Customer Reviews

CatGenie 120 Self-Washing Self-Flushing Cat Box

5 star:		(117)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(69)

 

 

First, I must admit I am hooked on this product, despite all of the many problems I USED to have with the 1st generation (see my 3 star review for the 1st generation, Cat Genie [60]) - try it, being forewarned that it might require a bit of effort up front, depending on your hook up connection, and the cats' affinity for using the unit.

However - at least so far - the integrated Genie 120 has few, if any, real problems left.

It is a true, self-cleaning box, unlike every other box on the market. ... for me, the ability to go on short vacations without worrying about or asking someone, to change litter, is a godsend.

They spend a lot of documentation on cat acclimation. For me, it was no problem.

One by one, they fixed some of the core problems of the older design, some I received over time on the old unit, and all (plus a few more) come on the Genie 120:

-improved Hopper (if your cat eats things like plastic, the old unit would clog: the new unit won't)

-improved Claw (the old one had a ridiculously small pin holding the whole thing together: no surprise, under heat and water, it snaps in two after about a year_

-cartridges that might actually be environmentally friendly now (the old ones had chips, contacts... and lasted for a shorter time). The new ones are - well almost ...- just a bag and shell.

-scraper to help keep bone sediment from collecting and "growing" inside the basin

-allegedly, improved Genie Eyes.

-allegedly, improved litter bowl (i.e. over time, the older unit quickly lost a good "seal" between the bowl and rim, allowing tons of granules to fall into the bowl, and gum up the whole works) ... the new one still pops a few through, but I think it's much better

-allegedly, no need to "service" (i.e. nasty complete disassembly and clean of the unit) several times a year: instead, you just drop in a clean cartridge or the same from a bag several times a year.

For those super sensitive to smell, there is no way around the fact that, once in a blue moon, this design will of course miss a few remains ... which means they reach the drying cycle, which generates a most unpleasant smell that most of the negative reviews on the old unit reference.

However, this is rare, esp. with the new "Cat" mode (in this mode, the unit will clean 10 min. after use ... and more frequently, but with less detergent) ... which translates into an almost always, far cleaner bowl.

Customer service is hit and miss: if you reach someone, they are usually well informed and very helpful (this comes from someone who knows the unit better than most tech. service personal at this point). Other days, it's nothing but a black hole into the answering machine.

Still not the holy grail of litter boxes, but I am hard pressed to think of any other automatic unit that comes as close.

First things first: I was a bit reluctant to try the CatGenie because of the mixed reviews of the first model. If I make a large purchase (anything over 50 bucks), I'm researching the HELL out of it first. Usually I check reviews from Amazon, Yahoo Shopping, Consumer Search, epinions, you name it. I live by this method - in the (almost) decade that I have been using the internet to aid in my product searches, I have not yet made a purchase that I regret. This goes triple for the CatGenie 120. They don't sell the older model anymore, which I think is good; I might have been tempted to save a few bucks, but I'm glad that I didn't. The 120 has given me no problems at all.

