Customer Reviews:
 Works very well.....but don't wait a month to clean it out!! June 11, 2006
J. Freedman (California)
29 out of 30 found this review helpful
Well, first off, my cat was a tad picky, so it took her a couple of weeks to get used to this thing. I've never used Fresh Step litter, which is WAYY different from the conventional clumping Tidy cat type litters..... Once I lured her in with her old litter, she's accepted it and it's great. My cat doesn't always cover her poo's, so my main goal with this was to get them covered automatically. This has worked great!
DON'T wait 3 or 4 weeks to empty the thing. I think if you go in and scoop the poop once a week, the cartridge will last a couple months. Just keep some Fresh Step on hand to fill it a bit when you need to. My regular litter works ok, but the pee clumps break apart when the rake hits it....It works way better on the Fresh Step...which it was designed to use I guess. The only way this thing could leak is if you left it for a month unattended. That's too rediculous. This covers the stink and rakes things smooth, but it's not maintainance free. Overall it's a great improvement over a regular box.
Update....It's been several months now, and I love this thing. It's never failed to work right. BUT, you have to scoop once a week, otherwise it's packed with poop! I get no more poop smells from uncovered waste. Also, the crystal litter doesn't clump, but absorbs the pee, so after a week, it starts to get a little stank. If you try to use regular litter that clumps, the rake will break it apart. Weekly, I just scoop the poop container, and then scoop up the area she pees in most and pour some fresh litter in. The tray lasts for a couple months that way. I have no problem with liquid getting thru the bottom of the tray at all that way.
 So far, so good! June 9, 2006
SM (United States)
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
We have had 7 cats over the past decade (not all at once thank heavens!) and thats a lot of scooping. Right now we only have one cat, but he is incredibly sensitive to a dirty litterbox. It's gotten to the point he wants it absolutely clean every time he needs to use it, which is an impossible task. He'll actually sit outside the box and meow until someone takes care of it! We've been considering an easier method for some time to get the job done. So, we purchased the Scoopfree litterbox two weeks ago after reading numerous reviews of the different automatic litterboxes on the market. This one seemed to make the most sense because it does not use clumping litter, which I've read often sticks to the rake device and liquids pass down to the bottom of the litter, never fully drying/clumping. I had never used crystals, but after reading how they absorb liquids and odors I was willing to give it a test drive.
We paid $99 after price searching the web. The device arrives in a HUGE box, but in reality seems to be the size of a large litter pan. Setup was quick and easy. We placed the Scoopfree in the same spot as the old litterbox, removing that one out of the house. This was a bold step since our cat hadn't used crystals and I was afraid he might be confused. He did notice the difference and inspected it completely, but has proceeded to use the device with no problems.
He's a large cat (about 16lbs - and not overweight) and fits the box. The motor isn't loud - we can't hear it from another room in our house. The raking cycle doesn't take long, only about a minute. The crystals are working terrific, absorbing the liquids and odors just as indicated. Another bonus is the freedom from the litter dust that gets scattered and tracked. I've only seen a few crystals kicked out in two weeks, so that's saved on additional sweeping around the box. A few days ago the kitty blocked the optical sensor with a pile of crystals from his insane covering, so the rake didn't scoop automatically. This was solved by pressing the button to manually scoop. Since then we give the box a quick look once a day to make sure it's clean and working. The cardboard cartridge is holding up, although I have heard that some cats dig to the point of scratching the bottom, which may cause a leak or tear. Ours doesn't have that problem, but before we placed the cartridge we covered it with a garbage bag for added protection. We then put it under the Scoopfree as directed and filled it with crystals. This hasn't impaired the device from functioning and I think will lead to an extended cartridge life (which is a benefit since we are on a budget).
Two factors to consider with this device are that the hood and refill cartridges are sold separately. The cartridges are a little on the expensive side depending on where you can find them ranging from $12 to $17. A cartridge is determined to last one month for one cat.
Overall we are really happy with the Scoopfree. It does have a 90 day money back guarantee and a 1 year warranty. It has been super easy to use and has already saved quite a bit of time in terms of scooping and cleaning. Our cat is really happy and no more meowing at the box, which is a great relief to us. We would definitely recommend it to everyone.
If you have cats but don't like to spend a lot of time with their litter boxes, this may be the best solution available. August 18, 2007
Charlie Howard (Wine Country, USA)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
Update, posted December 16, 2007:
After using the LB1 for four months, I still think it's the best litterbox we've used in the 10 years of living with cats; which is not to say it's perfect. It's big advantage is how easy it is to maintain and keep clean. It's big drawback is how often the expensive crystal litter has to be replaced.
On the plus side: It doesn't have to be cleaned several times a day, as did the plain $4 litter box, nor unjammed and cleaned frequently, as did the LitterMaid; and it controls odor reasonably well (we keep it in the garage, without a hood. If it were in the house, I'd definitely use the hood, but don't know if that would suffice).
It does have to be checked every day, because it sometimes needs some help. When that happens, it's still MUCH quicker and easier than dealing with a plain litterbox or a LitterMaid. Cleaning it is trivially easy, and that's important to me. If you use the disposable cartridges, there's virtually no cleaning to be done, ever. The rake doesn't foul the way other mechanical litterboxes do, and the only time I "cleaned" the rake, it was by wiping it with a damp cloth for about a minute. That may have been overkill.
