Clevercat Top Entry Litterbox

...not unless you have access to industrial plastic molding equipment. But I'll get to that in a minute.I like to use (or in this case, have my cats use) a product for a fairly long period of time before writing a review. That way, if it's going to break or give you other problems, you'll know about it. At any rate, you'll almost always be able to give a more realistic evaluation to a potential buyer. In this case, I needn't have bothered to wait this long. My two 15-year-old cats (one-9 pounds; one-15 pounds) started using this box within minutes of me filling it with litter. Seven months later, they're still using it without issues. And the only complaint I can really think of is - I wish it were a little bit larger. Not that the cats seem to mind. It's sturdy. It cleans up easily. I can't imagine it ever breaking unless it falls off the back of a moving van and gets run over by a car.No. The reason I wanted to write a review was to refute the idea that you can buy a cheaper container like a Rubbermaid or lesser plastic box, cut a hole in the top, and voila! You've got a litter box just like this, but for $35 cheaper or whatever. Trust me. I tried. It didn't work out. Here's my story:One of my cats is a male who got into the annoying habit of urinating over the top of his regular low litter box. I considered getting one of those two-piece domed contraptions where the top overlaps the bottom and with a front opening, but figured if he sprayed up on the wall of the top piece, the urine might still end up running down and over the bottom and onto the floor. Or he might just pee out the front opening.I spent $5 on a large plastic household container on sale similar to Rubbermaid Roughneck, made of the kind of semi-flexible material you can cut with tin snips, so I didn't have to use a saw on it. I cut a hole in the lid, put some litter in the box, and then patted myself on the back. Look how much money I saved, I told myself admiringly!Less than a year later, I wasn't feeling so smug. The box was falling apart. The ridge that ran around the top of the container to provide a seat and seal for the lid was ripping away from the box. And the daily experience of trying to scoop out the corners where the cats always like to pee was a pain due to the reinforcing ridges molded into the sides of these types of containers. From the outside, most of these inexpensive boxes look as though they have rounded corners, but when you look inside you notice areas of reinforcement which prevent a scoop from moving smoothly in those areas. If it had been just a case of the box falling apart, I might have considered replacing it each year. But truly, the scooping of the corners was a real pain. Every day.The type of plastic used in the Clevercat and its thickness makes for a more rigid, heavy-duty product, with a smooth interior. It's easy to scoop out and easy to wash out. And it doesn't retain odors like the cheap flexible containers. My experience with my do-it-yourself litter box was a perfect example of the expression "penny wise and pound foolish." Everyone likes to save money when they can. On the other hand, I never resent a company making a decent profit when they have an obviously superior product. This is one of those cases.

I am very happy with this purchase. I first want to say I was surprised at the weight of it. It's not a soft plastic. If you are familiar with heavy plastic workshelving units, it reminds me of that type of plastic. So, people who have made their own from storage bins, well, I don't think those will last. I didn't try to make my own because I could not see how the lid would work. I knew the lids of the storage bins would be flimsy, and have an edge, that even with buffing out with my husband's dremel tool could cause injury to my cat. Someone had made one and had folded strips of wash cloths and duct tape padding the sharp edge....ugh! That would never last with my cat. It'd be a constant irritant to have to make the edge covering. All that said, just to tell you, it's very strong. It's worth the price... The curves at the corners are gently rounded at the bottom, and easy to maneuver when cleaning. My cat uses it and then she likes to sit inside for a few minutes kneading the edge of the opening with her claws, making a sound like when you are cooking popcorn, and then she climbs up on the lid and scampers away. I'd say she loves it! I purchased this so I could have a litterbox located where my cat could use it and I don't have to put up a child guard gate to prevent my dogs from getting into it. Mission accomplished! After living with child guard gates for years blocking off the room where my cat's litter box is located, I am liberated! I'm a two cat household, I kept the old litterboxes. I had three. Both of my cats use one particular litter box exclusively to themselves.. The third litter box was used for defecation by both, and one of them would also urinate in it. The Clevercat littebox, was then, of course, placed beside the "shared" litterbox. I can tell you the Clevercat litterbox is the box of choice by both cats now for defecation. I can tell they are both using it because one cat does not cover hers. She was a foundling when she was only about 4 weeks old. She never learned to cover her business. So, now, after a month, I can tell that both cats are using the Clevercat for defecation. I will buy more to replace the old litter boxes altogether. One final note, when mine arrived it didn't have a lid. I called the company where I had purchased it and left a message. I got a call back from a very embarrassed and apologetic lady who told me they had sold 28 of them that weekend and after getting my call went to look in the warehouse where she had personally boxed them and sent them out and was mortified to find 7 lids sitting there. I was not the only one! She said she just was incredulously embarrassed when she had to tell her boss what she had done. And she had no idea who the other six lids might have belonged to at that moment, but she hoped she would get phone calls from customers. The lid arrived after a few days, and all was well. I do hope the other six who didn't get their lids DID call for them. She was a very nice lady and she had a great sense of humor about the unfortunate error. I do intend to order more, and I will buy from them, Excellent customer service, and a really quick shipper...both times! ;-)

If you need a high-sided kitty litter and are tired of trying to clean around the grooves in Rubbermaid bins, this one fits the bill. The inside is completely smooth so nowhere for clumps to stick, and that is great. A couple of annoyances though: it tapers from top to bottom, so it’s actually a bit smaller than one would hope for in terms of usable area for the cats. Also, and this one really annoyed me, for some reason they glued an instruction note to the bottom of the kitty litter. They knew what they were doing too, because the instructions include “how to get the glue from this sheet off the bottom”: rub your fingers over it, which absolutely does not work. I had to resort to acetone to get the glue off. Really anywhere else but the bottom of a kitty litter is where one would think one would put hard-to-remove glue. It’s definitely overpriced for what it is, which is essentially a redesigned Rubbermaid bin with a hole in the top, but it’s the only truly high-sided kitty litter on the market with a smooth inside so I was willing to fork out the cash for it.

This is an awesome product that is well constructed and works as described. I would recommend anyone give it a try - as we all know it will be the cat who decides whether it is a keeper! We have a larger cat who does not appear to have an issue with the concept of a top entry litter box. There is no doubt a suitable DIY substitute could be created; however, I think you would be in the same price range if you factored in your time and materials to make it as effective and durable. We also have the PetMate top entry litter box which was comparable in price but not as sturdy.

We needed a top entry litter box to keep our new puppy from going into it or visiting the cat while she does her business. Our cat is a 15 year-old tabby and took to it right away (we left her old litter box beside it for a few days unscooped, so she automatically switched to the one with the clean litter in it).It's definitely reduced litter tracking and keeps the dog out, but we've noticed it doesn't contain odours as well as our old Booda did. Also, finding liners for it is a pain.

I read the reviews and was still wary but once I purchased it, it's made me a believer! People say you can just make it yourself and save some money, but I thought the price was reasonable if you take into consideration the cost of a rubber container like that plus the efforts required to cut a hole into the top that won't cut your cat open as it climbs in and out of it. I have had zero litter in my house since I installed this and before this, having to sweep daily would make me batty. I would totally recommend it!

Having four cats creates lots of litter mess, so I started looking for alternatives to the very expensive Litterhouse boxes that I have been using for the past few years. This top entry Clevercat litter box is great in that it really cuts down on the mess of litter outside the box. Have purchased two already, and now getting ready to order a third. My cats have no problem using the top entry style of this box, even the very large one (not a fat cat, just long and big). Clearly all of my cats are very clever ;)