A little background: I have 3 adult cats (two female, one male, all "fixed") and a smallish house (2 bedrooms - one I use as an office - and one bath), and not a ton of space, which means that the cat box 'thing' was always an issue. If I wasn't extra diligent in cleaning the cat boxes (three of them) at least once, but more often, twice a day, you knew it the minute that you opened the door. Short of getting rid of my cats, I didn't know what to do. I bought a litter maid, the cats hated it, and the clumps would get stuck in the rake. Switched to crystals, which did a good job at desiccating the poop, but it irritated my cat's paws. I didn't mind the pine pellets, but ended up with sawdust all over, and in particular between the boards of my hardwood floors, which I could never fully clean out, no matter how much I vacuumed. Considered the litter Robot, but you still have to use clumping litter, and if I'm dropping over 300 bucks for something, I don't like that I have to stick to my $45-month-for-litter habit, AND the litter still can get tracked, AND you still have to use plastic bags (environment, anyone?) AND not all the reviews were all that favorable. Enter the CatGenie. The price was somewhat steep, yes, but here is where my super internet sleuthing skills came in handy: you never have to purchase litter - it uses washable, recycled granules that are sanitized by the unit every time you run it, it costs less than the robot, and it hooks up to your water line, so you don't have to dispose of anything. You have the option to set it to run on a timer, do it manually (push a button and walk away), or set it to be cat-activated. I do mine manually, because with 3 cats, I like to be sure that none of the kitties is kept from using the box because it's in clean mode. But it's nice that the options are there. You can either hook it up to the toilet, or do what I did - hook it up to your laundry line. It comes with a T-shaped adaptor that makes this really easy. I don't have a basement, I have a laundry closet with a sink, so the waste just gets flushed out with the dirty laundry water. I have had my CatGenie 120 since July, and haven't had to purchase litter since, so my upfront costs are definitely evening out. It will have paid for itself in a few more months.

Here are my pros and cons:

PROS: no more litter (permanent granules)

it sanitizes, so I'm not worried about the cats spreading germs

no scooping

no plastic bags or waste removal - everything is liquified by the unit and flushed into the sewer

my cats took to it right away, and they dig in the granules just like they did with regular litter

VERY easy to set up

big enough to accommodate cat; not so bit as to take up too much room

CONS: the price upfront seemed a bit scary (but, as I mentioned, I haven't been shoveling out cash for litter)

not ultra-silent, but since I have it set to manual, it doesn't go off when I'm not expecting it.

you have to purchase refills of the sani-solution, but it's pretty economical, and each cartridge lasts for 2-3 months, depending on how often you run the unit.

BOTTOM LINE: this is the best cat box out there. It's self-cleaning, super efficient, and clean. Definitely worth the money, and I recommend it.

I have had 2 original Catgenies for about 3 years (I would recommend more than 1 Catgenie for any household that has more than 3 cats)... I was one of the first 100 or so owners of it. I had problems here and there over the years, but overall the original Catgenie has allowed me to take care of my 4 cats with my busy schedule and minimal effort. If I were to buy the first generation categnie over again I certainly would despite the problems I had with those units.

Now Enter the Catgeine 120:

I was part of the testing program for the new 120 unit. Petnovations sent me 1 unit awhile back to replace 1 of my original units. I recently sent this test unit back to receive one of the production 120 units. Since receiving the production unit 8 weeks ago I have not had any errors, not a single problem!

About 4 weeks ago, I called Petnovations to upgrade my other original unit to the 120 under the upgrade program they are offering for original owners. This unit has had no problems in the weeks it has been installed as well.

I only thought to post this today because I will be running my first "maintenance routine" on the one that is 8 weeks old. I set an 8 week recurring appointment in my outlook calender when I first got the 120 to make sure I remember to run the maintenance cycle every 2 months. I hope this new maintenance routine prevents me from having to do a thorough cleaning with the hose outside. This in itself is a major improvement over the original design. I always dreaded taking the original Catgenie outside to clean it out... now all I have to do is run a special cycle to "deep-clean" it every 2 months.

Also, when my family comes to visit. They will be very happy that the new 120 unit has the "sleep" mode for 10 hours. My sister slept on the couch the last time they were here and the catgenie would wake her up at night when it ran. This should no longer be a problem.

I am very happy with my 2 new 120 units and I wanted to share my experience with the new model in case anyone is considering upgrading or buying one for the first time. I understand these litter boxes are not for everyone, I am an engineer and feel I am able to deal with any problems that arise with new technology... but I feel Petnovations has come a long way with the Catgenie 120 and it is a very valuable and reliable product.

