Automatic cat litter: what is it, how it works, types and models

The latest trend in scientific and technological progress, which is gaining popularity all over the world, is the so-called “smart home”. This concept refers to a whole complex of high-tech systems designed to make the life of household members as comfortable as possible. Recently, manufacturers of smart household appliances presented another new product from this series, however, intended for use not by people, but by furry pets - cats.

This is an automatic cat litter box that allows you to solve a number of problems associated with their natural needs. Let's take a closer look at what this device is, what the principle of its operation is, and the modifications available on the modern market.

How does a smart cat litter box work?

Many cat lovers will agree that cleaning the litter box is a rather troublesome procedure. A smart toilet for cats is designed to save people from this work. The general operating principle of automatic cat litter boxes is as follows:

After the pet has relieved itself and left the toilet, the tray begins to rotate. At the same time, a blade equipped with holes larger than the size of the filler granules extends from the tank. During rotation, the paddle passes the filler through itself, and feces are captured and sent to the storage tank, or directly into the sewer.
After removing solid waste products, the remaining granules are thoroughly washed with running water and dried with hot air.

This is the approximate principle by which a smart toilet made in the form of a tray functions. In automatic devices made in the form of a toilet, a regular automatic flush is performed after the animal has relieved itself. Various modifications may differ slightly from each other in their design nuances and operating features.

To avoid accidents, the self-cleaning cat litter tray starts moving only after it is sure that the animal has left its confines.

Likewise, an automatic toilet will not flush while an animal is near it. Special sensors that track the location of the cat are responsible for this. After the toilet or tray is empty, the sensor begins counting the time.

The delay is set by a special relay, and, depending on the modification, can be adjusted using the settings functionality, or remain unchanged. If during this time the cat decides to return and gets into the sensor’s fixation zone, then cleaning the tray or flushing is postponed until the animal finally leaves. After this, the time relay starts a new report, and only then gives permission to the automation to carry out cleaning.

Interesting options for cat litter can be found on AliExpress

Summarizing

A cat litter box allows you to solve the problem of using a toilet for an animal in an urban environment. Of course, you will have to tinker a little with taming your pet to the toilet, but the result is worth it. Once this issue has been dealt with, the problem of unpleasant “cat surprises” will be solved for many years.

In the video in this article, a specialist talks in more detail about how to train a cat to use the toilet.

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Characteristics and features of a smart cat litter box

The two main modifications of smart toilets that can be seen in pet supply stores today are a device that imitates a traditional litter box and a full-fledged automatic toilet for cats. In the first case, to be completely similar to a regular cat litter box, granular litter is poured into the smart toilet. Thanks to the automatic system for cleaning and washing granules, you will have to pour them into the device no more than once every 2-4 days. Such models can be used not only for cats, but also for small breeds of dogs. This is especially true when the owners are at work most of the day, and there is simply no one to walk the pet.

Automatic cat toilet Full automatic cat toilet

The cat litter box, made in the form of a toilet bowl, does not require filling with granules. All waste products fall into the bowl, from where they are simply washed down the drain by the pressure of the supplied water. The option with a cat toilet is preferable from the point of view of complete automation of the process, but it can be much more difficult to accustom your pet to it than to a litter box.

There are cat litter boxes on sale in which waste is stored in a storage facility, similar to a dry closet, and then disposed of by the owner of the animal. Such semi-automatic devices do not require a mandatory connection to sewerage and water supply, and are cheaper. But if the cat’s toilet is fully automatic, then the owner of the animal will have to provide for the possibility of simultaneously connecting it to the water supply and sewer. Models that operate on the principle of complete self-cleaning of the litter box and automated cat toilets simply will not function without this.

Model overview

The gadget appeared not so long ago. Recently, the products have become widespread. The most famous brands are:

Kopfgescheit;
CatGenie;
Simply Clean;
Cat Litter Box.

