Cat Genie Self Cleaning Litter Box: Environmental Hazards
The Cat Genie 120 Self Cleaning-Self Flushing Litter Box is, perhaps, the most well known among the automatic litter boxes available in the market, and has the unique flush away method of waste removal.
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Unfortunately, in some areas, you could be breaking the law if you were using this particular system of automatic cat litter waste disposal system. For a very specific reason, this cat litter box unwittingly becomes a hazard to the environment.
What makes it eco-friendly and effective also makes it hazardous to certain aquatic life. In areas near the coast, it is illegal to flush cat litter out of your residence. Cat faeces sometimes contain germs of Toxoplasma Gondii, a parasite that can cause abortion in humans and death, in sea otters.
The State of California, in particular, has very specific rules regarding flushing of cat litter.
This self cleaning litter box that conveniently flushes out the waste through the toilet also puts at risk aquatic life. You can find details regarding this in our post on cat litter and environment issues. and in our guide to flushable cat litter brands.
Automatic Litter Boxes like Cat Genie (also called a Self Cleaning Litter Box) save you the trouble of manually disposing of used litter. We are personally familiar with only two brands of Self Cleaning Litter Box available in the market: the Cat Genie 120 Self Cleaning-Self Flushing Litter Box and the LitterMaid LM900 Mega Self-Cleaning Litter Box
There are standard methods of self-cleaning most of which usually involve a sensor that alerts the box of the cat, a rake that scoops up the litter and either disposes of it by flushing it down the toilet or by placing it in a disposable bag.
Negative user reviews regarding Cat Genie Self Cleaning Litter Box:
The most shocking problem that a LOT of USERS have faced is that, apparently, some soiled litter frequently stays back in the box, and when the washable litter is being dried by the machine, there is an awful stench of baked faeces!
Before recommending this self-cleaning litter box to cat lovers personally known to us, we did a thorough survey of the user reviews and found the ones that dispelled our fears. It would appear that the earlier model (of Cat Genie) was flawed, and the comments refer to that self-cleaning litter box model.
Update: September 2016
Even though we are currently hesitant about making a recommendation, it is a fact that Cat Genie has been around for a while now.
If it were as bad as some of the reviews make it out to be the company would have gone out of business.
If it were as good as the company makes it out to be, there would not be so many negative reviews all of which emphasize upon similar problem areas.
Now it is up to you to make an informed choice
so that you can thank us later if things turn out fine
and have no one but yourself to blame if (God forbid) things go horribly wrong!
The NEW ONE, CAT GENIE 120, works like a charm.
And it has, for all the persons we referred it to. We would be interested in your comments in this respect, but people we know say that Cat Genie indeed works like a washing machine, and is an excellent self cleaning litter box.
Self Cleaning Litter Box Cat Genie Internal Mechanism
USP of Cat Genie self cleaning litter box
Cat Genie is Environment friendly
- No strip mining is required to manufacture the litter which is 100% dust free
- The artificial cat litter granules are biodegradable and pose no health hazard for cats even if swallowed
- Even the Sanisolution for washing the used litter comes in biodegradable and recyclable cartridges.
Cat Genie is Economical
- The litter granules are washable, and you save on cost of buying disposable litter (but see below)
Cat Genie is Comfortable
- The machine washes the used litter, flushes the waste and dries the litter for reuse all on its own, much like a washing machine!
Our Experience with Cat Genie 120 Self Cleaning-Self Flushing Litter Box
Even though we can and do otherwise vouch for Cat Genie 120 Self Cleaning Litter Box, we are also going to say that
Cat Genie is not Economical
If your objective in buying this machine is lessening the ongoing cost of purchasing cat litter, you are probably better off using semi-automatic litter boxes because,
- The reusable litter will not last forever, and a lot of it will be lost in tracking, as with any cat litter;
- Calculations regarding how much Sanisolution you will need or how much money you will save from not having to buy disposable cat litter do not not work in real life with a great deal of certainty;
- The initial cost of the machine is high, and you will probably have to pay somebody to get the necessary plumbing done to get it running (we did it on our own);
- The self cleaning litter box mechanism runs on electricity and that, obviously, inflates the bill.
Cat Genie Works!
- Cat Genie scores in efficiency and hands-free operation.
Just don’t expect this self-cleaning litter box to be a miracle box as well: it will require periodic cleaning, and will most likely sprout various problems over time like most electronic appliances do.
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