I would like to note that I have not yet replaced the original 120 cartridge in the 8 weeks of ownership. I have it run on the automatic cat activation cycle. If 1 cartridge will continue to last me 2+ months, the cost of ownership on the 120 units will be much less than my original units (I used to run the original Catgenie 4 times a day, at 60 cycles that is only a 2 week lifespan of 1 cartridge). The Catgenie 120 cartridge has lasted me more than 4 times the length of the old cartridge!

Now if they could only prevent the plastic granules from getting tracked out of the unit by the cats it would be a near-perfect solution (those things hurt under bare feet!), but I think this is something that has to be dealt with even owning a traditional litterbox.

I would highly recommend the new Catgenie 120 to anyone, I have recommended the original Catgenie in the past to my coworkers and friends... and with the new units better price and performance it is a an easy recommendation to make.

UPDATE 11/04/09:

I am still extremely happy with both 120 units, I still have not heard a single error beep out of either one. They do their job every day and all I have to do is vacuum up the granules that get kicked out of the box. Since the last review I have completed a "deep-clean" cycle on both units, it is sooooooo much easier than the old catgenie where you had to take the entire box outside, take it apart, and scrub it down. Every 2 months I pour warm water into the bowl combined with a special cleaning solution packet and let it sit for 2 hours before letting the unit automatically drain it out. I found that taking an ordinary toilet bowl brush and LIGHTLY cleaning around the bowl and hopper during this cleaning helps make everything look brand new (Warning: The toilet brush may or may not be recommended by Petnovations, it is my own idea). Also, the 120 has proven much more economical than the original, the automatic cycle combined with the sleep cycle and the increased number of cleanings in each cartridge has helped tremendously. I have found each cartridge to be lasting me 2 months (the old catgenie I replaced the cartridge every 2 weeks). The savings alone were worth the upgrade, but I am also very pleasantly surprised by the increase in reliability.

We received this new Catgenie model as a generous gift from a relative who took care of our cat during a vacation. (He didn't want to sift though cat litter the next time we take a trip). The concept was great and for the first week we were amazed at how convenient it was. It works by mechanically sifting through the litter granules for the poop, scooping it into a compartment that chops it up and flushing it down the toilet through a tube connecting the genie and the toilet. There is a bowl inside the genie that rotates and pushes the granules through the sifter.

After the first week, mechanical difficulties began. First the sensor that tells the genie that the cat has used it malfunctioned, so we had to manually press the button to start the cleaning process. This wouldn't be a big deal, but you have to use special granules for the litter box or else it won't work, and the granules were not deodorized like store-bought litter. The granules don't mask the smell at all. So if we weren't aware that the cat just pooped, the awful smell would let us know. That is what the sanitizing soap is for, to clean the granules and get rid of the smell. The customer service was great, they walked us through a troubleshooting process and at last determined that we needed to exchange for a new catgenie, which they sent to us for free. The next thing that malfunctioned was the arm that sifted through the granules. And finally, the bowl on the replacement genie wouldn't rotate. The poop was a big mess when the genie didn't work. My poor husband (a technically-inclined engineer) spent a total of twelve hours either troubleshooting on the phone with the technicians, or trying to fix the genie, or cleaning the big mess when it didn't work.

Again, the customer service was great, otherwise we would have rated this with 1 star. The technicians were available from early morning to late evening and were polite and always returned our phone calls. They were quick to send us a new genie, and even replaced a box of cat litter for free after we complained about the mess. In the end, it was just too much trouble. After 3 weeks, we boxed it up and sent it back. Unfortunately, my relative was charged a 20% restocking fee. Perhaps we just got a defective genie, because I noticed on the other reviews that people had a much better experience than we did. But after the replacement genie didn't work we didn't want to invest any more time in it. We ended up getting a low tech Omega cat litter box, where you just roll it 90 degrees and it sifts out the poop, you just have to dump it yourself, and we could use store-bought deodorized cat litter.

I got the CatGenie because one of my cats pees A LOT and he killed my other automatic litter box, which had been working fine. I don't like to spend a lot of time dealing with pet waste, so I got the box so that the cats would have a clean environment. I thought it would be fabulous. It certainly was expensive enough.

