Automatic Litterbox Central

CathyJ wrote:Since July, I have been using these for a substitute pellet iwthout any issues. I have been using a mixture of the pellets in the pictures. I got them form http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABS-PLASTIC-PEL ... 4cf788564f

He was great to work with, and will ship you any one type or combination you may want. They are all the same price.

I only have one cat, and I have not had any problems with my CatGenie, or the cat using the box with this mixture. I used the different pellets as a refill, I didn’t do a full box change at one time. I have not noticed that any of the types track any more or less than the others. If I was only going to use one type of pellet, it would be either the ABS Small or the ABS Medium. I like a bit of the Vinyl, because I like the yellow color. The cat probably likes them because they are a bit softer.

1. Polypropylene pellets – they float, but that has not caused a problem. They are shaped similar to the vinyl but without the odor. The color is a milky white or a natural color. It is similar to the plastic used to make milk jugs. These are used for children’s stuffed toys.
2. Medium ABS – A bit larger than the CatGenie Pellet, but works great.
3. Small ABS – A bit smaller than the CatGenie pellet, but does not fall through the holes.
4. Vinyl – Nice Shape, just use a few because of the order
5. Polyethylene – I haven’t tried these yet

In the close up pictue from left to right the pellets are:
Small ASB, CatGene Pellets, Medium ASB, Vinyl, Polypropylene. The one circled in yellow is CatGenie Pellets.


This is how mine is mixed. The one circled in yellow is CatGenie Pellets.


This is how it looks after the bowl cleans

I love your pretty litter box! The yellow looks great! Also try: salvagestoreusa on ebay. I think his prices may be better....

bobgreer wrote:hi all
i use SAFFLOWER SEED ,I FOUND ON EBAY !
works very well ! use bleach as my sani as solution ! 1 tbs per 1 qt water!
PROVIDENCE HOUSE MFG INC
more data at http://www.smartcatbox.com

I might try the safflower seed....but I wouldn't use bleach for cleaning solution. It can break down the rubber parts. What you could do though is use water only and save one cartridge to run with the bleach solution (watered down of course!) once per month. I would still hesitate using bleach, and in fact, I use only water to refill my cartridges.

Colorado.kitty wrote:

CathyJ wrote:Since July, I have been using these for a substitute pellet iwthout any issues. I have been using a mixture of the pellets in the pictures. I got them form http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABS-PLASTIC-PEL ... 4cf788564f

He was great to work with, and will ship you any one type or combination you may want. They are all the same price.

I only have one cat, and I have not had any problems with my CatGenie, or the cat using the box with this mixture. I used the different pellets as a refill, I didn’t do a full box change at one time. I have not noticed that any of the types track any more or less than the others. If I was only going to use one type of pellet, it would be either the ABS Small or the ABS Medium. I like a bit of the Vinyl, because I like the yellow color. The cat probably likes them because they are a bit softer.

1. Polypropylene pellets – they float, but that has not caused a problem. They are shaped similar to the vinyl but without the odor. The color is a milky white or a natural color. It is similar to the plastic used to make milk jugs. These are used for children’s stuffed toys.
2. Medium ABS – A bit larger than the CatGenie Pellet, but works great.
3. Small ABS – A bit smaller than the CatGenie pellet, but does not fall through the holes.
4. Vinyl – Nice Shape, just use a few because of the order
5. Polyethylene – I haven’t tried these yet

In the close up pictue from left to right the pellets are:
Small ASB, CatGene Pellets, Medium ASB, Vinyl, Polypropylene. The one circled in yellow is CatGenie Pellets.


This is how mine is mixed. The one circled in yellow is CatGenie Pellets.


This is how it looks after the bowl cleans

I love your pretty litter box! The yellow looks great! Also try: salvagestoreusa on ebay. I think his prices may be better....

Unless you found something I didn't, they have nothing but the poly pellets. The poly pellets float, and their price is only $2 different on 30 lbs? If you don't want 30 lbs, you can get smaller amounts at very good prices as well, just contact him, and he will mix up any combination you want and give you prices for the quantity you want. He will also tell you were the better price breaks are on shipping pounds.