Toilet Cat Litter Box, or Self-Cleaning Litter Box

This model is called a self-cleaning box, and it is not much different from a regular litter box. The only difference is that the built-in rakes are periodically turned on, which pass throughout the tray, sift the filler and remove large fractions that have lingered on the teeth into a special compartment. The best option for such a toilet would be a clumping or silica gel filler, then cleaning will be as efficient as possible for such a model.

The Cat Litter Box differs from a regular litter box only in the presence of sieving rakes and a waste receptacle

This tray costs $129 on eBay. According to reviews from breeders, with silica gel filler, Cat Litter Box lasts 5 years or longer. It’s very easy to train a cat to use it:

Install an automatic toilet instead of the old litter box.
Add a little used litter to the clean litter so that the cat can smell itself and understand that this is a toilet.
Do not turn on automatic cleaning for your pet during the first week of use, so as not to scare away the cat and allow it to get used to the new item.

Disadvantages include the need to remove excrement from the receiver and wash all surfaces. The presence of an unpleasant odor depends entirely on the quality of the filler. Cat Litter Box does not eliminate litter odors.

Video: Cat Litter Box in action

Simply Clean toilet

This toilet has a more modern look. It is made in the form of a round bowl, which begins to rotate during cleansing. A lattice scoop is immersed in the filler. Clean granules pass through the grate, and large fractions are retained and flow through a conveyor belt into a special container. The liquid, as in a regular tray, flows into the pan.

Simply Clean toilet - self-cleaning box with conveyor belt

There are practically no advantages over the previous option. You will also have to come into contact with your cat’s waste yourself. Feces and urine receptacles are not airtight, so to eliminate the smell in the house you need to wash this unit more often or use expensive fillers. The only plus - the new original design - is also a minus. The cat will be cramped in such a tray, and the complex structure will be more difficult to disassemble, wash and reassemble. Training your pet to Simply Clean is as easy as training your pet to Litter Box. The price of the product on eBay is 5–6 thousand rubles or $99.

Video: how Simply Clean works

Toilet Kopfgescheit

A good attempt to create an analogue of human plumbing for cats. They say that the original version was made of sanitary ware; after modernization, customers began to receive plastic Kopfgescheit toilets. The authorship is attributed to Italian designers, the Kopfgescheit brand belongs to a Russian company, and the goods come from Taiwan. Nevertheless, the principle of operation is admirable, and the appearance is touching. The cat toilet completely copies the familiar urinal.

The Kopfgescheit cat toilet completely copies plumbing for people

A motion sensor is built into the side. 15 seconds after the cat has done its business, the flush is triggered. To train your pet, the kit includes a toilet seat cover into which filler is poured. Gradually the amount of filler is reduced to a minimum. When the cat gets used to doing without it, the pad is removed. The price in one of the online stores is 14,990 rubles.

Many breeders believe that the original idea still requires improvements:

Even the most powerful water pressure in the Kopfgescheit is not able to wash away cat feces. They stick. You'll have to work with a brush.
The plastic under the heavy cats creaks a lot.
The sensor is installed on the inside of the rim, so the flush can be triggered when the cat is standing on the edge or just sniffing the toilet. The noise and water scare away the pet, he begins to look for a toilet in another, quieter place.
Urine leaks under the headband, which causes unpleasant odors.
The cat steps into its own puddle in the toilet, tries to bury it, splashes urine on the walls and carries it around the house on its paws.
Over time, cats become disillusioned with such a tray and turn it into a drinking bowl.

Video: cats use the Kopfgescheit toilet

Reviews of the Kopfgescheit cat toilet

Hello! How, some say, in order to make our life easier, we bought ourselves such a miracle thing (I’m talking about a toilet with an auto-flush Kopfgescheit). To be honest, we saved money. They squeezed 20,000 rubles. on CatGenie. Stinginess (ours, of course) resulted in the fact that the cartridge must be bought for 1,200 rubles every four months (this is for one cat - respectively, for two - once every 2 months). Result: 1. Difficulty connecting. (technically complex process). 2. There must be a certain diameter of the pipe that supplies cold air. water. (if the pipe is smaller, the flush works very poorly (does not wash away poop)). 3. The flush is very loud and scary (cats get scared) 4. The cats simply refused to go to this toilet (stupidly they went on strike - they began to relieve themselves anywhere but in this toilet) The cats finished us off in 4 days. The toilet was dismantled and sent back . So I had to order CatGenie. We use it - we really like it! We're saving up some money for a second one just like it. To girls (cats) and kittens (they have a separate apartment in our nursery). Here's a real experience for you.
mco-nn
https://mauforum.ru/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=13179&start=20