One thing before I mention my situation specifically - if you attach your sewage hose from the box to the toilet, it dumps into the bowl, but doesn't flush the toilet (which makes sense mechanically), which can be gross. Also, the granules are kind of nasty when the cat tracks them around, which they do easily. Also, they don't suggest the box for a cat with a lot of fur.

My box worked fine for about two-four weeks. Then it would malfunction in a variety of unique and creative ways. Over time, I learned to take apart that machine and put it together with the speed of a member of the military taking apart and putting back their weapon. Poop would get stuck, water wouldn't drain, the motor would die, the machine would stop working, the air would dry out the litter even if it hadn't picked up all the waste making my house smell like heated poop. I got the box so I wouldn't have to touch anything, and I eventually spent time every day fixing and cleaning the machine. This process is MUCH more disgusting (lots of nooks and crannies, liquified poop, and regular waste, smeared over surfaces) than cleaning out a litter box..

Why didn't I talk to the company? Oh I did. Multiple times. They sent me two new processing units (one didn't process, the second didn't dry the litter) I knew how many times to press each button to walk through the trouble shooting process, in addition to cleaning out the whole machine continually. After months and months of talking to them, I asked repeatedly to return the machine since it didn't work, for a refund. No dice, just more taking apart, cleaning out, and frustration. Eventually I thought that it would be less of a pain to just get flushable litter, and dump it directly into the bowl and flush it each day. That has worked much better, and my house doesn't smell like heated poop once a day. I recommend the brand, "The World's Best Cat Litter."

Of the two cats we own, one (Poppy) is content pooing and peeing in any litter. Migrating her to the CatGenie 120 wasn't likely to be an issue. The other cat (Jake) tends to rebel at litter changes. Two days after installation, both cats are using the CatGenie 120, and are fascinated by the self-cleaning process... One just kicked in about 20 minutes ago and both of them were sitting in the doorway to the laundry room, watching the bowl rotate!

(While I normally swear by purchasing just about everything from Amazon, given Jake's issues with litter boxes I decided to procure the CG120 from a certain warehouse club store that accepts returns with no questions asked. If I'd known he'd be as happy with it as he is I'd have saved the sales tax and bought from Amazon!)

Pellets were all intact - other reviewers have mentioned pellets spilling out from the box. This was not an issue that was encountered. The GenieArm (all parts are prefaced with Genie-) looks and feels a bit flimsy, but doesn't appear to be impacted by this.

Installation was quick - the hardest part is working out which way to lay the waste pipe so there's a 1'-2' flat stretch along the floor before it goes up to the waste water deposit for the washing machine. Plug it in, deal with the ear-splitting beeps confirming it has power, and press "Start". A quick check for leaks during the water-in and water-out phases is all that's needed to ensure everything's ready to go. After the pellets have been dried the air smells clean - that laundry-clean smell that's not quite fresh air, but not heavily scented, either.

The instructions recommend keeping the old litter box around while the cats acquaint themselves with the Genie, but after 36 hours of non-use I dumped the old litter box, leaving only the CatGenie as the sole litter box. A few hours later there's evidence of use (and no spoiled furniture - Jake's trademark indication he doesn't like the litter!).

There was one oddity: included in the packaging, but not documented anywhere, was a small blue rubber ball. A low-contrast photo included with it indicated it should be dropped into the hopper (where the solid waste is deposited) where it would help avoid clogs with fur, etc. A more detailed explanation of where it goes, and that it will actually sit on top of the hopper mechanism, would have been nice. Instead I dropped it in and watched it during the first cycle to make sure it wasn't getting chewed up or blocking anything critical. (Might as well exercise that right to return as early as possible!)

The CatGenie 120 was released to the public in July 2009. It's now October 2009. My only regret is that I kept scooping litter for 3 months longer than I needed to...