I've been using safflower seeds in place of the pellets for about a week now. I was driven to examine alternatives after about a month of battling with my very shy female cat over whether to use the dirty litter box, the new weird smelling catgenie, or the floor. Long story short, she won. So I was delighted to find that she seems to be willing to use the genie with the seeds. However, I am surprised at the amount of safflower seeds that seem to be catching in the arm and going down the hopper. It's only been 7 days and I've already had to top it off with more seed due to this. I've been unable to locate red or white millet seed, and I'm hesitant to change things up at the moment with Bella finally breaking the habit of soiling my carpet. But I certainly don't need to deal with any longterm damage to my plumbing! Has anyone else had this trouble with the safflower seed, or could it just be something off with my CG? I know the millet seed seems to be the most widely accepted alternative to regular litter around here, so can someone tell me if they've experienced similar trouble with it? I'm open to the other artificial replacements I've read about, but I can't help but feel that Bella is drawn to use the new litter now in large part because it smells more natural--she's a bit of a snob, to be honest .

PS to those interested--on the plus side, the tracking of the safflower seeds has been considerably lighter than the CG pellets!

hi i would know if someone finded out an alternative about the pellets that is easy to buy in europe?
thanks

I'm new to this CatGenie thing. When people say "tracking" are they just referring to pellets getting stuck to the cat's paws and ending up on the floor when they jump out?

Have you had any issues with either of the ABS pellets (small and medium)? I saw you mentioned you use a combination of both. I wasn't totally understanding what the reason for that would be. Do you consider these pellets as good as the standard catgenie pellets? Any risk involved in them damaging the machine... ? I literally just bought a catgenie and haven't even hooked it up yet (i'm missing the T-Adapter and waiting for a replacement to ship)... I assume some pellets inevitably get stuck to the cat poo when it's scooped... i assume this isn't an issue when the CatGenie "mashes" the pool for drain disposal, right?... the pipe is big enough that the barnacle pellets will go down the drain as well? So is this the same with the ABS pellets?

I suppose there is an element of risk to any machine that you use in a different fashion than what is recommended by the manufacture.

I have been using the substitute pellets since June, and have not noticed any issues.

I would consider the substitute pellets to be as good as the CG pellets with one exception. The CG pellets are supposed to be impregnated with talc or something to make them more biodegradable.

You are correct on your understanding of the term tracking.

I use the mixture because I figured the cats may like the smaller pellets better for scratching in, and I thought maybe the round ones might be easier on their feet? Also, I figured it would more quickly help me see which pellet may not work. Like if one would get stuck in the grinder, or if one tracked worse than the other or etc…

I just through the yellow vinyl in because my box is where I see it several times a day, and I like the yellow color mixed in. I would not recommend using very many of the yellow vinyl’s, as they do have a vinyl order.

I have found it does work best to keep the box in cat activation mode. And, it works best to manually remove a loose stool, if you happen to notice it. Parts of a loose stool will spill through the slots on the scooper arm, leaving parts that are to small for the arm to pick up. The parts that are left have a bad odor when the heating element comes on. Also once in a while the box will get a bit of a urine odor, so I just push the start button and run an extra cycle. That pretty well takes care of it. These issues have nothing to do with the alternative pellets. It is the same with the CG pellets.

I hope this has been helpful to you.

Cathy

Thought I'd ask the experts

I'm just wondering if anyone has tried these at all?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/17-lbs-Clear-Bl ... 5647d44561

We've had a CG for maybe a month or two now and aside from cat acclimation problems (which I'll not get into in this thread), we use the normal CG pellets and the original cleaning carts. We're wondering if maybe the cats don't like the feel of the CG pellets. Maybe mixing in or totally transitioning these blue ones (and they're pretty!) may help? Prior to this, they were using clumping clay litter.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

CathyJ wrote:Since July, I have been using these for a substitute pellet iwthout any issues. I have been using a mixture of the pellets in the pictures. I got them form http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABS-PLASTIC-PEL ... 4cf788564f

He was great to work with, and will ship you any one type or combination you may want. They are all the same price.

I only have one cat, and I have not had any problems with my CatGenie, or the cat using the box with this mixture. I used the different pellets as a refill, I didn’t do a full box change at one time. I have not noticed that any of the types track any more or less than the others. If I was only going to use one type of pellet, it would be either the ABS Small or the ABS Medium. I like a bit of the Vinyl, because I like the yellow color. The cat probably likes them because they are a bit softer.