Toilet for cats Kopfgescheit. I installed this one personally. It really works. Flushing is automatic using a photocell (how exactly it is implemented, see the instructions). Disadvantages: high price and the cat may not like it. After installation, the customer accustomed an adult cat to it for two weeks, then for a year they did not know any grief. After this, the cat died tragically, and the kitten was adopted. This one flatly refused to use it; only a tray with filler. So it doesn’t happen once at a time (but theoretically, most likely, it should work out). I will definitely install such a thing for myself (my cat) when I renovate the bathroom.
airgasm
Read also: Why a cat tramples its paws: the main reasons and what it means
https://www.mastergrad.com/forums/t230607-tualet-dlya-koshek/

I decided to try using Kopfgescheit (now I regret that I didn’t return it right away, they won’t take the used one). Two of the three cats began to walk into it without problems, one categorically did not recognize it and began to shit on the floor, which it had never done before. The two “successful” cats started smearing everything on the walls (while they were trying to bury it) or simply stood up in their business with their paws and then stomped around. The smell of urine was very strong, even though I washed it every day. Urine also flows under the frame along the side. As for the automation: the toilet works as it wants, based on the sensors very conditionally, that is, it sees the cat when it is inside the bowl, but if the cat is standing on its paws or sitting on the side, the sensor does not notice it, and accordingly it can release water into the cat’s paws or when the cat sniffs or otherwise explores. At the same time, the water starts up very noisily, and the cats simply jump away. As a result, the second cat also stopped going in it, the only cat went in it normally, the others used it as a drinking bowl.
mr_satcliff
https://irecommend.ru/content/dengi-na-veter-866

CatGenie 120 robotic toilet

This is a professional toilet that does everything itself. You can program cleaning, for example, to do it twice a day or immediately after a cat visits. There's also immediate on-demand cleaning at the touch of a button. The CatGenie looks like a regular toilet, but has been upgraded to suit your cat's needs. In particular, the round tray is filled with plastic granules, which means that four-legged animals will be comfortable in such a toilet, because the instinct to bury their “treasures” can be realized.

The CatGenie 120 toilet has a familiar appearance for humans and is comfortable for cats.

After starting the program, the tray with the filler begins to rotate, and the lattice scoop is lowered into it. Mixing and sifting occurs, as a result of which solid waste remains on the scoop and is lifted onto it into a special chamber, where it is mixed with water and goes into the sewer. Then water with shampoo flows into the tray bowl. The filler is automatically washed and dried.

The model has already received a lot of positive reviews. Owners even forget that cats have a smell and need to be cleaned up after them. There is a smell of detergent in the toilet.

This robot also has a lot of disadvantages:

High price, now about 29.9 thousand rubles.
Expensive consumables. You should buy only branded filler and detergent cartridges. Replacement is necessary once every 2–4 months.
After a few years of use, the motor may break down; replacing it will cost about 10 thousand rubles.
Once every six months you need to disassemble the structure and wash it to remove stubborn deposits.
The scoop has a sparse grid, small fractions of feces may remain, you need to keep an eye on it and remove it with a regular scoop. Such waste can go through all stages of purification, including drying. Then a very unpleasant smell will spread throughout the apartment.
The device beeps loudly when some kind of failure occurs, for example, the water is turned off. Doesn't start again when the problem is fixed. Needs to be turned on manually. Because of such failures, owners are afraid to leave home and ask friends to look after the cat's toilet.
The entire auto-cleaning process lasts about 40 minutes, and the granules remain warm for the same amount of time. As a result, the air in the room becomes very hot; it is necessary to install a hood.
If there are 2-3 cats in the house, then the next one who wants to go to the toilet may not be able to stand it while the machine does the cleaning.

