TW was sweating like a, er, pig even though it was cold outside and inside. She was swearing too. Why was she sweating and swearing? HAH! This is the stuff that good posts are made from. She just got finished putting together my new litter box.
She got the pee pad inside the tray and the tray inside the base easily. After she placed the tray with the litter on top, she discovered she missed the first step—to attach the hood to the base. HAH! I was waiting to see how long it would take her to realize the top of the hood was taped shut AFTER she wondered why there was tape on the hood. Shhhh! No one tell her. I can't make these things up!
She finally figured it out but then the hinged hood wouldn't fit onto the base. She'd get one side hooked in place only to discover the other side wasn't lining up. Yeah, she totally missed Step One—Snap the sidewall or assembled hinged hood onto the grated base. Assemble the hinged hood by sliding the pegs in and down until they click. She preferred the bang and smash approach after the pellets were in the box. Heh. Now on to our top news story—the Tidy Cat Breeze Litter System.
How the Humans Designed the Tidy Cat Breeze System
This is a system designed by humans for the benefit of humans—not cats. The way this system works is by using specially-designed, cat-friendly litter pellets that are dehydrating, anti-tracking and 99.9% dust free. The pellets allow liquids to pass through to the absorbent cat pad below, while helping dehydrate solid waste that remains on top for quick, easy scooping and outstanding odor control. Urine is quickly absorbed by the disposable, odor-controlling cat pad in the tray below.
Sounds like a plan but does it work? Will The Cat use it?
The scentless and dust free pellets (which also come scented) should be good for my asthma, one would think. The plan was to place the box next to my CADillac box, which is way bigger—you can see the comparison below—and then scoop some clumps out of the old box and throw them in the new box. Sounds a bit unsanitary to me but then again I'm only a clean cat.
Key Benefits for the Humans
- Helps control litter box odors and provides your kitty with a private place to go take care of business.
- All-in-one system makes litter management easy with dehydrating pellets and replaceable urine-absorbing pads.
- Dehydrating pellets help to minimize tracking and dehydrate solid waste and urine to isolate messes.
- Disposable pads absorb urine to help control odor for up to one week for even more odor control.
- Simple to clean with convenient slide-out drawer and easy-access to make scooping easy.
Key Drawbacks for The Cat
- Way too small for a medium-size cat. They say the size is 16.5 x 20.5 x 16.75 inches but it plays much smaller if you know what I mean.
- Way too few pellets. I can't go when the bottom of the box is showing. I need at least 3-inches of litter in the pan.
- Not designed for when a cat gets the squirts (diarrhea). The pellets are not washable and your human will have quite a mess on the pellets and the tray the pellets sit on and you'll have quite a mess on your paws and butt.
- Did I mention how low the sides are? I pee high so the peeps should be glad I didn't use it.
This is a litter system designed by humans for humans without a thought to their cats. The ease of using the Tidy Cat Breeze System might outweigh the negatives for a human. There's no heavy litter to carry upstairs, there's minimal scooping or odors, the pellets are dust-free and don't track, and it only needs cleaning and refilling once a month. TW did find one drawback: she will have problems monitoring my pees. Now she can just count the clumps to see how many times I've used the box. If the pee falls to the pee pad, she can't keep a running count.
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| I think my litter box gave birth and it's a cutie! |
The box as it's been designed goes against everything a cat has been taught to do since birth. Cats since the beginning of time have covered their waste to hide their scents. Covering our pees and poos come instinctively to us. There's a reason why cats scratch in the box and cover our waste—to cover our scent so predators don't know we're been there. Some cats don't cover to show our dominance over humans. No, this box doesn't work for this cat in this condo.
I'll bet back in January 1947, Edward Lowe of Cassopolis, Michigan, inventor of the litter box, wouldn't guess the changes modern litter pans would go through. Would he approve?
Moral: You can lead a cat to litter pellets but you can't make them use them.
Head on over to the Chewy Cat Shop for all the cat supplies your kitteh could ever need, want, dream about, purr over and claw for. You’ll find cat supplies ranging from food and treats to litter and toys, supplements, beds and so much more all at a discount. Don't forget that Chewy has great prices and the best customer service plus you save 5-10% on all autoships. Orders over $49 will get you free one- or two-day shipping.
Honestly, I don't think we'd like it much either.
