Catit Smartsift Automatic Sifting Cat Litter Box

After having owned countless numbers of litter boxes over the years, this is without question the absolute best one I've ever owned. Yes, that is high praise. Particularly if you consider that I was very hesitant initially to purchase this sifting cat box due to the wealth of mediocre reviews submitted here on Amazon. In my previous experiences, I generally could count on the reviews from loyal Amazonians (whether favourable or unfavourable) to be very consistent with my own experience. So in spite of such reservations, and somewhat against my better judgement, I decided to order it anyway. For about $60, I figured that if it didn't meet my needs, at least the investment wouldn't be too extreme. I had also planned to try the Litter Spinner as well. If the SmartSift proved unsatisfactory, then I'd turn to the Litter Spinner in my quest for kitty litter purr-vana. In the past, all of the new and innovative boxes I've used ended up being replaced by the obligatory cat pan that required constant and tedious cleaning. I was looking for a better, more clever solution.One previous purchase included the Omega Paw box that you roll (tip the box over) to sift the waste from the clean litter. It lasted about 1 week before I just started using it as a regular litter box. Why? The clips holding the sides failed, and the design seemed poor in overall quality - such that when I rolled the box, litter would spill everywhere. And the actual act of physically rolling the entire box was just awkward and cumbersome. I had also purchased an earlier iteration of the Litter Robot. At first, it seemed like the Holy Grail of litter boxes. But it wasn't long before I encountered electronic gremlins. While walking by it I would suddenly notice an array of flashing lights that reflected annoying and all-to-common technical glitches......which invariably led to lots of frustration and troubleshooting. A common one involved the drum stopping half way through it's cycle. Or issues related to the sensitivity of the step entering the drum. And these weren't the only problems. The waste bin was small and needed to be emptied frequently. I remember at the time wishing for a manual version of the Litter Robot that allowed me to rotate the drum by hand (cue foreshadowing music) to completely bypass any temperamental electronics. In effect, I was left wishing for NO circuit board, manual control, and a $300 reduction in price. Of note, apparently, the newer versions are more reliable. But I don't want to risk gambling more than $400 again to find out. When the financial loss was factored in, it ended up being the worst litter box I'd ever purchased. Ultimately, I ended up reverting back to the tried-and-true litter pan. Next, I tried the CatGenie. I was once again hopeful that this would be the one. It was clever and innovative. But my cats simply would not go near the thing, even after painstakingly and carefully exhausting all of the suggestions the manual offers to coax cats into adopting it. On top of that, I found that when transferring hard waste from the regular cat box into the pan of the CatGenie and running a cycle, the filtering shovel would automatically shake to remove excess plastic litter before dumping (like it's designed to do), but then shake the waste off the shovel as well, and back into the pan where it would eventually be heated during the drying cycle and baked into a smelly Easy-Bake-Oven-like brownie. These issues and the fact that the consumables were too costly, had me unfortunately, once again, reverting back to a simple cat pan.So after reading through all the reviews on this site, I wanted to make sure that I was well equipped, and well prepared to try this litter. If it didn't work, I wanted to make sure that it was due to the box itself and not anything related to the quality of the litter. So based on suggestions, I made sure to buy some Exquicat Crystal litter, as well as some Arm and Hammer Clump and Seal, and threw in some Precious Cat for good measure, as these products seemed to clump well according to claims on Amazon. My regular litter is Odour Buster clumping clay cat litter and is fantastic. Still, I wanted to have some options available should troubleshooting be necessary.My experience? I have the litter in my basement near the washer and dryer. First of all, I never use the plastic bag in the little pan itself -even though it's recommended in the instructions. As many have suggested in these reviews - the box seems to work much better without it. I only use a plastic liner in the waste container. I also removed the cat door as well as the filter at the top of the box to allow more light to enter inside, thus more closely mimicking the openness of the cat box my cats are more accustomed to. The door and the filter just seemed completely unnecessary to me. Removing them also allowed me to monitor the litter level better which made it easier to replenish the pan with fresh litter when needed. I love the fact that I can simply free up the handle and SLOWLY rotate it back and forth to sift. Nice and simple. Just move the handle, not the entire box. Brilliant. Just make sure to do it slowly, and to NOT overfill the litter pan. Otherwise - you will waste fresh litter when you sift. The quality also seems very good. When assembling the product, make sure to insert the arm into it's slot with some deliberate effort to help prevent the arm from loosening later during use. I find this box to be easy to disassemble and clean. Everything just seems well thought out. It's hard to believe I'm saying this, but I actually enjoy sifting the litter now. The box also stays cleaner longer and my cats seem to like it - they acclimated to it very quickly. I have used the Odour Buster litter exclusively (there has been no need to try the other litters) and it works well. Occasionally there are clumps that hold a bit more tenaciously to the bottom or side of the pan (as described in other