Automatic Litterbox Central

None of these cat gizmos are so complicated that you can't describe how they work. They're all simple mechanical devices. Some have clever designs and they all have flaws depending on how you use them.

In your LItter Robot review you said how it works is "incredibly difficult to describe" so you have them go to the Litter Robot web site to figure it out themselves. What? I can describe how it works in two sentences. The litter is in the bottom of a globe and when it rotates, the litter is sifted through a screen and the clumps are deposited into a drawer. Once that is done, the globe rotates back to put the sifted litter back at the bottom of the globe. I'm no writer but if I were, I would take the trouble to describe how a product works as well as I could. Leaving out that information with the excuse that it would be "incredibly difficult to describe" is telling your readers that they're not worth the time and effort.

If you go through these forums you'll see that people are having technical problems with the stuff they're buying and that's why they need technical information to judge these products. If you don't give them that information, it sounds like you're just promoting a product instead of reviewing it, especially with the excessive number of exclaimation points you use in your reviews and how you direct readers to the manufacturer's web site for information instead of providing it yourself.

You wasted your money on the Drinkwell. The Bubbler is obviously the best.

I've been using the Freshflow for a few years and several cats with no real problems, especially once I realized I could open the compartment holding the pump and even open the pump to clean it more thoroughly. I always cleaned the rest of the base and tried to clean the intake area using a swab before that. Boy, did I find slimy stuff when I opened it up!

And, I always changed filters and water, and cleaned the reservoir. I never had algae problems, I think, because it was not in an area with sunlight. All of my cats liked to drink from it, some from the bowl and some from the top of the water "ramp".

It wasn't noisy when it was clean and adjusted. It sometimes started noisily when the pump started circulating but once it was going and adjusted, it was quiet. And, if I felt lazy or was in a hurry, I just added a glass or two of water if the amount in the reservoir was low to tide them over.

Drinking more water will help cats' urinary problems. It just depends on if a particular fountain will attract them to drink more water.

Inky wrote:Drinking more water will help cats' urinary problems. It just depends on if a particular fountain will attract them to drink more water.

I recently switched to a Drinkwell from a CatIt. I could never get the CatIt to work all the time - it was too touchy.

I think my cat drinks less from the Drinkwell, though. I've caught him licking the extra reservoir bottle from time to time, like he used to be able to do with the CatIt.

As angry as I got with it, I think I need to setup the CatIt again - i'll probably leave both of them out so he has a choice.

I take back every nice thing I've ever said about the catit. It is a major pain in the a$$.. EVERY SINGLE TIME I refill it I have to 'futz' with to get it to cascade water over the dome like it is supposed to.. i'm on a level surface, etc.. but it just never seems to want to work.. If I've recently 'touched' the filter at all (to clean it, etc), it's worse, as the top dome sits on top of it, and it's not always perfectly in place. Even without the filter in place, it is still a major pain to get it to work right.

My Drinkwell, on the other hand.. I love it.. To refill it, I take the big giant add on jug, fill it, and just set it back in place. Cleaning of the drinkwell takes 15 minutes at most (i bought a set of the cleaning brushes - they definitely make a difference..

The freshflow is okay, but a bit of a pain to add water to. I don't own a bubbler, but it looked like it might be a pain to refill as well.

My catit and freshflow were consistently 'slimy'. I'm thinking thats just because of the hard water in our area. I've recently added a pur water filter for all of my water and the cat's water. I've not yet had a slimy drinkwell. (got the water filter and the drinkwell at the same time).

I finally got the catit running again today side by side with the drinkwell. I'll let ya know which one my cats prefer later.

Drgnfyre wrote:I don't own a bubbler, but it looked like it might be a pain to refill as well.

I don't know where you get the idea that the bubbler is a pain to refill. You just take the plastic container off and fill it with water and place it back on.

It's quite easy since there is a cap on the bottom of the container that you snap back on after filling with water. Then you don't have to do that trick where you turn the water over quickly without spilling it.

The bubbler is the best. Trust me.

lowenbotten wrote:It's quite easy since there is a cap on the bottom of the container that you snap back on after filling with water.

That info makes a world of difference.

Once I get done getting my aggression out on the CatIt (where did I put that hammer....), I might get a bubbler for my 2nd fountain. I really want to promote the water drinking in my "baby boy", as he's already had a urinary blockage..

Drgnfyre wrote:I take back every nice thing I've ever said about the catit. It is a major pain in the a$$.. EVERY SINGLE TIME I refill it I have to 'futz' with to get it to cascade water over the dome like it is supposed to.. i'm on a level surface, etc.. but it just never seems to want to work..

Is the dome clean? Even fingerprints can screw up the flow over it. It usually takes me a few seconds to get it flowing right. This might be influenced by the quality of your water (Portland has extremely soft water).

If I've recently 'touched' the filter at all (to clean it, etc), it's worse, as the top dome sits on top of it, and it's not always perfectly in place.

Just press down on the filter to get it into place. If it's preventing the dome from sitting level, that means water is flowing under the filter and reducing its effectiveness. It's actually a feature to tell you it's not working right.

Even without the filter in place, it is still a major pain to get it to work right.

I don't know what the major pain is.

My Drinkwell, on the other hand.. I love it.. To refill it, I take the big giant add on jug, fill it, and just set it back in place. Cleaning of the drinkwell takes 15 minutes at most (i bought a set of the cleaning brushes - they definitely make a difference..