Update: 6 weeks later...

Well, as feared, Jake is rebelling at the litterbox. The problem is the cleaning cycle: it just takes too long. If the cleaning cycle is running, Jake won't clench for 25 minutes - he just goes where he came from (mostly the bed, sometimes the sofa). For cat activated cleans this system really needs to be done in 10 minutes; 25 is too long. I'm going to try switching over to human-activated cleans instead.

And the foul smells some users are reporting: baked poo. Every once in a while (about once every 10 days) it either misses poo, or breaks it up into pieces so small they fall through the scoop. Not a problem until the warming cycle starts, and then one of the vilest smells you can imagine propagates through the house until it can be vented out.

I gave this 5 stars initially; I give it 4 now. It's nearly there, but the timing of the cleaning cycle really needs to change, and the scoop needs to be redesigned to avoid the aromas of baking that aren't enjoyable.

Update, many months later...

Had to move house. That entailed disassembling the Cat Genie so it could be packed away. During the year of ownership (at about 4 months into owning it) it became apparent that the sensor unit was faulty. After some back-and-forth with CG customer service (the email people didn't know what the phone people were doing, so I'd get an email followed by a phone call from someone else 15 minutes later) I got a new unit. I'd become pretty adept at disassembling the system, cleaning it, and putting it together during the time that the unit would beep randomly - usually 5 minutes into a cycle, and often at 2am when it was supposed to be sleeping.

Fast forward a few months from replacing the sensor unit, and the new sensor unit works fine, and I'm doing the maintenance wash at the prescribed interval. No reason to believe it's particularly dirty underneath, is there? Especially since I just did a maintenance clean before disassembling it.

Oh. Em. Gee. The unit may think it's clean, but it's covered in 1/4" thick layer of mashed poo, with stale urine scent. The water sent into the unit to flush everything out is just causing it to swill around the bottom. The now-broken-up solids have settled to the bottom of the unit, and the water exits through the hose as if nothing's wrong.

After the move, I decided not to reassemble the CG. With hindsight, scooping litter once or twice a day isn't so bad. Especially if I don't have to disassemble a beeping CG at 2am in the morning again. Since I acquired the unit from "the certain warehouse club with a no-questions-asked return policy", I've decided to avail of that option. It's going back, and the months of ownership will be written down to an experience not worth repeating.

I thought when I bought the cat genie all my litter scooping prayers would be answered. Not so much. Its more of a nightmare than a dream. The product works exactly as they say it will, with a few major exceptions.

My one cat (I have two) did not like the unit. She has never gone anywhere other than in the litter box. When her only choice was the cat genie she would hold it in and cry until she could'nt hold it any more, then finally give in and used the unit. This behavior went on from the time I weened her from the litter box, and only allowed the Genie to be used, until I packed it up and sent it back. For the three weeks the unit was in use, my cat cried every day and would't eat until she was starving, all to avoid using the device. When I set up her old litter box she jumped in and used it immediately, then went back to her previous habits.

They recomend using the cat activated setting that uses an electric eye to sense when the cats have used the unit, then starts the cleaning atomatically. Unfortunately my cats like to jump in the unit, scratch a few times and leave. This caused the unit to clean itself unneccesarily dozens of time a day.

The unit fails to remove all the feces from the bowl every time leaving a brown fecal soup during the wash cycle.

The fresh scent sani-solution that comes with the unit is horribly perfumey. When mixed with the unscooped cat poop and blown with hot air for 10 minutes the smell is disgusting. The whole house was filled with and odor that made me want to vomit.

The reusable granules are plastic. When blown with hot air the granule become charged with static and stick to the cat's fur. I've found granules all over my house, even in my bed. These granules are unsanitary except for immediately after cleaning.

