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| Brand: CatGenie
Category: Pet Products
List Price: $329.99
Buy New: $257.02
You Save: $72.97 (22%)
New (7) from $257.02
Avg. Customer Rating:  157 reviews
Sales Rank: 2288
Media: Misc.
Shipping Weight (lbs): 34.1
Dimensions (in): 25.8 x 22.4 x 13.8
MPN: 891329001003
Model: 891329001003
UPC: 891329001003
EAN: 0891329001003
ASIN: B000MKHQG4
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Hard to adapt, but worth it. September 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After seeing the hit and miss reviews I bought my catgenie and hoped for the best. Almost 6 months now and not looking back.
Initially it was horrible. Only one cat would use it and we have four. Then we completely took away the litter box. We had 3 cats using it and one that refused. After several weeks of trying everything and dealing with poop on the floor we started placing our last cats poop in the cat genie. He would poop on the floor and we would put it in the contraption, simple as that. Then he finally got the picture and started using it.
There are several things on instructables.com that came in handy. The drain hose on ours is routed in the toilet now so that it goes down the trap and doesn't create poop soup in the toilet bowl. Also knowing how to use a power drill to drain down the unit is a lifesaver.
As for operational problems. The catgenie does not like to be turned off for extended periods of time. This can cause the poop in it to harden and cause more problems. Also if the unit floods with water and you let it sit, ie the wife shuts off the thing that keeps beeping, the water sensor will get dirty and you will have to clean it.
As for the poop soup in the machine people complain about its really simple, if the water sensor gets dirty this happens. Taking the unit apart and cleaning the water level sensor takes 5 minutes.
After figuring out all those problems though the catgenie works like a champ. We are going to purchase another here soon to keep the cats from bugging when there is poop in the machine and they need to use it. Four cats is too many for one catgenie.
If you can make it through the first month it's smooth sailing after that. Well worth the cost and initial hassle.
 Needs improvement September 20, 2008
I read all the reviews before I bought this, both positive and negative but decided to try it anyway. I figured scooping cat waste and changing litter boxes had to be one of the foulest jobs ever. I was wrong. Cleaning this box and the sludge it left me in my laundry sink was pretty nasty (I'm an ER nurse and have had my share of cleaning up some nasty stuff) The smell of baking cat feces sent my family and I out of my house, it permeated the whole house from the basement. I really wanted to like it, my cat didn't from the start but after a month she started using it instead of leaving me presents in my childrens laundry hampers after I had ran a cleaning cycle. I tried the unscented solution to see if that would help with the foul odor this contraption emitted. I thought maybe the purfumed solution made everything more pungent...no the unmistakable odor is the baking cat feces. A smell like none other and one that significantly outweighs the theoretical convenience of this machine. (clearing out my cloggged laundry sink/drain and the sludge along with poop soup in the machine was 100x worse than cleaning a cat box). The idea is great but the product needs alot of work for the price they are charging.
 It's great when it works but you will have to touch poop soup when it breaks down September 16, 2008
Ok, so I have this Cat Genie for about a week now and honestly I have to say this is a great invention and works great when it's operating properly. Upon receiving it, I hooked it up immediately and ran a wash cycle to see how it worked. To my surprise, I heard the dreaded beeps and notice the water was filled to the rim of the cat genie. The water stopped but it did not drain out, bear in mind this was 6pm pacific time and customer service was unavailable. At this time, I realized that I was really lucky that I did not wait for a present from my cat before starting the wash cycle, because I would be totally pissed off if I had to touch poop soup the first time I ran this thing, plus paying over $300.00 for something that did'nt work when you got it does not sit well with me. So I grab the instruction manual and try to diagnois the problem myself, the manual tells you to push a few button and guess what? The water started over flowing the cat genie on to my bathroom floor making the area into a toxic swamp of water and plastic litter. To my cat's amusement, he just mowed at me as I cursed up a storm while trying to figure out how to drain the water out. There was no easy solution for this as I figured out, if I dump all of the water out, the plastic litter would be dump as well, so in order to save the litter, what I figured out is that you have to lift the cat genie above the drain hose and let gravity drain the water out, this is a slow process but the only way without losing any plastic litter. So after all this, as you can tell, I was not a happy camper. I called customer service the very next day and they walked me through and told me that the problem is the hopper and propeller where it could be dislodged during shipping. customer service is very helpful and sent out a replacment hopper in 3 days. With the new hopper, the cat genie is working now but not without some complications and headaches. I do have to say, I love coming home to a fresh smelling home and if I want clean my litter box, I just push a buttom, very cool and easy.