You see, buying a set of cleaning brushes and spending 15 minutes to clean it is what I call a major pain and after a year I still couldn't get every corner clean. It will be even worse if the jug fills up with algae slime like mine did. In that case you'll have to cram a sponge into it and slosh it around with a stick or something. People with dishwashers won't have a problem cleaning it.

My catit and freshflow were consistently 'slimy'. I'm thinking thats just because of the hard water in our area. I've recently added a pur water filter for all of my water and the cat's water. I've not yet had a slimy drinkwell. (got the water filter and the drinkwell at the same time).

The CatIt has a terrible filter system. I've made my own with 200 micron filter felt and some filter foam. Once I get some time, I'll post a tutorial on how to make them. They're less than one tenth the price of the replacement filters. The water now stays much much cleaner.

My Drinkwell got filthy on the left side of the bowl. Since the water is only pulled from one side of it, the water on other side of the bowl is stagnant and gets filthy. I can see why you'd want to grow plants on that side because I had stuff growing there anyway!

There was also the problem of the Drinkwell pump getting clogged with cat fur since water goes directly from the cat's mouth to the pump with no filter in between. The CatIt solved this problem. Plus I had a Drinkwell pump die for no apparent reason (the replacements are cheap -- I bought two).

Also I always had junk collecting in the Drinkwell bowl. The CatIt solved this problem too by using a more powerful pump and making the bottom bowl "bubbled" instead of smooth. This was a clever solution. Debris falls between the bubbles where the water flow is strongest and quickly gets passed into the filter.

Scott Larson wrote:Is the dome clean? Even fingerprints can screw up the flow over it. It usually takes me a few seconds to get it flowing right.

Yes, the dome is very clean - I ran it through the dishwasher, and then made sure it was clean before putting it back in place.

I don't know what the major pain is.

The major pain is messing with it every time i refill it. I've done everything I can to make sure the filter is all the way in place. As I said, even without the filter sitting there, I cannot get water to flow evenly over the dome until I'm about ready to throw the thing out the window.

You see, buying a set of cleaning brushes and spending 15 minutes to clean it is what I call a major pain and after a year I still couldn't get every corner clean.

Every time i've gone to clean the Catit, there is an icky layer of slime on the filter. So far, I haven't had that problem with the drinkwell. Don't know if it's the water filter I started using, or what.

The CatIt has a terrible filter system. I've made my own with 200 micron filter felt and some filter foam.

Ironically, this would be what I consider a major pain. I'd probably do it because of the cost factor, and the cleanliness factor, but I don't see the Catit having much more of a future in my home.

I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. It's funny, since your comments are the ones that originally helped me decide to buy a Catit.

I've just had too many issues with the Catit, and so far, haven't had any real problems with the Drinkwell. (Keep an eye out for my post in 2 months claiming this wasn't written by me. )

I have only been using the CatIt for a few weeks now but I love it. I take it out every few days to refill and it just sits in there perfectly. I clean it once a week by just washing it down. I love the fact that it is easy to take care of and the kittens love it. One drinks from the bowl and the other prefers to lick it. I did have problems the first time I set it up to get the flow working right but within a few hours and messing with it a little it was fine. I have not had any problems since then. I do have the mat that is made just for it. I found it for 3 bucks brand new, that was what made up my mind about getting that Catit. I will let you know in a few months if I have found any problems, but I doubt it.

Drgnfyre wrote:Yes, the dome is very clean - I ran it through the dishwasher, and then made sure it was clean before putting it back in place.

This may be due to your harder water. When I refill the dome, I'm careful to hold it by the handle to keep my fingerprints off of it. When I turn it on usually water won't flow down one area but eventually it flows evenly.

Every time i've gone to clean the Catit, there is an icky layer of slime on the filter.

Good. That means it's working. Better to have that slime on the filter than in the water. Their recommendation to "replace every three weeks" is way optimistic. I've found their filters turn to mud in less than a couple of weeks. Yes, I'll get around to posting how to roll your own filters.

Ironically, this would be what I consider a major pain. I'd probably do it because of the cost factor, and the cleanliness factor, but I don't see the Catit having much more of a future in my home.

Even when I was using the Drinkwell I made my own filters! I took the frame out of an old filter and put it into some cut-to-size filter foam which I cut to make a little sack. I filled that with activated charcoal (about five times what the retail replacement filter gives you), wrapped it all in 200 micron filter felt and crammed it into the filter slot. These things lasted at least three times longer than the retail filters.

I think the Drinkwell does a better job of filtering. The water has more time to interact with the charcoal and that will remove more dissolved stuff in the water. The CatIt's powerful pump really shoots the water through the filter as fast as it can and the water doesn't spend a lot of time in the filter.

On the other hand, the CatIt removes a lot of hard debris that would just sit in the Drinkwell's bowl forever. My weird cat likes to dip his paws into the bowl so there was always disgusting dirt and litter in it (although I don't think this is a health concern). I had a turkey baster next to the Drinkwell so I could suck that junk out of the bowl every night. I'm happy to find all that stuff trapped in the CatIt filter instead of the bowl now.

I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. It's funny, since your comments are the ones that originally helped me decide to buy a Catit.

If you can't get the CatIt to work, then it's definitely not for you. I'm amazed the water flows over the dome at all like it does (you really have to trust the physics of water). The CatIt has a liter of water and a powerful pump which combined can cause a lot of damage if the water doesn't go back into the bowl! You have a dishwasher which will do a better job of cleaning the Drinkwell than I could by hand.

I have the Bubbler fountain and recently added the Drinkwell. I also find the Bubbler extremely easy to fill. I also like the fact that the pump sits on the floor, not in the water.