The catgenie 120(yes, the upgraded model) was an amazing concept, I spent almost $500.00 on a cat box and accessories and the shipping for all items. We really tried to make this work, my 2 kittens took to it right away. We had the unit for only 9 days before having to return it. The granuals that were walked out by kitties, and thrown out during cleaning, was something we could live with. We kept a little hand broom and dust pan for the old cat box and just kept it next to the new cat genie. The 30-45 minute cleaning cycle was an issue at first with timing on the auto cycle, because anyone with more than one cat knows that if one goes the other one wants to go too. I had one kitty forgoing the noisy, wet catbox in the laundry room to go on the nice, soft, comfy rug in my bathroom. (He never once used the floor before and hasn't since.) We changed the cycle to twice a day and any time we knew they went poop, we'd run a manual cycle, still we could do this, not an issue. We didn't expect not to ever do anything for our kitty litter ever again, that would be too easy and worth far more than the $500.00 we invested. The deciding issue that was ultimatly unacceptable, was the most petruid smell we had ever smelled in our lives. The first time this happened, "we had to touch kitty litter again", we took the entire machine apart and gave it a through cleaning,(the only place it would fit was my bathtub, I was not happy about that, but with through cleaning, a double check to make sure everything was level, granuals at the proper level, and we were ready to go. I even took the advice of one review that I had read after I purchased the cat genie. I got a toilet brush and scrubbed everything I could get to, every chance I had while the machine was cleaning. We moved back to the auto cat mode, thinking maybe it really needed the everytime cleaning so it would not get clogged or miss anything. It really does not get clogged, the scooper misses or breaks up little pieces of poop, that are not getting scooped or washed away, the the dryer heats it up and "bakes" it. It did it again, I was running late for work. I was already dressed and as I walked past the laundry room, I knew that this smell would linger and was stuck on me. My husband pulled the whole thing and threw it in the garage. I febreezed the whole house, and myself. The closest thing I can think of to describe this smell would be if you've ever gone to a resturant, while thier grease is being sucked out into the big truck, very bad, very very bad. The cat genie is worse. I almost wanted to try again, for the convience and how well the cats took to it. I just can not take the chance to have that smell all through my house again. Again, I think it is a great concept, but still not ready while advertising, "never touch litter again." They need to have the cleaner have an enzyme that can eat the poop and leave no solids or residue to heat up and "bake."

First I have to say I never owned one of the earlier versions. After reading they released a new version I thought hey, why not give it a try. Boy am I glad I did. It's only been a week and I cant say anything bad about this product. Unpacking was simple, everything was packed securely. It took less than five minutes to put together and wasn't too heavy to easily be moved around well assembled.

I placed the product in my basement bathroom. The water connection was quick and easy. The drain slipped right over the toilet. I was ready to go. As recommended by the manufacturer I ran a cycle to see how the unit work and I was amazed. I set the unit up at night and placed the litter box across the room from the unit to get my cat used to the area.

The next day my cat used the old littermaid in the new location, but did not go in the cat genie. I did not clean the old littermaid because it suggests this as a way to help your cats use the cat genie. I brought him in the bathroom and let him witness a cleaning cycle from start to finish. That following night after my cat had went to sleep I simply took the littermaid and placed it in a room that he could not get to. Sure enough he used the cat genie the next morning! He's maybe 8 years old so he's middle aged, and it took nothing at all for him to use this product.

The only suggestions I can offer that would be nice to be included in an update are:

- Allowing cat activation mode to be 24 hours; not on for 14 hours, off for 10. I've tried to set it to sleep when my cat sleeps, however, if you have multiple cats, I'm not sure they would sleep at the same time.

- Allowing a user to cancel a wash that was accidentally pressed. For example, well setting up cat activation on the unit I accidental hit the start button. I had to allow it to waste chemicals and go through a wash, even though it didn't have to. It would have been nice to just press start again or something right away and they cycle was canceled.