I use the "Forever tray", and it usually doesn't need any cleaning, not even wiping down, when replacing the litter. When it did seem to need cleaning, just hosing it down was sufficient: afterwards, there was no visible residual and no oder at all. I remember spending over a half-hour every month or two trying to clean the LitterMaid, and never could really get it clean. So, for ease-of-use, this is in a class by itself.
On the downside: With two cats, it's a stretch to make the litter last 2 weeks: 10 days is closer to reality. In winter, with cold, humid air, the liquids do not evaporate quickly, so it isn't as good as in the summer. The litter is much more expensive than scoopable litter: I'm using the "Forever" tray (a "must" if you use the LB1 at all), and an 8-pound bag of crystal litter at Target is $13. The tray holds 1/2 a bag, so it's costing $6.50 (plus tax, of course) for 10 days, or about $20/month. (With the official disposable "cartridges", it would be costing $50/month.) By contrast, scoopable litter probably cost about $4/month, or even less, but required a lot more maintenance and produced more odor.
So, I'm glad we have it, and wish the crystal litter cost much less.
===
Original review, posted August 18, 2007:
We've had cats for about ten years, and have tried a variety of manual and automatic litter boxes, but never have been satisfied with them.
Several years ago, I tried both sizes of LitterMaid (original and then Mega), but neither worked well: they jammed, they fouled, they required a lot more work than a plain litter box, and there was always a big mess surrounding them. The monthly cleaning was time-consuming and unpleasant, and after a few months, the rake seemed to foul more often than not.
I tried the Omega Paw RA20 (sold at Amazon). Only one of my cats was willing to use it, and, because it has to be rolled upside down to remove the clumps, it needs about six feet of floor space. Cleaning it turned out to be harder than I'd thought it would be.
I went back to a big manual litterbox with a built-in scoop, and although it was the best "manual" solution I ever found, with two indoor cats, I still had to clean it out several times a day. The litter boxes were always in the garage, so the garage always had a bit of an unpleasant odor.
A month ago, I saw the glowing reviews of the Scoop Free LB1 at Amazon. They sounded too good to be true, but I ordered it anyway.
Those glowing reviews were simple statements of the truth: this litter box just works. The design is simple and clever, setting up and maintaining it is easy, and there's less mess or odor than from any other litter box we've tried in the last ten years. It isn't as maintenance-free as the manufacturer says, but checking it daily, clearing out the poop every few days, and redistributing the crystals seems to be sufficient.
The obvious drawback is the high on-going maintenance cost: with two indoor cats, the crystal litter and the cardboard trays must be replaced every two weeks. At Amazon's current price, that works out to $450 a year. By contrast, traditional clumping clay litter probably costs less than $45 a year.
Fortunately, the reviews here also mentioned a less expensive solution: the "Forever Litter Tray", sold on eBay for about $60 plus $10 shipping. It's a permanent plastic tray that replaces the disposable cardboard trays, and it works even better than the cardboard trays.
If you use the "Forever" tray, you have to buy the crystal litter separately: 8 pounds of "Fresh Step Crystals" sells for $12-$17 (Target has the best price), and the tray needs about 4 pounds at a time. So, it may be possible to spend "only" $150 a year on litter, if you shop around. That's $100 more than clay litter for the year.
This approach (LB1 plus "Forever tray") obviously costs more than a manual litter box ($180 more, up front, plus an extra $100 a year for crystal litter). The benefits are: 1) much less work; 2) much less mess; 3) much less odor.
To me, it's well worth the price.
 Not Quite What It Claims To Be June 27, 2006
Stella Prozac (Mililani, HI USA)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
At first, we were happy with this litter box; the concept is great and crystal litter is a huge improvement over clumping litter, but I have to say it lasts no where near as long as it claims. I have two cats, one still a kitten, and the cardboard is completely saturated and oozing on to the floor in less than a week. It's not quite as clean and simple as it sounds. It'd be okay and probably worth it to change it more often if the cartridges weren't so expensive (nearly $50 with shipping for 3!!!- that's about $20 a week for litter!!!). I have yet to find the refills at any pet stores either, so I'm forced to order on line. And for the earth-friendly product lovers out there, this one is a tad wasteful.
It does work at keeping the smell down, but I can't see using this into the long term unless the price of refills go down and they become easier to find.
Cleaning the litter box has become a little easier, but my stress levels over where to find and how to pay for cat litter have increased dramatically.
I'm seriously on the fence about this one.
 Could not get the cats to use the box March 23, 2007
S. Cohen (California USA)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
I had the highest hopes for this box & I have to say that the design is rather ingenious. I can't comment on the wet bottom issues that users descibe as I never got the kitties to even give the box a try. I think if I had it to do over again, I would *first* switch the cats to crystal litter *then* introduce the new box. I think both at once was just too much. On a very positive note, the company was remarkable about refunding all my money for the box and the unused cartridges. I was very impressed -- just sent them my Amazon invoices, they mailed me UPS return labels, and then sent a full refund check.
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