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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 113 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 35 found the following review helpful:
 Awesome -- cheaper if you refill it yourself Mar 20, 2007
By M. Chen
So the big question I had when purchasing this system was whether or not I could lower my cost by refilling with crystals I buy at Wal-Mart. As a graduate student, I really don't have the money to buy cartidges every couple of weeks (I've got two cats). This review is basically here to tell you that I've done it, and it works for me. YMMV.
As a first attempt, I simply threw away the old crystals and poo, and then filled it up with ~4 lbs. of fresh step crystals purchased at Wal-Mart (~$[...] for an 8-lb bag or two refills).
Problem #1: Wet Cardboard. This is a documented problem with the system, as noted in reviews for the litter box, but I basically could only get two uses out of the cardboard box before the cat claws could pierce the bottom and cause soaking of the box in urine.
Solution #1: There is no solution for the wet box problem, unless you can tolerate an impressively disgusting urine stench. Luckily, Scoop Free improved their cartridge systems! Note that new cartridges come with a slight change to the cartridge that has improved its sturdiness. They have added a plastic sheet to the bottom of the cartridge to prevent cat claws from piercing the bottom and having the pee soak through to the bottom.
Great! Problem solved, right? Well, I then started experiencing Problem #2: a screeching noise during the raking that really sounded quite awful. At first I thought this was my fault, possibly overfilling the box and causing the machinery to operate with too much litter. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that as the cats continued to use this cartridge (with plastic sheet), their claws would occassionally get under the plastic sheet and lift it up, causing litter to get underneath the plastic sheet. This plastic sheet would bulge up at the sides, and the raking mechanism would then start scraping the plastic surface as it raked, causing the screeching sound.
Solution #2: Now, for each new cartridge I use (I still use a new cartridge after about 2 or 3 refills), I use mailing tape (or duct tape) to tape down the edges of the plastic sheet. This takes some practice, but I have not experienced any screeching noises since.
Anyways, I hope this review helps! I also find this 3-pack to be great because it qualifies for amazon prime 2-day service. Thanks, Amazon!
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Easy to Make Your Own Dec 13, 2008
By Lisa Shea
"medieval swordfighting enthusiast"
We adore our ScoopFree Self-Cleaning Litter Box - our only point of contention is buying these refills. Yes, the refills work fine. We love the whole concept of this system, the crystals are awesome at absorbing the odor, the tines never clump. However, it is pricey to buy in essence a cardboard box with some crystals in it for this much money. So we experimented and found a solution.
Instead, we take their cardboard box and spray it with a regular spray lacquer like you find at any Michael's store - a few coats. That makes it waterproof. Then we buy standard crystals at a WalMart. We get a ton of uses out of it, and just wash the box itself out every few weeks. We have two cats - one an 18 pounder, so rather large. He doesn't have any issues at all with this. I'll note that he doesn't have his front claws, but our smaller cat (8 pounds or so) is fully clawed and hasn't had any issues with this either. No "claws through the cardboard" or anything. I imagine if you had some sort of tear-happy kitty you could reinforce the bottom with a sheet of plexiglass very easily, which would be quite washable and durable too.
For us, however, that wasn't necessary. Yes we might have to buy one of these every number of months to get a fresh, clean box to start with, but other than that you can certainly "create your own" without having to buy their units.
I'm not sure how to rate the unit then. I'll give it a 5/5 because it is an awesome idea and you should get one or two to start with. However, keep in mind that you don't need to keep buying them if you don't want to - it's just as easy to make your own once you understand how they work.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Best Litter Box Ever! Jan 05, 2008
By Anonymous
We've tried absolutely everything and our older cat just wouldn't use the litter box. She hated it. Clumping litter, clay litter, pine litter, grass litter, deep boxes, shallow boxes, hoods, no hood, Litter Maid (quite possibly the WORST product of ANY kind made by ANY company EVER), scooping constantly, nothing worked. Vet said move the box to where she pees. So, she found new places to pee. Anywhere but where the box was - usually about three inches to the side of it, so the pee ran under the litter box. If you don't notice this is happening, you will figure it out fairly quickly because the stench is really impressive as the pee never completely dries and just gets stronger and stickier. Scoop Free to the rescue! The instructions that came with it didn't work for jack. They say to put it next to your old litter box (which you stop cleaning) and let the cats adjust on their own time as the old box stinks worse and worse. After 3 weeks, the old box was overflowing and the entire house smelled like a toxic waste dump. The Scoop Free box was completely clean and hadn't been used once. We couldn't take it anymore and threw out the old box, hoping for the best. The cats both immediately started using the Scoop Free and my peeing cat problem is solved. With our two cats, we change the cartridge every other Sunday, just like they promise. There's a bit of odor starting about the Thursday before changing day, but nothing like the old litter box, even with regular scooping. Never had a problem with leaking or the cats scratching through the tray - and they REALLY dig. A lot. For about 10 minutes every time they use it. Yeah, it's expensive, but it's much cheaper than replacing carpet, hardwood, and baseboards. After the stinking, breaking, jamming, breaking, screeching, breaking, overheating, breaking, filthy nightmare that was Litter Maid, the Scoop Free is a miracle. We'll never use anything else again.
8 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 No...No for LARGE Cats! Aug 02, 2006
By C. Fiore
I love this sytem and the idea is wonderful but if you have a LARGE cat forget about it. I have a small cat and a LARGE Maine Coone. If you know about cats... he's big! The smaller one does fabulous with this system. The larger will reject it after the cartridge has been used a few days. I then find things on the floor. It fills up rather quickly with the two cats especially one being so LARGE. If you intend to use this with one cat go for it. You'll love it. If there's more than one or a larger size cat you'll be replacing cartridges constantly and racking up the litter bill.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Great! Jul 09, 2008
By Jade Fisher
"jadefish"
The cartridge is quick and easy to install. I have 2 cats and need to clean the cartridge once a week, so I keep an extra bag of litter crystals and clean out the cartridge, refill it with crystals, and then replace the entire cartridge the following week to save money.
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