Comments on: CatGenie – Automatic Litterbox?

By: Raymon Ropiak

Raymon Ropiak — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 01:06:27 +0000

I feel a little late to the game here but I too am having the cooked poo smell (I think). I have had the CatGenie for about 3 weeks now and am trying to replace a LitterMaid and an Omni Roll-Top box. We have 2 cats and so far only one has taken to the CatGenie. My wife and I were very impressed with the whole mechanical process and cleaning cycle (me more than her) and all seemed well. However, yesterday she noted a smell from the basement but by the time I got home I didn’t notice it. Well, today we were making dinner and I caught a whiff of something from the basement that initially smelled like one of the cats did poop. Then things got MUCH worse. We were literally overcome by the smell of cooking cat poop. I should mention that I have had the CatGenie 120 set to cat activation from the start and use the unscented cleaning solution. I went down to investigate and found the unit in the drying process and the stench was unbearable. We opened any window we could and lit candles all over the house. The litter itself had a few small “pea-size” remnants of cat poop which I scooped out after the cycle was completed. I have since just run the manual cycle two times back to back and things are a little better but not much. I’m somewhat disappointed since I am a gadget guy and love technology and really wanted this to work (I have had 3 Roombas, 2 LitterMaids, and any other gadget you can think of). I have had a LitterMaid for 7 years and, although that has serious shortcomings, at least I can control the smell by emptying the litter or the bin. I haven’t tried taking the unit apart to clean it yet since tonight was literally the first time the “sh*t hit the heater” but I did place a somewhat frantic call to customer service and left a message (haven’t heard back yet). Since then I have found many reviews complaining of this smell and am mad at myself since I thought my wife & I did fairly thorough research. We bought the tuxedo package and have the dome covering. If this thing really is that painful to clean and I’m going to have to do it every 3 weeks then I’m not sure it is worth the cost. I’m starting to think the best “self-cleaning” litterbox is the Omni Roll-Top box.
Anyway, thanks for letting a disappointed tech-geek vent.
P.S., for anyone wondering how bad this smell is, I am a physician and have had the pleasure of smelling some of the most vile stenches I could immagine… until tonight.
To quote Anchorman:
“My God, what is that smell? Oh!”
“That’s the smell of desire, my lady.”
“God no, it smells like, like a used diaper, filled with Indian food! Oh, excuse me.”
“You know, desire smells like that to some people.”
“What is that? Smells like a turd covered in burnt hair.”

By: Melissa Boling

Melissa Boling — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:57:15 +0000

Been there, done that! It took me 2-3 hours each time, and I had to take a shower to clean me off when I was finished – after cleaning the tub and the bathroom. Smell came back within days. The idea of the 120 was that we wouldn’t have to do that any more. Oh well, dream on…. the main advantage I see with the cat genie is that the problem of goopy litter saturated in urine is solved. I had a cat with kidney problems that flooded the box, and the genie worked well for him. He’s gone now, so the large amounts of urine are less of a problem than before. Scooping poop is not so bad, but changing soggy litter is a pain. I guess I’ll have to go back to scooping poop like I did with the original cat genie.

By: davemackey

davemackey — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:23:26 +0000

Melissa – Ahh, yes, I’ve seen this issue as well. One unfortunate way to fix this is to dissassemble the entire unit and clean it out manually with a nice strong bleach, etc. cleaner. This, unfortunately, is much worse than changing a regular cat litter box and defeats (imho) the purpose of the CatGenie – prepare to hold your nose and keep the toilet lid open in case the sight makes you barf…But if you clean it out it may remove the smell. :-/

By: Melissa Boling

Melissa Boling — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:03:36 +0000

Sometimes I get the baked poop smell when the scoop misses a piece or two. (Interesting that never happened during the first month or two after getting the new model.) It happens occasionally now, but mostly the smell is coming from the insides which never seem to be completely clean no matter what I do.

By: davemackey

davemackey — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:20:57 +0000

Melissa – I’m sorry you are having issues with the CatGenie 120. I still have the older model and it still has odor issues on occasion as well. I’m afraid I don’t know whether mixing bleach with the ammonium solution would be safe. Is the smell a baked poop smell or…?

By: Melissa Boling

Melissa Boling — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:07:50 +0000

I’m having odor issues with my catgenie 120 which I’ve had for several months. I’ve cleaned it in every way I know how with no luck. (It runs on cat activation.) I was curious as to how yours is working now. I noticed one person who commented puts bleach in hers, but I was worried about combining bleach with the quaternary ammonium compound in the sanisolution. Is that safe?

By: crystal

crystal — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:48:40 +0000

want to get a reset device for my cat genie sanisolution and cannt seam to find one anywhere. please help some one!!!!
webbsak@hotmail.com

By: April

April — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:23:09 +0000

Karen

As far as the pellets getting everywhere have you tried the sidewalls or the dome? I’ve read a lot of reviews saying that this can help cut down scatter. CatGenie also makes these mats called “GeniePaws” which help catch whatever your cat kicks out.

By: CatMan

CatMan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:58:44 +0000

My reset device can be purchased either from my website or if you prefer, through Amazon.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:13:59 +0000

I love my Cat Genie, in fact I am going to purchase a reset device, once I find one that I can order without PayPal – I have more complaints about them than the Cat Genie!

We have three Lovely Kitties, Mommy, BIG Daddy, and their 18 mo baby. They all do fairly well with the change to the Cat Genie, but how in the world do you not have them track the pellets all over the house!!!

I got the smell thing down – every other day, I add about 1 Cup bleach, yes bleach, to the last wash cycle (so as not to have it mix with the urine), and then add HOT water the entire time it is in the drain cycle close to 2 gallons I figure. It kills the smell, and poof! No baked poop smell or burned Cat Pee smell!

Now to just rid myself of the pellets all over! I am so cheap I sweep them off the laundry room floor directly around the Genie, and put them back in during the wash cycle!

Oh how we all love our cats or we wouldn’t go to this trouble! Still beats the heck out of scooping!! Never again!