- Make the cat genie so the sides are as high as they are with the extenders. Well the side walls are only $20 when purchased directly from the manufacturer, it seems like just an easy way for them to get another $20 for the unit. I can't imagine the bowl keeping the litter in for any cat, no matter how calm they are as it is.

Overall I'm highly satisfied with the cat genie. It would be nice to have some sort of rewards program since you HAVE TO buy their products for the lifetime of the unit. Other than that... great job!

The following is an accurate depiction of our one-and-a-half years of CatGenie 120 ownership, and represents the typical experiences one can expect to encounter. I apologize for the tl;dr nature of this review.

We decided to invest in this system because I could no longer stand the thick layer of dust from the regular cat litter that perpetually coated everything in our laundry room (the only reasonable place for a litter box in our house at the time). Our two adult cats were NOT happy whatsoever when they realized they were expected to use it. I initially had to run cleaning cycles with the laundry room door closed, because the cats were afraid of it. We stuck with it, however; and eventually, after two loooong months, the cats "got used to it" (although they certainly weren't happy about it). We found out very early on that we could never use Cat Activation mode. Ever. As any owner of two or more cats will know, when one cat poops, the other one(s) will have to poop, too. And not necessarily within 10 minutes of the first cat. So, cat #1 poops; 10 minutes later, CatGenie starts cleaning cycle; 10 minutes into the cleaning cycle, cat #2 has to poop, sees the CatGenie filled with water, thinks "Ahh, I see, hmmm ... " and does his/her business on the carpet. Effectively getting their message across to you. So ok, fine, we get it, we'll have to do manual cleanings with this thing. Cat #1 would poop; the laundry room would reek to high heaven for the next 15-60 minutes, or 2 hours, or however long it took for cat #2 to decide to poop. Which was hard to determine, since the poop is buried; it's not like we designated a family member to be a "poop sentry" to be watchfully vigilant of the CatGenie. The days of leaving clean clothes hanging in the laundry room, or towels in the basket were DONE. I may have arthritis and feel like crap most days; I certainly do not want to SMELL like crap, you know? So yeah, the plastic granules do nothing to control odors. The manual cleaning cycle runs for approximately 39 minutes from start to finish; and too many times, one cat had to pee or poop again during this time (which was always on the carpet - why never the linoleum??? oh yeah; point taken, Fluffy, thanks).

Then, shortly after the cats started regularly using the CatGenie, we experienced for the first time the oft-described smell of poop that was too small to be scooped out, left behind in the bowl, and subsequently washed, rinsed, and dried to perfection. Imagine, if you will, a flaming bag of poop dropped into a stale garbage can that someone just vomited in, and left out in the Sahara Desert for a week. That *lovely* smell has the almost-supernatural ability to seemingly penetrate solid walls and floors and waft throughout our ENTIRE home. It takes 2 days for that stench to dissipate. From that point on, we kept a box of cheap plastic spoons right next to the CatGenie; and every time we started a cleaning cycle, we sat there and watched it scoop the up the poop, clean spoon in hand. If any pieces were missed, we quickly spooned it out and threw in into the hopper manually (then disposed of the spoon). We had to do this EVERY time. If one of us wasn't as diligent in our "poop duty" as we should've been, everyone in the house suffered for it. And heaven forbid if your kitty has a bit of a tummy issue and has a mushy poop! It literally COATS the scooper and falls in hundreds of tiny pieces through the slots in the scooper. Don't bother inviting anyone over to your house for the next 3 or 4 days, because there ain't NO way you can get every little piece out the first time. The granules do get tracked all over the house; and, as another reviewer mentioned, even in beds. Pray that you never step on a granule on a hard floor in your bare feet! (hurts really bad) Our laundry room floor always had a pretty impressive scattering of granules on it, despite our daily dustpan-and-brush sweeping.

