Trying Cat genie litter box

[Nicolette Kearns]

We have had our Savannah Amaretto (Ami) for 8 weeks now. We have had off and on issues with her peeing on a rug by our front door. She has had diarrhea for the last 2 weeks off and on and was put on a change of diet and medicine by the vet. She wont cover her poop and insists on it being very clean. Not sure if this is why she is peeing on the rug or not. Just got some new cleaning stuff to try. However I have decided to purchase a Catgenie litter box. Has anyone use them and had luck. I think she would like it since it can keep her litter box very clean.

 

[admin]

Hi Nicolette,

Welcome! Have you tried more than one litter box? Some cats like one to pee and one to poop? What type of food are you feeding? You would need to get the smell completely out of the rug by using anti-icky poo or something similar.

I'm not sure changing to a Catgenie will solve the diarrhea issues...I have never used it, so can't comment on it.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

If you talk to Feline Behavior Therapists they will say NOOOOOO don't get the Catgenie! It is a major cause of litterbox avoidance, this scary monster that activates for no apparent reason. It is a device designed for human convenience not kitty happiness.

Many cats don't cover poop, I used to think it a Savannah trait but my British Shorthair is the same. I think it is a trait of cats that are confident that they don't have a dominant cat around. Many cats need a clean litterbox, and some even need one for peeing and one for pooping. Some even are very fussy on litter textures.

What are you cleaning that rug with btw? Many folk think that cleaning with bleach will "sanitize" it and this only attracts some cats to pee again! You need to use a GOOD enzyme cleaner, and many of those sold in stores are not very strong nor effective. Consider http://uniquedistributors.com/petodor.html or www.antiickypoo.com as both are really good enzyme cleaners. You need to soak that rug, and may need to repeat the treatment. Kitty noses are more sensitive than ours. You could also consider taking up that rug temporarily until she is more reliably using her litterbox. Having the diarrhea and medication and diet changes when she is new to your home just may be too much for her. Make it as easy as possible for her to do the right thing. Make sure there is no cover on the litterbox too...that's also something many kitties hate.

 

[Sue]

I have both a Littermaid and a Smart Scoop. Both have their faults and advantages. Both will jam periodically. The Littermaid tends to waste good litter. The SmartScoop tends to occasionally fling poop. We did consider the Cat Genie but decided against it due to the very high cost of water and sewer where we live. ( I just paid a $140.00 bill for last month and it is only 2 adults and a pool that needs water added often so that the pump will operate.). Sue

 

[tkymasters]

I agree with Brigitte, The scary monster is not a place to go to... he rather go somewhere nice and quiet.. If the Cat Genie is a must have.. then wait til he gets older and braver.

 

[Jeni]

Well, we haven't had any issues with Aniyah NOT using her littebox so I thought I'd at least post here what I've done as far as the litter box goes...

I started with two litter boxes and have recently gone down to just one. It will be 8 weeks this Saturday since she came home.

1) Both litter boxes are the Pureness large with high sides: http://www.amazon.com/Pureness-Larg...ords=pureness+large+high+sides+cat+litter+pan

2)They started out being about 2 feet apart. One was in the "washroom house" as seen here:
http://www.wayfair.com/Merry-Produc...23&csnid=BD54BE76-0D01-41EE-93A9-F9790D84A85B

and the other was just on the floor (not covered) next to it.

3) I use the Scoop Away Complete Performance litter. I usually scoop it twice a day, first thing in the morning and again before we go to bed.

4) She was using both litter boxes for both pee and poop. I gradually moved them closer and closer to each other until she eventually chose to use just the enclosed one. Once she started doing that, I removed the second one from the room as a trial and she has done really really good (as far as I know) and has not gone outside of the box.

I think she may be a little "off" though because literally EVERY time I scoop her box, she jumps in it and decides she needs to pee or poop real quick so I can take that clump out too. I mean it, EVERY time! Like it's almost funny now.

Anyway, she's been using the one litter box now for well over a month. I've got the other one stored so that when she has full roam of the house all day while we are at work, she'll have a spare in the laundry room should the need arise

So all that being said, as big of a pain in the #@% it may be to scoop litter twice a day, it has become routine to me and she has done really well. Call it luck of the draw on the cat I got or maybe there's something to a clean box for them? I too considered the cat genie but didn't get it because it just wouldn't fit in the nice little enclosed washroom thingy!!!

 

[tkymasters]

http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?Prod_ID=RP091418

I use the 31 gallon and cut a large hole in the side... fill it up with 2 inches of clumping litter. it's like having a large walk in bathroom for cats.

 

[Samber]

I use the litter Robot which is an automatic litter box. It has a pressure sensor and activates to clean 7 minutes after the kitty goes. The sensor also makes sure it doesnt clean when theres one inside. used it for 2 weeeks with it off so they get used to going there. then once there used to it just leave it on. it drops the poop/pee in a bin underneath. i just change the bag out every 3 days and refill the litter.

 

[admin]

http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?Prod_ID=RP091418

I use the 31 gallon and cut a large hole in the side... fill it up with 2 inches of clumping litter. it's like having a large walk in bathroom for cats.

I use one of these as well...especially for Taj who pees standing up...but I put in a covered Nature's Miracle huge litterbox and lo and behold Taj started peeing in it...go figure!

 

[Dantes]

I think I've used every automated cat box on the market, and a few not on the market lol.

My current setup is four litter boxes, two upstairs and two downstairs:

Two of these Clevercat boxes

A Container Store sweater box that also serves as a portable litter box

and a Cat Genie.

Duma is the only one that uses the Cat Genie. My ragdoll doesn't like it, I assume it's because he's kinda big for it. I have the globe top for it to better contain the litter pellets that scatter everywhere, but we cut a big hole in the top in hopes making it less claustrophobic. Duma's only 10 months old, he isn't very big compared to what I hear about other SVs. Oh, and it doesn't scare either of them, as there is a delay as to when it runs (or you can set it at intervals), but one time when I manually ran a cycle Duma was watching me and became fascinated by it.

I don't find that the Cat Genie uses much water, and it doesn't seem more expensive than any other I've used. But I do find that once or twice a year it stops working, in which case I take it all apart and clean it with vinegar and it starts working again. Even with that, the Cat Genie is the least amount of maintenance of all that I've tried.

If I were getting another automated litter box, I'd probably go with the Litter Robot. It works pretty reliably, my biggest complaints were the dust (it tosses the litter around creating a cloud that leaves a layer everywhere), and cleaning it every few months, there's a lot of parts to it.

My next-best favorite (or maybe tied with litter robot) is a box called Scoop Free, but you have to use crystal litter with it, and Dante doesn't like crystal litter at all, I think it's rough on his delicate paws. I haven't used it since I got Duma, so I'm not sure how he'd take to it.

HTH