Clevercat -- A Cat Litter Box That Really Works

If you have owned a cat for any length of time, you can add up the money you have spent on failed cat box experiments and likely have enough to fund a weekend in Vegas. We sure did, then we were hipped to the Clevercat, a unique top-entry cat box that is simple, clean, and compact.

Read more to see if the Clevercat might be right for you and your cat.

Ok, first things first. I am a cat owner and I know the rules:

Dogs have owners, cats have staff. Cats are eternally judging you and you will always be found wanting. Cats have needs that must be met -- or you will not be allowed to sleep. The only things that cats disdain more than you are other cats.

Yes, cats are complex creatures. And this carries over to their bathroom rituals. Where a dog (a nice simple dog) will simply let you walk him and do his business in a park or backyard (right in full view of God and everybody), cats need their space, they need their privacy, they need a way to cover up the offending item.

So if you have a cat that spends any amount of time indoors, you are going to need a cat box. Seems simple enough until you go to a pet store or online and see just how many approaches to feline feces there are.

In our case the cat box choice was made more complex by the fact we downsized in order to move to sunnier climes. We had to find a smaller catbox that could fit within an inside closet (neither of us being fond of having one in our bathroom or kitchen). Plus we have two cats (Slim Shady aka Slim and Baby -- just Baby) who barely tolerate each other. Of course we read all of the suggestions that each cat have their own box (plus an extra for emergencies) and thought to ourselves "nice idea but ain't happening". First we didn't want to use up more floor space for cat boxes than we had for our bed and couch. Second, Slim is a true alpha cat so he would simply claim them all as his own. So we had to find a single cat box that worked for everyone. Enter the Clevercat -- you can see it in action below.

Here is what it looks like in action. If your cat takes to it (and most do) it is much less messy and smelly.

(Yes, very well)

We started by trying a couple of other cat boxes in our new place. One was open, one had a lid and a front entry flap -- both ended up with massive amounts of litter on the floor of our rental -- not good. The one without a lid also ended up with one of our cats "thinking outside the box" -- also not good. The cats did have access to the outside, but they still preferred to come inside for their bathroom duties (no doubt to spite us by making us clean up after them). Clearly a new approach was needed.

A friend suggested we try the Clevercat. We were skeptical for a couple of reasons. First, despite his name our cat Slim is a big boy -- a little over 15 pounds due to asthma medication. We weren't sure he would adapt to getting in and out of the box. Second, our cat Baby is a very thorough little girl. She loves to cover up any evidence of her leavings -- and cover up and cover up and cover up (can a cat be OCD??) We weren't sure the deep design and lid would give her space to do her thing.

We started as recommended by letting them have access to the box for a few days without the lid on. No problem there and when we popped the lid on, no problem there as well. In fact the cats kind of stared at us like we were morons for even thinking they couldn't use the box. Of course, they stare at us like we are morons for many reasons (being late at treat time, moving too much on the couch at naptime, our general humanness).

I should note that you could make this type of catbox yourself with a covered rubbermaid storage bin by cutting a hole in the top. There are pros and cons to this DIY approach. It is definitely cheaper. However the actual Clevercat box top has a smoothed opening for the cats to use and a unique ridged surface that knocks any stray litter off their paws as they leave. We decided to pop for the real deal and haven't been sorry.