ReplyDeleteThat system sounds like much more trouble than it's worth. Why is turning a simple litter box into a multi-process waste disposal system an advantage to the humans? And that litter box looks tiny. I'm an average sized cat who really likes my spacious jumbo sized box. Who wants to scrunch into a little box to go to the bathroom? And lets face it, the lid needs to come completely off for easy cleaning. No human wants to be bending & reaching through the half-open top to play find the poop.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, but my momma says scooping da box once a day are not any work at all - dis does seem like more trouble dan it's worth.
ReplyDeleteHey CK, we tried that and we wouldn't use it either, although Brother Simon wanted to eat the pellets.
ReplyDeleteParker couldn’t get his head through the opening. Ha! So much for easy as a breeze.
ReplyDeleteWe are so grateful for your frankness and honesty. Mom has seriously been thinking about getting one of these. She loves the concept. However grandpaw Mr. Chivers is a also a high pee pee cat. Mom says he stands, MOL. Thanks for taking the plunge and trying it out. Happy peeing! Purrs
ReplyDeleteIt's like a port-a-potty when you compare the size to a real litter box. My cat uses a cement mixing tray with cardboard on the outside, any mess and I can replace the cardboard. Thanks for the honest review.
ReplyDeleteWow--ours was bigger back when we had it--and we did not use a cover-
ReplyDeleteWe think that box looks pretty, and we'll give our Mom props for spotted the low front problem right off the bat. Half of us are high-pee-ers and with that box, we'd need pee pads OUTSIDE of the box as well as inside. We can understand the inability to monitor pees, too. We bet this box would be perfect for that perfect cat who enters a box, turns around, does her/his thing, scratches lightly to cover, and then leaves. As soon as we find this perfect cat, we'll send them right over.
ReplyDeletePumpkin here. Mom doesn't believe in closed litter boxes. She wants any smells not countered by the litter to be able to dissipate. She knows kitties don't like stinky boxes any more than humans like stinky outhouses or bathrooms.
ReplyDeleteWe tried pellet litter one time. Big failure. Can't bury the poo and it's hard to scoop. That box would get a big paws down in our house.
Thank you for the review! I thought the sides looked too low, too. Also, it's a major drawback if pee can't be monitored.
ReplyDeleteHey, we appreciate the review!
ReplyDeleteThe Farm cats used this way back when it first came out. It was not well received here either
ReplyDeleteck.....if de food servizz gurl waz tryin ta putz thiz two gether her wood still bee doin sew.....thanx for de honest tee.....N honest lee we due knot like lidz on R boxez, noe matter de size, N me...tuna.....haza high sidez box cauz eye aim for de wall on purpoze....bee coz eye CAN :) ♥♥
ReplyDeleteGreat honest review ! Purrs
ReplyDeleteAny covered litter pan would be too awkward in our (big!) bathroom. We humans would be falling over it. Shoko is not a private kitty...well, a little but hiding away is not one of her things. Unless, of course you set foot in the house and are an introoder....then she's gone in a shot. I believe you're right CK that the litter box was made for humans convenience. What's a few dusty tracks leading out of the bathroom to friends?
ReplyDeleteJean
That sounds disappointing. All my cats are pretty big so it would be too small.
ReplyDeleteWe've never tried this before! Given my two cats are rather ... err ... robust, it's probably not big enough for them. I'm sorry you had a disappointing experience with the system. I see Chewy is targeting their offers to influencers - you were lucky to get to try it!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the honest review, CK! Can you rig a hidden camera to capture some of TW's escapades?
ReplyDeleteIt’s an interesting concept, CK, but not for us.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your very honest review, CK. From that one picture, we can see how small it is!
ReplyDeleteGood and honest review, CK. It does look tiny with barely enough room to turn around. Eric would never have got more than half of himself in there, and apart from that he liked to dig deep and fling everywhere, so no fun there. Flynn most likely wouldn't even have gone in it.
ReplyDeleteToo bad it didn't work out! We have high pee-ers in this house, too, so I don't think it would work here. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteMOL Oh CK you are too funny. We knew from the start it would be too small fur us, and mommy decided the piddle pads and pellets would cost too much. However, we did think it was bigger than it actually looks. Sorry you didn't like it, but hey, we can't really 'magine any kitty usin' such a thing. We just get so aggravated at peeps wantin' our pawtty to be purrfect fur them 'stead of us. And then they wonder why we pee on their plants. MOL Big hugs
ReplyDeleteLuv ya'
Dezi and Raena
Thanks for the honest review! My two boys are rather large, and one is a senior who likes to stand and pee so he needs high sides. We are taking care of my MILs cat who is very petite but she loves to dig in the litter and i don't think there would be enough pellets for her to dig a sufficient hole to go in.
ReplyDelete