Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Money is what this is about. I mean, yeah, it's also about cat poop but money is the heart of this review because this is the litter box for people who have lots of money to spend to get a little bit more convenience. The convenience is not having to scoop your cat's litter box for (up to) 30 days per refill, and a distinctly lowered amount of bad smell coming from the box as a consequence. The money is tied up in the actual litter trays for this box, and yes, the box itself which retails for something like 10 times the price of a standard (well made) litter box. For the money you get a system that is very easy to use. To their credit this works as advertised. You slip in the tray and you're basically done. The cat uses the box and a short while later the box pushes the offending bits out of the way, leaving your cat with a clean box and your house with less smelliness. If your cat has solid poops, this works flawlessly. However, as detailed by others here, if your cat has runny or loose feces, then the comb on this thing can get a little icky. My cat has dry poop so there's no problem here, but make sure you're buying for the right cat. Some cats just aren't compatible with this hardware. Ah, but here comes the money part: The litter replacements cost, on average, about sixteen bucks each (give or take a couple bucks from place to place). That's sixteen bucks for ONE month. Now this is where the whole thing falls apart for me. I buy store-branded scooping litter that goes for about four dollars per jug, and one jug is good enough to last three or four weeks in my house with my cat. Sometimes a little longer, sometimes a little shorter, depending on his current drinking habits and diet. So my cost per month is about six dollars with the regular, old-fashioned, I-scoop-it-myself method of cat litter management. And I'm sorry, but six dollars versus sixteen, every month? That's a lot. That's a huge difference. That's over a hundred bucks per year more for the ScoopFree litter, and the only positives I get are that I don't have to scoop and that the litter smells a little bit better when used. Basically, you're spending two hundred dollars per year for litter with this device. Now, if you're well-off and have an extra two hundred dollars to spend every year for the rest of your cat's life, then that's awesome. This is a great deal because you'll have one more thing in your home that's automated and doesn't cause you to have to lift a finger (well, not as often, anyway). It's a luxury choice. It's the choice for people who don't have to count their pennies. People who DO need to be careful about spending, however, will find this to be a harder trade-off to budget. Ultimately the choice is up to you. If I'm honest, I'm not entirely sure which choice I'll make. When money's good, this is a decent device that will make your life less complicated. When money's bad, this is a device that will be useless because you're out of fancy crystal litter trays and need to make a choice between cat food or cat litter with your budget. What I'm saying is this: Don't get into this thing unless you're sure you're willing to spend a couple hundred dollars every year on proprietary crystal litter trays and totally be barred from using standard litter if you want to maintain the warranty and keep the device working properly. This thing is an investment, and like everything with the razors-and-blades sales model (printers and ink, fountain pens and cartridges, etc.) you have to get into it knowing that without the specialized, required monthly purchase you can't use the item at all. If the trays were easily found in department and grocery stores, it might be an easier decision. As it stands right now, the biggest department store chain in the country only carries them in select locations. Pet stores are hit or miss, too. You can always buy them online (sometimes for a higher price, so be careful), but the bottom line is that you MUST buy special replacement pre-filled litter trays. Every month (or more frequently). Once you're in, you're hooked and can't switch litter brands. And goodness help you if your cat hates the crystal litter. Anyway, five stars for the actual ScoopFree litter box, but minus one star for the proprietary, higher-priced, special litter that can't be found everywhere. Once you find a source for the litter, hang on to it, because this stuff is not the kind of thing you can buy at the last minute on your way home from work. Edit: I went ahead and ordered a permanent tray, which I will add isn't exactly cheap (and frankly, I think they charge too much for a piece of molded plastic, but that's not part of this review). With the permanent tray you're not stuck buying the disposable cardboard trays, and if you're smart about your crystal litter purchasing you can reduce the price per month significantly. I figure the permanent tray will pay for itself in about a year with the store-branded crystal litter I found that costs one third as much as one of the replacement cardboard trays. I should also note that my cat seems to love this box. He admires it. I mean, I've caught him looking at it as if he's proud of it. Not startled or curious, either. He genuinely seems to be pleased with the box and has to go look at it after the rake has cleaned it to witness the clean box again. I think he's wondering where his feces has gone. Either way, his affection for the box is worth the price. One final note: I failed to review the Petsafe app in my main review because I wasn't sure I needed it. I tried it anyway, and it's fairly useful though asks for a lot of information to register. With the app you can monitor if the rake is working too often (monitoring if your cat has frequent litter box use which could indicate problems), and you can be notified if the rake gets stuck. It keeps count of rake uses in total, and lets you know when it's time to change the litter. You can also initialize a rake cycle remotely through the app, though I don't see this as a great idea because you have no way of knowing if the cat's in the box at the time! All in all, the app has some uses but if you decide not to set it up you won't be missing much if you pay attention to your cat's health yourself. Still a four-star review. The disposable trays are, in my opinion, overpriced and a bit wasteful. But with the knowledge that you can increase the value and cut the costs if you invest in an optional permanent tray (I went with a popular third-party option) and buy store-branded crystal litter instead of the higher-priced Fresh Step.