We had our CatGenie maybe 3 months before we had our first clog. Unpleasant to clear it out. Then there were various other errors, like the water sensor thinking it's still dirty when it was JUST cleaned (according to proper procedure). Or the bowl just spinning and spinning away, without scooping or filling with water. Or filling with TOO much water, and it would automatically stop in the middle of the draining cycle. We had to push the "Start" button harder and harder to get it to start (used to barely touch it when it was new). We found that some of the errors could be corrected by simply lifting up the whole processing unit for 5 seconds, then setting it back down into place. The beeping would stop, and the cycle would continue (sometimes). We did run the cleaning cartridge as recommended; and the CatGenie was installed correctly (we had a professional plumber do the water hookup; he commented that the laundry hookup provided with the unit was "subpar" and used a higher quality one of his own). Eventually through our talks with customer service, it was determined that the processing unit was bad; and so they sent us a new one. It didn't have any more errors for a while after that; maybe once or twice it stopped, and we couldn't figure out why. After we had it about 10 months, my husband took it outside and dismantled it for a thorough nook-and-cranny cleaning (we set up a cheap litter box filled with CatGenie granules for the cats to use in the meantime). My husband was outside a few hours cleaning that disgusting thing. The look of horror and disbelief on his face when he finally came back inside was priceless (and pitiful). It must have been a pretty traumatic experience. He still doesn't want to talk about it to this day.

It seemed like a lot of our daily activities had to be planned around the CatGenie. But hey, we no longer had a cloud of cat litter dust hovering in our laundry room (and assaulting my afflicted sinuses). That was the only reason we put up with this thing for as long as we did. We also came to the realization of the very "un-portable-ness" of CatGenie, versus a regular litter box. If you need to contain your cat(s) in a large bedroom or basement for a period of time, it is a big hassle to disconnect CatGenie and move it to another location temporarily (it is quite heavy as well). You'd need to re-hook it up, or else let it get all nasty with pee and poop until you can move it back to its original location.

About a year and a half into our "CatGenie way of life," one of our cats finally decided that she WASN'T GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE. She began to regularly poop right in the middle of the floor, on the carpet (of course), at the top of the stairs. Every effort to dissuade her from making the floor her toilet failed miserably. After a few weeks of daily carpet cleaning (and growing aggravation), we couldn't take it anymore, either. That CatGenie had to go.

We searched online and found a newer type of corn-based cat litter that was described by some reviewers as "virtually dust-free." We bought a large litter box, and 2 bags of this "Wonder Litter." Lo and behold, we found it to be as described, much to our great joy! When our cats saw their new litter box, they immediately used it; and seemed to take their time doing so, too, as if they were relishing the experience. The CatGenie was promptly trashed. That was about 2 months ago.

Our cats are so much happier now. They rub up against the sides of the litter box all the time, purring loudly. They frequently nap in close vicinity of the litter box. It only takes me 3 minutes once a day to scoop the litter; and our house doesn't have that lingering "stale poop and pee" smell anymore. Cleaning a litter box won't permanently scar your mind (and your nose) like dismantling and cleaning the CatGenie.

BOTTOM LINE: CatGenie really is a wonderful concept; but it cannot realistically keep up with the demands that a cat puts on it. Granted, we only had one CatGenie for 2 cats. If you only have one cat per CatGenie unit in your home, that would likely eliminate any "accidents" that may occur while a cleaning cycle was running; and you'd be able to run a cycle right after a cat poops instead of waiting for the other cat(s) to go too. But you'd still be dealing with the little pieces of poop left behind from the scoop; the problems that would be encountered in the event of a "messy poop;" the granule issues; the errors; the inevitable, much-dreaded cleaning of the entire unit at some point in your life. For the price, we expected to clean, look at, and think about litter a lot less, while providing a cleaner environment for our kitties. But it turned out to be so much more time-consuming, smelly, aggravating, and disgusting than regular litter EVER was. For us, it was a pricey lesson learned.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

** I'm sure I could've condensed this down to one short paragraph; but then you would've missed out on the "whole" CatGenie experience. ;-)