But all these disadvantages are offset by the pleasure of using modern and high-quality equipment. Cats and people like cleanliness and odorlessness.

CatGenie is installed permanently, like a washing machine. Connects to sewerage, water and electricity.

To toilet train a cat:

Move the old tray to the location where the CatGenie will be installed.
After installing the toilet, leave the tray nearby. Do not turn on the new device so as not to frighten the animal.
First, accustom your pet to CatGenie granules, add a little to the old tray, mix with the usual filler. You cannot do the opposite: pour filler that is not intended for it into the toilet.
When your cat starts using CatGenie granules without problems, stop cleaning and washing the old litter box. The cat will choose a cleaner place for the toilet. Most likely, it will be a robot toilet standing nearby. To be on the safe side, place soiled CatGenie pellets from the tray in the automatic toilet.
Give it a week to get used to the new toilet and only then start using automatic cleaning.

Video: cat playing with CatGenie litter box

Reviews of the CatGenie litter box

In the licensed version of CatGenie, you will have to buy granule filler in small boxes for about 1.5 kilograms for, at the moment, 2650 per pack (the instructions viciously warn not to change the official granules for anything, otherwise the toilet will break, and also the “native” granules, according to them, biodegradable and safe for the environment) and often buy cartridges (2500 pieces), since the product is not so much necessary for cleaning the toilet (although it smells nice), as the manufacturer makes money on cartridges equipped with a chip (similar to printer cartridges) , programmed for the number of flushes, differs in different modes. Is it worth buying? For me the answer is “yes”, I do some dirty work once every six months during preventative cleaning, the rest of the time I practically forget that my cats go to the toilet. It's up to you to decide. In any case, this pleasure requires a minimal understanding of how this thing works and how it is assembled.
Satcliff
https://otzovik.com/review_4934346.html

We have been using CatGenie 120 for a couple of years now, I can say that if there are more than two cats, then the number of minuses is approximately equal to the number of pluses. On the topic of pellets, I advise you to buy a branded mat - it really helps to collect pellets from the paws. You can then go back to sleep.
Dronich
https://forum.ixbt.com/topic.cgi?id=47:12150

Litter Robot Toilet

Externally, the toilet looks like a space capsule and a concrete mixer at the same time. Filling is poured inside the ball; it is imperative to use clumping filler. Cleaning occurs after pressing a button or automatically by a motion sensor, you can set a program.

Litter Robot looks very impressive, the filler from the capsule does not spill out on the sides

The cleaning process involves sifting the filler. After starting, the capsule begins to rotate, the filler passes through the built-in sieve, the clean one remains in the tray, and the lumps fall into a special receiver, which must be cleaned manually. All parts of the toilet are also disassembled and washed by the owner himself. In addition, you need to add filler 1-2 times a week.

Among the advantages are simple installation: no connections to water or sewer are required, just insert the plug into the socket.

The operating principle of Litter Robot is very similar to the budget options Simply Clean and Cat Litter Box. But the price of this toilet is 69 thousand rubles! If you decide to buy a Litter Robot, then you should train it using the CatGenie technology.

Our cat was trained to go to a regular litter box. We placed an automatic cat litter box next to his litter box and filled it with litter from the old litter box. After a couple of days, the regular tray was removed because... the cat was already calmly doing his business in Litter Robot. For the first week, the new toilet was left unplugged so that the cat could calmly get used to it without fear or anxiety. A week later we turned it on. The cat visited his new automatic litter box, and after 7 minutes the Litter Robot began the self-cleaning process, which the cat was very interested in, and he, hearing the sound of the Litter Robot, returned to see what was happening there)))) Since the cat toilet has a presence/absence sensor cat, he immediately stopped as soon as the cat looked in there! This went on for about two weeks until the cat got used to the fact that his new toilet was doing w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w and the waste of his vital activity disappeared somewhere.
Alphawesen
https://irecommend.ru/content/luchshii-tualet-dlya-koshek

Video: how Litter Robot works

Considering the reviews about automatic cat litter boxes, we can conclude that the developers are still at the beginning of their journey. The idea to make life easier for breeders is good, but in reality, almost every model requires improvements or is not worth the money they ask for it. When deciding to buy, keep in mind that your cat doesn’t care how much you paid, the main thing is that he likes this toilet. Consider your pet’s preferences, for example, if he likes to dig, then buy a model in which he can realize this instinct.

