Anyone tried a CatGenie?
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free skin care · Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:08 am

Just wondering if any of the cat lover's here have tried the CatGenie self-washing, self-flushing litter box? We hadn't had a cat in the house for a couple of years since our Louise (15 yrs) left us.

With the passing of our son last month we got his 3 month old kitten. We aren't sure of the sex and our son wasn't either so for now we are calling it he/she as he did. Although he/she is giving us so much comfort in other ways, we get physically ill when dealing with the litter box so we really need a better solution.

Amazon has some good ratings on it, but I was hoping someone here had already tried it. Here's the catgenie if anyone wants to see it:

http://www.amazon.com/CatGenie-Self-Washing-Self-Flushing-Cat/dp/B000MKHQG4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-3153593-3833612?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1181143902&sr=8-2

-Cheri

free skin care · Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:29 pm

LoL that thing is crazy looking. They want $269.99 for that? Lets see if I got as many of those as I needed I'd be spending $1349.99 on new litter boxes!
I have 5 cats. Everyday I scoop 5 litter boxes and once a week I empty them out and scrub them all down and change the litter.
Years ago at a cat shelter I cleaned like 30 a day and that was the NON clumping cat litter!
If you only have one cat this thing might be worth it, but if I was a cat I might be scared of it!
I am completely immune to cleaning cat boxes.. I swear you will become too!

Not to change the subject but if you don't know if its a boy or girl that means it probably hasn't been fixed. You want to do that NOW. The behavior differences in a cat that is fixed very young versus even a year old are tremendous. I have three boys, two of which were fixed EXTREMELY young and they are perfect angels. My newest one, Bingo, still a great cat but even though I got him fixed when I first got him (a month ago now?) he still wakes me in the middle of the night humping my leg Laughing

There is also a chance if its a boy that it will start to spray and you don't want that. Even if you get it fixed, there's a chance that the spraying habit (very small chance) will be ingrained in his personality and he will continue doing it.
Sorry, sometimes I go off on tangents about animals being fixed, but I am a huge advocate of everyone getting their animals fixed ASAP, I hated nothing more than seeing a litter of kittens being brought into the animal shelter!
What everyone else sees as cute, I see as unnecessary and overcrowding in the shelters.

Oh, I have also heard that you can train your cat to use your toilet and it really does work! However you have to deal with walking in and flushing all the time and you MUST remember to leave the toilet cover up for kitty and toilet seat down. Laughing

free skin care · Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:27 pm

Thanks for the reply. We wanted to get he/she fixed, but I just assumed a 3 month old kitten was too young to spay/neuter. The vet is closed for the day, but I will call tomorrow and see what they say.

I will never become immune to cleaning the litter. I just know it.

free skin care · Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:08 pm

phredd4 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. We wanted to get he/she fixed, but I just assumed a 3 month old kitten was too young to spay/neuter. The vet is closed for the day, but I will call tomorrow and see what they say.

I will never become immune to cleaning the litter. I just know it.

What sort of litter are you using? There's a lot of litter out there that neutralizes odor.

I agree with Phoesbesmeow. Look into getting him fixed as soon as possible! I have a cat we adopted, and he wasn't neutered until about 10mths old, when the shelter caught him-- he humps my blankets. He's a creep.

We also had an old show cat that wasn't fixed until he became a house cat. He LOVED a nice plump pillow. Yech....

free skin care · Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:53 pm

I too was interested in the Cat Genie...but it is SO expensive. And, I was afraid that if my cats saw it cleaning itself...they would be scared of the litter box and not use it anymore.

I've tried a bunch of different litters. My favorite is Fresh Step Scoop litter. It clumps very well...and I just scoop the waste out every day. I have 4 cats...and several of my friends who don't have cats have asked me "why doesn't your house smell like cats?" It's because I use a quality scoop litter and take care of it. I add more litter about once a week or whenever it gets a bit low. I don't use a cat pan liner, because I've found that it impedes the effectiveness of the scoop litter. I just put about 2 1/2 to 3 inches of litter in the pan, and scoop thoroughly (make sure to get the corners, and in the bottom...as some cats really like to "bury" the treasures they leave you Laughing

Fresh Step also gives you "paw points", which you can redeem for toys, beds, coupons or free litter.

I agree about getting the cat spade/neutered asap. I think you can do it around 3 months. You also want to get your cat used to being brushed (if you do this a couple times a week, and definitely more in the spring...they won't be as prone to hairballs). If you choose not to de-claw...there are special kitty nail trimmers you can use. It's best to get the kitty used to this when it's young too. I just hold them firmly on my lap and carefully trim. You don't want to trim too close...because you can cut them, and then they will be scared of getting trimmed. Some vets recommend wrapping the cat in a towel "burrito" style to do this...but I find that only makes the cat freak out more.

If the kitty starts acting out, or bugging you a lot... you may want to get him/her a sister/brother (just what you want to hear, I'm sure!). But, cats are very social animals, and if there are two, they will play with each other and keep each other company. And, I find that two cats are really no more work than one. It's best to do this when they are young, so they haven't gotten to set in their ways and territorial. However, I've had very successful integrations of older cats as well.

