yet as I've only had the new one about a year is if it will have the same longevity as the original. It's basically a perfect product for what it's designed (and claimed) to do, surpassing literally every expectation I had....by a good margin in some respects. So what's the catch? Easy, this is a great example of getting what you pay for. This system is expensive not only initially but on an ongoing basis. It's basically a subscription service as you're tied into using just the replacement trays they sell. Sure, they sell a reusable tray that you can wash, but not only does that defeat half the purpose of owning this machine, but the cost savings isn't all that much as you'll still be buying their litter, only in bag form instead of in the disposable tray. Doing it this way WOULD save you about 20%, but it actually doesn't. The reason for this is that being a reusable tray, it's just plastic on the bottom, while the disposable tray has a bottom that's seemingly designed to partially absorb urine through its top layer (bottom of tray is waterproof, so it doesn't go all the way through). This seems to serve 2 purposes upon testing. 1st is it means the litter lasts longer between needing tray/litter changes. 2nd is that it traps the smell much better, which makes sense. So you save about 20%, but then have to change the litter about 20% more often AND clean it AND there's more smell between cleanings. It's a net negative to do it this way. What nobody has really discussed in reviews is what this convenience cost ACTUALLY is, so I did some simple math to give you an idea. 2 cats = tray change every 2 weeks Using the average price of these trays (they fluctuate quite a bit so I stock up whenever the price is slashed), each tray comes to about $21. So with 2 cats, that's $42 every 4 weeks, or $546 a year. If you're in a high tax state like California, may as well round that up to $600 after the 9.5% tax is factored in. That's in addition to the $200 up front price for the litter box itself, and will be an ongoing expense as long as you have cats.... So for most of us, it'll be an expense for life. Lol. Fortunately if you're a 1 cat household, you can cut those prices in half as the # of uses really is the only factor in how frequently the tray needs to be replaced. Also note, my math might be a little on the lesser expensive side since one of my cats is normal size, but my other is a tiny thing at 4.8 pounds fully grown, so I'd think logically she doesn't tax the system as much as a regular size cat. I've read many reviews where people with 2 cats get only 12, or even just 10 days out of a tray. Highly likely my 14 days is because of the little one. So in summation, if the aforementioned expenses are something you really won't notice or find reasonable, this is an absolute no brainer and you should stop reading this right now and buy one. If on the other hand you'll absolutely notice this kind of spent money, then you should weigh your options. Read more