reviews) but I use my litter scooper to quickly dislodge them when this happens. It's quick and painless. And to be honest - such sticking has always been a common occurrence with any litter pan I've owned - so the SmartSift is no different here. I also love that the waste bin is large. I was thinking that another SmartSift might be necessary with 3 cats, but I'm finding that I can easily get by with only one. I empty the bin each week and toss out the waste with my regular garbage. I'm also pleased that the smell is virtually non-existent. Granted, this might have something to do with the litter choice, but the reasonably well-sealed bin certainly seems to help in this regard.. A big surprise for me is how much money I anticipate saving over the long-term. So far, it's looks like I'll be cutting my litter costs by 2/3rds. I was wasting so much litter previously. This is definitely, an extra, unanticipated perk. Overall, as you can tell, I'm very pleased. So pleased that I've purchased another one as a gift for a friend who has 2 cats.What would make the SmartSift even better? It would be great if it was offered in a slightly larger version that allowed one to add more than the normal 3" or so of litter to the pan. With that said - I've noticed that many reviewers here have commented about how inconveniently large this box is. Ironically, many reviewers have also complained that the interior litter pan is too small. Changing the size of the pan would likely increase the overall size of the box too. In addition, some cat pans are now available with slick, non-stick surfaces and this would make the waste fall even better into the lower bin. I see this as the single most important simple improvement that could be made to enhance it's functionality. Aside from that, there is really little to criticize here based on my experience. If any issues appear, I'll make sure to update this review.*Update* - April 8, 2017.I have now owned the SmartSift for 3 months and still absolutely love this litter box. Is it perfect? No. But neither is a brand new Honda Civic. Yet, just like a Civic works so much better and represents such a large technical leap in convenience, efficiency, and functionality next to a horse-drawn chuck-wagon - it's hard to resist feeling like this product represents a revolution in litter boxes. It's my hope that the design will see incremental improvements over time to address what I view as minor flaws in an otherwise excellent time and labor-saving litter pan. My suggestions for improvement outlined above - in my original review - still stand. Overall though, I'm very happy with this product. And so is my friend who I purchased another one for - also mentioned in my original review.Highlights? Well, I've just run out of my first bag of litter a few days ago, so I effectively reduced my litter use from one 15 kg (33 lb) bag per month, to one every three months using this box. Considering the reasonable up-front cost of this product - I have saved almost enough in 3 months in litter alone, to cover the initial expense of the box. Not only does the SmartSift save time and effort, it's also saving me money, and reducing waste.

I so wanted this to be functional... but alas, the quest for the perfect sifting litter box continues. Some of the major problems:1. First: the plastic liner in the litter tray. There is no sense what-so-ever in using the plastic liner on the top (litter) tray. The cat litter gets stuck into the corners and crannies of the liner, and it all dumps into the "waste" bin when you go to sift it. Even if it didn't get stuck in the liner, the cats scratching in the litter (and thus, on the plastic liner) makes a very loud noise (so if you live in a small apartment you're going to hear the cats in the box all night long).2. Second (but really, this is the first biggest issue once you do away with the plastic liners which are a joke in the top tray): My biggest complaint is that the sifter/reservoir mechanism does not actually work at all. The cat pee/poops get stuck in the grate, stuck to the grate, and stuck to the sides and bottom of the litter tray (once you eliminate use of the liner, which, see #1, you have to). Now, the sifting mechanism won't work because cat pee clumps are stuck onto the grate function. You end up losing half your litter into the waste portion and then you get all tons of cat pee in the reservoir where clean litter is supposed to go.3. Which brings me to the next complaint: cleaning this thing. Even after one day's use, there is cat pee stuck to the bottom and sides and grate of the sifter. You have to basically dismantle the whole entire box (which is no easy feat as it is HUGE) and figure out how to clean it and get all of the stuck clumps off of the sifter grater.4. My last complaint is more of a minor one, but basically the "swing arm" on the side is what functions as rotating the litter tray in the center of the box, except the little nubbin that keeps the arm from swinging when you don't want it to is really flimsy. I have a tiny kitten and by her sheer body weight along, she moved to the back of the litter box tray to do her business and the arm swung down when she wasn't in the center of the tray and she was basically sideways in the box. I can't imagine a bigger cat using this - even though the unit takes up half my bathroom.If this was made out of a material that was more resistant to the cat clumps literally sticking to it with 100% certainty, this might improve to a "maybe" because it would still be very hard to clean and you end up losing a ton of clean litter throughout this process.This is such a shame because I really like Catit products generally but this seems like a gimmick to get you to buy two kinds of liners (when really only one is necessary). Given the destruction of the environment with the use of all of these plastic liners, I'll stick to the litter genie which is easier to use with a more conventional litter box and throw this (huge) litter box in the garbage.