Major manufacturers of automatic cat litter boxes

For clarity, let’s look at some models of high-tech cat litter from different manufacturers. Let's look at the principle of their operation, design features, operational advantages and disadvantages.

Cat Genie

This device is one of the most expensive, but at the same time the most technologically advanced of the smart toilets on the modern market. It is a tray filled with granules. In operation, Cat Genie is completely autonomous, and therefore requires a mandatory connection to electricity, water supply and sewerage systems. It operates on the principle of a rotating tray and a retractable “paw” for collecting feces. The granules are washed with soapy water and then thoroughly dried with a stream of warm air. Equipped with motion sensors and cleaning delay relays.

Designed for use by 4 cats or small dogs. Among the positive aspects of using this modification are:

Complete absence of characteristic odor.
Ability to change program settings.
Absolute autonomy of the process.

Among the disadvantages of this device:

The need to connect to utility systems.
Loud operation of the mechanism.

On AliExpress there are closed trays for cats for sale starting from RUB 2,050.

Kopfgescheit

The toilet is designed according to the scheme of an automatic mini-toilet. Requires water supply, sewerage and electricity. The artificial intelligence of this device is capable of dosing the flush intensity. If the cat is within the range of the sensor for less than 10 seconds, then flushing occurs with a short-term supply of water. This is enough to wash urine down the drain. When an animal lingers on the toilet for more than 10 seconds, water is supplied for a longer time. Flushing begins 15 s after the cat has disappeared from the field of view of the sensors.

Pros:

No need for filler.
Full automation.
Economical use of water.

The disadvantage is the same as that of Cat Genie - the need for a “full package” of connecting the toilet to utilities.

Simply Clean

Semi-automatic trays include the Simply Clean smart toilet. It is a round-shaped tray into which a rigidly fixed scoop is lowered. From it there is a conveyor, the opposite end of which goes into the storage tank. From time to time, at certain intervals, the bowl begins to rotate, and the filler is sifted through the holes in the paddle. The captured feces fall onto a conveyor belt and are sent to a storage facility until they are removed by a person.

The advantages of this model, compared to the two discussed above:

There is no need for running water or sewer pipes. Therefore, Simply Clean can be installed in any convenient place where there is access to electricity.
Its cost is significantly lower due to the smaller number of technological components and electronic devices.

The disadvantage of a semi-automatic device is the need to manually change the filler from time to time and throw away the pet waste stored in the tank. Another significant disadvantage is the presence of an odor, which becomes stronger the longer the storage tank is not emptied.

Advantages and disadvantages of smart cat litter

Such smart devices have a number of common disadvantages and common advantages. The undoubted advantages include:

Full or partial work autonomy. Thanks to this, owners can leave their pets unattended for the whole day, or even for several days.
In addition to toilets that vary in functionality, manufacturers offer different design options and colors. These can be simple open trays and real miniature toilets. One of the interesting design options is a toilet house for cats, which can decorate any bathroom.
Systems equipped with automatic flushing are distinguished by the absence of a specific odor characteristic of conventional cat litter.

Disadvantages of smart litter boxes for cats:

High cost of the device.
The need to connect to utility systems.
The loud operation of the automation can scare away cats, as a result of which they will relieve themselves in other, secluded places in the apartment.

In general, the advantages of smart toilets are much greater than the disadvantages. Therefore, each person can decide for himself whether he is ready to shell out 15-20 thousand rubles. for a highly intelligent toilet for your pet.