The biggest selling point of an automatic litter box is its ability to separate clumps and therefore contain odors until you are ready to empty it. All the ones I tried did remarkably well, to the point that when you open the waste drawer, you’re hit with a wall of intense stench. Neakasa created a unique drawer to help a little with this, as long as you use drawstring bags. When you put in a new bag, gently thread one end of the cord through a hook near the front of the drawer. When it’s time to empty it, open it slightly to reveal the hook and pull the string to tighten the bag before opening the drawer completely. It doesn’t contain all the smell, but it reduces it a lot. One thing I could do without is the shrill beeping sound the machine makes when you open it.
This bag system is ingenious, but it has a problem. It is necessary to monitor your cat’s bathing habits (more on this below), but in reality seer pee and poop are also useful. If there is any problem you need to know: is it liquid, is there blood, are the urine clumps too small? Cat Daddy himself, Jackson Galaxy, explains that this is one of the reasons Does not recommend automatic transmissions. It’s something to consider. A few seconds of smell isn’t so bad if it means your cat will get help if needed.
Photography: Medea Giordano
Application connection
In my reviews, I have emphasized the importance of monitoring your cat’s litter habits, because it gives you extremely important information about their health. Unfortunately, cats are prone to bladder obstructions that can be fatal, which is why experts do not recommend automatic litter boxes. Now, all trusted brands connect their boxes to apps, which include a list view of visits and weights so you know who went when and can quickly notice if someone’s habits are off. I like Petivity that sits under any standard box, because it not only monitors when the cats go, but tells you if they were number one or number two.
The Neakasa app is easy to use, but needs improvement. Set up profiles for each cat with their weight, so you can automatically add their names to records. Sometimes I knew who was there and other times I didn’t, even when it was the same cat from last time. When that happens, it reverts the weight to kilograms instead of the selected pounds.
The weight also changes slightly often, even when the box is properly calibrated. According to this, my cat Eely-Rue goes from 4.40 pounds to 4.84 to 5.06 in the same day and then weighs 3.74 the next morning. She’s particularly small and light, so that could present a problem, but my other two cats just didn’t use this one enough for me to track if it was happening to them as well. Yes, even if you spend several hundred dollars on a box, you should have another basic box somewhere else, at least until you know your cat really wants to use a fancy one.