Good luck with your new baby!!! Post a pic if you can. I'm trying to figure out my digital camera and computer...then will post as well.

free skin care · Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:12 pm

I'd bought a Litter Maid for my three kitties about 2 years ago. All of them were a bit older (from about 2- 5 years old). My one kitty was super scared of it. Even though we had them use it just like a regular litter box for about the first week, and then slowly started to turn it on to get them used to it ... he just never adapted. So I had to return it unfortunately ... although I loved the idea of it. I think it might be easier with a much younger kitty though.

As for neutering a cat .. I always thought it was around 6 months you were supposed to have it done? My two boys were done around 6 months old, but one of them had been done before I got him (and he was quite young when I brought him home). I always thought he'd been done too soon. When he would get really playful and excited, he would pee wherever he was. I always wondered if it was because he'd been fixed too young and that caused problems? I have no idea though and he's fine now .. it was something he quickly outgrew. Thank goodness! Smile

free skin care · Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:11 pm

Somebody bought me one of these. It worked pretty well, but it's really, really loud, and it scared the kitty! I find the crystal type litter the very best. No smell at all. If you have a really big pet store near you, maybe you can look at a few options. I don't mind the litter box, but I can't imagine changing a diaper!

free skin care · Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:10 pm

phredd4 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. We wanted to get he/she fixed, but I just assumed a 3 month old kitten was too young to spay/neuter. The vet is closed for the day, but I will call tomorrow and see what they say.

I will never become immune to cleaning the litter. I just know it.

That's PERFECT! The sooner you get your cat fixed the BETTER! Makes a HUGE difference in their behavior if you fix them early ESPECIALLY if they're male. This might sound bad, but if you fix a male cat early enough... its as though he doesn't even know he's a male. MOST of the time he just never gets ANY of those habits or behaviors. You fix a male cat after 6 months? He's forever a lovable little terror. Laughing

My twins were done EXTREMELY young (before I got them this was out of my control) but they're both fine. Seriously they were done about 3 months old so I think that is fine. Once it gets near 6 months you are getting near that forever humping a pillow/leg phase....

free skin care · Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:42 pm

I did a LOT of research into litter boxes a few months back since my angels will be arriving in just over 3 weeks. This is what I ended up with:

Genie: Got some raves (including from our own Scallawagirl I think), but the horror stories from users who kitties pooped a bit off kilter and then the poop got all squished between the revolving ball layers (EWWWW) plus stories of cuts trying to clean it.. really put me off (so did the price)

Littermaid: better alternative, but everything I researched said to AVOID clumping-type kitty litter (as used with this) - ESPECIALLY if your kitty is under a year old

Crystal type is good, but be sure that they are not sharp at all - and they are not really that great for little kitties as kittens sometimes eat their litter.

In the end, we have decided to go with a special kind of litter from Australia (guess it is in the US too) called breeders choice that is made from recycled newspaper. It is non-toxic to kitty, is supposed to absorb smells, and best of all can be flushed down the loo! My breeder has 7 cats in her home (more when there is a litter of babies, like now) and that is what she uses.

Once the girls are a year old we will try changing to crystal type - there are boxes here in Japan that have an absorbant sheet at the bottom in a tray and then crystals up top and they are almost 100% odor free and only need weekly changing. Smile

free skin care · Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:33 am

tiger - we do have the newspaper type here in the states also.

free skin care · Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:37 am

tiger_tim wrote:

In the end, we have decided to go with a special kind of litter from Australia (guess it is in the US too) called breeders choice that is made from recycled newspaper. It is non-toxic to kitty, is supposed to absorb smells, and best of all can be flushed down the loo! My breeder has 7 cats in her home (more when there is a litter of babies, like now) and that is what she uses.

I would love to see if there is something similar in Canada. I love the idea of being able to flush it down the toilet ... much better than taking bag upon bag to the garbage. I'm going to check into that. Has anyone else seem this type of litter in Canada?

free skin care · Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:41 pm

Does anyone know what became of CitriMax litter"? It was made of orange peels, but now I can't find it anywhere, even online. Was it hazardous or something? I loved it, my cat loved it and it took care of the smell and the tracking problems.
Haven't tried the CatGenie, but it sounds promising. George the Cat loves to play with gadgets: the LitterMaid gave him hours of fun = he'd step in & out of it just to watch the sifter! But changing those tiny boxes that held the "NuttyBuddies" got too expensive. And they smelled awful. I got a Kitty Toilet Seat, but George only hit the seat, never the opening, so that wasn't working.
Now back to litter box and clumping, but I sure miss CitriMax! If you know of it, PLMK!

Mon Jun 22, 2009 8:22 am

The CatGenie is great! Although the CatGenie may seem pricey up front but at only $297, it pays for itself over time. When you first buy the unit it comes with two packs of the Washable Granules and two SaniSolution cartridges, which last up to 4 months. The Washable Granules never need changing or replacing. Occasionally, you may need to add more granules because some will get stuck to solids or get kicked out. Regular clay litter can cost up to $121 per year. One Cartridge of SaniSolution lasts 2 months, which costs around $12.50 per month compared to clay litter which on average costs $20 per month for two cats. CatGenie also offers a payment plan so you don’t have to pay all up front, 3 payments of $99.

The CatGenie is the greenest cat box on the market. CatGenie’s washable, reusable granules eliminate the need to buy clay litter, which goes through a rigorous manufacturing process. The reusable granules also prevent tons of kitty litter from ending up in land fills every year. Granules and Sani-Solution cartridges are both biodegradable.

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