 Poop Soup September 14, 2008
OK, so I'm not trucking "as much" litter in and out of here as I did, and the CatGenie works great "some of the time". Am I saving time and money? You decide.
The CatGenie has some design flaws which aren't a huge deal but can be a HUGE DEAL. It cannot be relied upon to run unattended. Don't even think about running it while you're on vacation or while you're away. Pretend it does not even have this feature. In fact, there should be a cautionary statement on it in red, "DO NOT RUN UNATTENDED". Occasionally, it jams and doesn't go around. If it doesn't go around, it doesn't scoop the poop and if it doesn't scoop the poop, you end up with poop soup. Now, the next time it runs, because the litter is soaked and as foul a smell of poop and sanitizer mixed as you could ever imagine, it will dump all of the wet litter into the hopper and clog the system. This is a HUGE, UGLY mess the likes of which many of us have never seen, and worthy of a WORLDS DIRTYEST JOBS episode. Once this happens to you, you will forever and always run it manually, and you WILL scoop the poop yourself beforehand. This experience is something you will NEVER EVER EVER want to repeat.
Bear in mind also that you are now left with NO litter box (DO NOT throw away your old box), your precious has to go "somewhere". Other issues are that it does not ALWAYS manage to scoop all of the poop and if it misses ANY, it stirs that into the foulest smelling mess you can imagine then attempts to dry it blowing the smell throughout the house. I swear this "poop soup" is deadly, and once baked a smell you will NEVER forget as long as you live. You must now immediately throw away all of the litter or take it out and wash it and start over. Keep a few "very expensive" boxes of the litter on hand for this reason. It WILL NOT run without the cartridge so keep some of those on hand too. God forbid you run out.
In the month I've had it, I have invested over $500 on the machine and costly extra supplies including a portable vacuum to run around cleaning up litter OVER EVERY INCH OF THE HOUSE. Laundry room floors by design are not level. The machine MUST be level to operate properly. It does NOT come with leveling legs built in even with this exceptional price tag, so you're going to be forced to be very creative building some kind of leveling situation, or a bunch of shims strategically placed which the cats will be sure to quickly remove for you. Another design flaw is that the buttons are in a bad place on top and the cats will start it themselves by stepping on them. Keep the child lock on at all times for this reason.
Overall, if you keep an eye on it while it runs throughout the 30 minute cycle and scoop the poop yourself before each use, it can be a very nice litter box alternative. If you leave your old box out (and you absolutely must either drag it out when you go on vacation or keep it out) they will use that over the CatGenie until it's too fowl to use anymore. Prepare to spend a lot of "litter time" that you otherwise didn't watching the CatGenie run each time for 30 minutes, completely disassembling and reassembling it to clean it regularly (more is better), and maintaining the old litter box at the same time.
Best kitty invention EVER! September 10, 2008
I have not seen my cat's doody in over a year....that alone is why I think this is the best invention ever. No more scooping, litter, stinky smells. I'm not sure why people say it stinks because I only smell the cleaning solution when it cleans. The customer service, like others have mentioned, is incredible. We got the dome attachment, which I was skeptical of at first, since many say that cats don't like doing their business in such tight quarters. But as soon as we put it on top of the unit, my cat walked right in and relieved herself....so I guess that means she likes it! (Or at least isn't fighting it.) I'm VERY happy with my purchase!
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