Automatic Litterbox Central

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I've been reading about the CatGenie on and off, here, and the Amazon reviews, and anywhere else I can find any info. Seems like the positive experiences are only about 75%, and I'm terrified of both the "baked brownies" and the "cat poop soup".

Should I do it? I love the concept, even with some minor tweaking and prodding on my part. I do NOT love the hot poopy soup idea. Are the odds in my favor? If I hate it, will I be required to accept new and/or replacement parts from PN until my 90 days are up and I can't return it? Is the customer service at PN as bad as I've heard?

Help! I really really want one of these, but I'm just to scared to hit the "order now" button! I'd certainly never be willing to try it without the support group and innovative hackers I've seen here.

Thanks y'all.

Bear in mind with any product, that most of the time you're going to read a higher proportion of "it sucks" write ups as that tends to make people mad and more vocal. I don't know how many happy owners would just decide to post a message saying "works great" for the heck of it.

That said, if you're expecting it to be 100% maintenance free you might need to reset expectations a tad. It’s a mechanical device (as opposed to just a box with kitty litter in) so it's going to have the accompanying foibles of things jamming, falling off etc. Overall though, I've been happy with my ownership for my three cats. The supplied pellets do have tendency to turn up in the most surprising corners of the house but a litter mat has helped keep the tracking down. Whilst I have had the Three Beeps Error a couple of times, this board and a nice guy in their support department helped me get over it (remove water sensor, clean and replace).

Have I spent more hours coddling this gizmo compared to the time I spent manually scooping and renewing and cleaning a regular kitty litter box? No. In that department, I really couldn't agree that the CatGenie is High Maintenance.

Is it perfect?
No. But so far it's pretty much the best of the ones I have tried (I have two Littermaids out in the garage gathering dust). I have a LitterRobot but my cats don't like dark caves so it seldom gets used and I will probably CL it.

Others may have been less fortunate and for that I'm truly sorry - I hope it doesn't jinx me for the future.

Your mileage may vary

te

I have been meaning to post an update on the main page... I will post this here as well since I think it will help you. To give some background I owned the Older model that I will refer to as the 60 for 3 years prior to buying the new model 120 this past September. Keep in mind I LOVED my 60 wash unit. Was it perfect NO... did I have issues YES... was it worth the issues vs using the old rake system... YES. The main reason I upgraded was because I wanted the Cat Activation feature. It provided me several benefits:

1. I have 2 cats... the one cat (that ironically is very tiny) manages to stink up the whole house when she goes.... she had a tendency to use the cat genie as soon as it was done washing. This means the poop would sit there for 5 to 7 hours before washing!
2. The 60 wash cartridges only lasted me about 14 days. I had set my unit to wash 2 times a day, but because of the one cat we would have to throw in extra cycles on a regular basis. We go on vacation quite often for more then 14 days... and I did not like having to worry about someone remembering to swap out the cartridge... and god help them if they do swap it and there is an error.
3. When I set the unit to 4 washes a day there were many times I would see the unit run when no cat had used it.


The other factor was the cost of operation... this one is not too compelling for me as I had a reset device. In September I decided to buy the 120 from Costco. I have been using the unit for 6 months. The first cartridge lasted me 4 months. The second one has been in for 2 and is still showing 100% on the LED. This brings the cost of ownership WAY down over the 60. Running the math for me (if you do not have a reset device):

Old Unit: 1 cartridge lasted 20 days. In one year I would use 18 cartridges. This puts the cost per year at: $234 (buying 3 packs of 60 not including shipping)

NEW Unit: 1 cartridge lasts 4 months! In one year I will use 3. This puts the cost per year at: $69 (buying 2 packs of the 120 not including shipping)

In Sanisolution alone it pays for itself.

Other experiences over the past 6 months:

The unit has run flawlessly since hook up (watch this I will come home to a 2 beep error). I have not had to deal with any errors or issues. I have done one maintenance was with the unit using the powder. This is a bit of a pain, but not as much of a pain as breaking the whole unit down! Not to mention... some day they will release the maintenance cartridges that will eliminate the current boiling water process.

I am VERY happy with the upgrade. As a testament... I would rather pay the $70 a year in Sanisoluton.. then use the OLD unit with the reset device.

Is the unit perfect... NO... I sill would like to see some changes and upgrades.

1. I do not know if there is any way to solve the cooked poo issue... but it is better with the new rake that came out on the later 60s and new 120s
2. I would like an LCD screen that gives more details on: Number of washes, where in the wash cycle the unit is, time and wash frequency readout.
3. I would like to have more wash options: Deep wash... poop scoop and flush with no water in bowl... ect.

To sum up I would say...I would not recommend the 60 wash to people that are not technically inclined and not willing to fix things... the 120 I think is much more reliable and advanced and will work for most people.

I am one of the people who wrote a negative review on amazon. Originally I wrote a positive review but changed it due to the problems and lack of customer service. After 3 processor changes, my catgenie is finally working. I had the worst experiences in just trying to reach someone, so keep that in mind. They kept sending me faulty refurbished processors and during this whole time, my catgenie didnt work for a week. Its a great concept, but flawed. I still don't regret my decision as it still makes life easier. But its a pain to own at times.

also, the burned poop is gonna happen. It smells bad but its something you have to accept.

Even with the issues the Genie has (and I have a 60 unit) I STILL think the Cat Genie is awesome. Could it be improved? Yep. Even the 120 could use some work. BUT - with that being said, it's 10,000 times better than any standard or automatic litter box I have ever used. If mine died tomorrow (and wasn't still under warranty) I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. Yeah, the brownies stink (it doesn't happen often to me - maybe 3x a month) and I have had one poop-soup encounter about a year ago - on a daily basis is STILL better than a house with traditional litterboxes. Seriously, our landlord was SHOCKED that we had not one but 3 cats. I have never come home to a "litterbox" smell of cat urine. Are the granules a pain - yes. If you hate sweeping up regular cat litter , you'll hate the granules too. Is the cleaning solution expensive - well, about as expensive for me as Tidy Cats Scoopable litter (and I HATED carrying 40+LBS. of litter and the mess and dust 2x a month). So I think cost wise it is pretty even. Could you have a major CG issue that may require some icky cleaning? Yep - but I had to clean my traditional litter box all the time - and the Litter Maid automatic box was always needing to be cleaned (the rake was always full of chunks!) And even after cleaning it STILL smelled. So yeah, cat poop is gross...it stinks...yuck. I use a pair of disposable gloves when I clean my genie - no big deal. I still think it's worth the time and money. I think the greatest advantage to the CG is the fact that the smell issue of a regular box is drastically reduced and the fact that I don't have to touch dirty litter on a daily basis. Seriously, I don't think I could ever go back to scooping. Ever. Just my opinion.