1. Polypropylene pellets – they float, but that has not caused a problem. They are shaped similar to the vinyl but without the odor. The color is a milky white or a natural color. It is similar to the plastic used to make milk jugs. These are used for children’s stuffed toys.
2. Medium ABS – A bit larger than the CatGenie Pellet, but works great.
3. Small ABS – A bit smaller than the CatGenie pellet, but does not fall through the holes.
4. Vinyl – Nice Shape, just use a few because of the order
5. Polyethylene – I haven’t tried these yet

In the close up pictue from left to right the pellets are:
Small ASB, CatGene Pellets, Medium ASB, Vinyl, Polypropylene. The one circled in yellow is CatGenie Pellets.


This is how mine is mixed. The one circled in yellow is CatGenie Pellets.


This is how it looks after the bowl cleans

Do these alternative pellets ever cause issues with drain clogs? Are they safe for city sewer systems?

I pretty much only have one cat, we do occasionally have a visiting cat. I have never had to clean a clog (I hate saying that, may be jinxing myself). And form the sounds of things, I hope I never do. It sounds like a nasty job to clean up.

OnyxPanthyr wrote:Thought I'd ask the experts

I'm just wondering if anyone has tried these at all?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/17-lbs-Clear-Bl ... 5647d44561

We've had a CG for maybe a month or two now and aside from cat acclimation problems (which I'll not get into in this thread), we use the normal CG pellets and the original cleaning carts. We're wondering if maybe the cats don't like the feel of the CG pellets. Maybe mixing in or totally transitioning these blue ones (and they're pretty!) may help? Prior to this, they were using clumping clay litter.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Are you selling them? Is that a link to your ebay item?

No, it's not my link. I was researching things to try.

Quick version: There's 3 cats in my bf's house (and the basement is like something out of Hoarders, no exaggeration). We moved the litter box to the basement and I set it up near the washer & dryer. Did the move old box down and let it get filthy. We know that the cats started peeing in the CG and at least one of them was pooing in it. Got rid of the old box and at least one of the cats was using the CG, but then one of them decided to do its thing in the back corner of the basement behind a bunch of bins and it's been downhill from there, although at least one of them is still peeing in the CG.

So we're wondering if maybe it's the texture of the pellets hence my looking at this thread and on ebay. Also, I think the next step is to get his gran to clean some of the hoarder stuff in another area and wall it off with an old ping pong table making like a privacy corner because we also speculate that the cats want some privacy (hence going behind all those bins).

Btw, happy new year

This I do know: a basement/garage/room full of 'stuff' is a far more attractive place (in their eyes) to do their business, than a litterbox. Having all that stuff down there where the litterbox is, seems like a guaranteed fail as far as trying to get them to use the new, weird, thing that makes noise, litterbox. There are way too many places they can go and you not know about it for a long time. And they are! Even if their old litterbox was there, it wouldnt take much for them to go elsewhere. That old pile of curtains in the corner is a much better place than that litter box.

You should either clear that stuff out and clean the basement, move their box to another location and do not allow them access to the basement. Any time they can get down there, they will go somewhere they shouldnt.

*lol*

If it was up to us, we'd separate anything that looks like an antique so it could be sold, then throw the rest in a giant dumpster and make a nice bonfire!

Again, she's a hoarder and I'm sick of doing the litter (it's not my house and it's not my cats). The old litter box used to be in the hallway and that barely got cleaned unless I did it. I don't need to tell anyone the hell that is, especially if you've got asthma. heh.

Thanks for the suggestion tho. The small plus side of things is that at least his gran is throwing some stuff out FINALLY. Cat pee on boxes is good for something.... *lol*

I'll let you know when/if they eventually cooperate. But do you think the change of litter might entice them? Oh yeah, and I tried catnip spray in the area of the CG which they did like. My hope is that if we can make a private cat area for them I can put the CG in it, some toys, and who knows, they might decide to stop stressing me out and just cooperate.

If you can block that area off where all the stuff is, so they cant get to it, and set up an area just for the litterbox, you should have a better chance. But, as long as they can get to that stuff, they will.

One of my cats will trip over herself with excitment if I bring in a package from the mail man. If I dont open it immediately, she will go to work on it. Why? she loves to pee in cardboard boxes. she also uses her litterbox, and doesnt pee anywhere else, but she has this thing with boxes. God forbid she sees a stack of them!

*lol*!!!