The Smart Cat Box is in my opinion one of the very best natural, non-clay litter systems on the market. I met the inventor, Sarah Maguire, President of Providence House Manufacturing and immediately understood that she is completely dedicated to creating an alternative cat litter box that is healthier for you and your cat and better for the environment.
The Smart Cat Box is the original two-part litter box. It uses all-natural, non-absorbent litter pellets and a patented two-part box design to separate solid and liquid waste. The top portion of the box holds natural safflower seed litter that allows urine to pass through the slotted floor into a covered urine collection reservoir below. Solids can be easily scooped from the litter pellets and liquids are disposed of by emptying the reservoir. By separating solid and liquid waste and containing urine in a covered reservoir, the Smart Cat Box dramatically reduces unwanted odors.
Healthy for Cats & People
Concerns about the health risks of using clay and clumping cat litters that contain silica and sodium bentonite have caused some cat owners to seek out non-clay litter alternatives. The safflower seed litter used in the Smart Cat Box is completely natural and safe for both cats and humans.
Collecting liquid waste separately also allows cat owners to easily test blood sugar levels in urine for diabetic and special needs cats. This feature of the Smart Cat Box makes it an excellent tool for both cat owners and veterinarians who need to regularly monitor a cat’s health.
Healthy for the Environment
Traditional clay litters have a negative impact on the environment on both ends of the lifecycle since clay litter is a non-renewable resource that is gathered by strip mining and it adds to our growing landfills. The safflower seed litter used in the Smart Cat Box is made from a renewable resource that is fully biodegradable and is grown in the U.S.
I’ve used the Smart Cat Box for years. The reservoir is very easy to empty and the cats like the safflower seed pellets. I added on the extender walls (shown below) to give the sides of the box a little more height to prevent seeds from being kicked out. The seeds are completely dust free and can be rinsed several times before requiring complete replacement.
The Smart Cat Box, the safflower seed pellets, and the extender walls are all available directly from the manufacturer at SmartCatBox.com.
We’ve used two of these for years, but recently stopped. The main problem was that the bits of plastic connecting the slots at the bottom of the tray broke in places, and when the cats scratched, the seeds fell through to the lower part. There they sat and smelled, and were a mess to clean up all the time. (My cats aren’t that large, either; under 10 pounds.) Maybe with 1 or 2 cats it would be okay.
I remember from a previous post that you use (or used) the Feline Pine sifting litter box and the pine pellets, which I also use. So, how does this Smart Cat Box compare to in terms of ease of use and clean-up, etc.?
Good question! Both have their pros and cons. I think it’s a bit less messy to empty the sawdust than it is to empty the liquid in the container, plus the sawdust absorbs the smell to a certain extent, so the Feline Pine Box has an advantage there. You do have to replace the pine pellets regularly when they break down, I think the safflower seeds might last a little longer, plus there’s no tracking excess sawdust. Both have to be fully cleaned on a regular basis. I like both of them!
I love this concept and bought this for my 4 cats a few years ago. Unfortunately none of them would use it or go in it. If someone has a diabetic cat though this could be great for collecting urine though and using the glucose dip stick tests.
The safflower seeds are very soft under the foot of the cat, have a nice earthy smell and well, I so just wished my cats were willing to use it. It’s good to know that some cats out there are willing to use it though.
I also ordered the covered sides but fond it really cramped the space of the inside a tad too much for my full grown cats and wondered if that was a deterrant, although I do like the conept of that too.
Great idea overall!
Don’t you worry about bugs using a natural food-based litter? Also, I can’t imagine how the urine resevoir could help cut down odor since cat urine is so caustic.
I live in a very large apartment complex with an insane amount of landscaping ( which in turn means it’s a bug fest ). So far of the natural cat litters the only one that got buggy was the pine & orange peel ones.
The corn and seed ones caused me no bug issue however they simply don’t seem to work as well scentwise for my apartment.
I know this is old. but still. I just hooked up a tube to the bottom hole and hooked that into the drain tube for the water, past the bend in the pipe, it works great. There are no bugs ever, lol. Also for portability, i have set it up on a small table top and but a large bottle underneath, with the tube running to the bottle, i usually put some vinegar in to control the urine odder and when i clean out the hart bits i do wash it down with a water/vinegar solution to clean the bottom of the top pan and the inside of the the one it sits in. it works
I would like to know more.
After reading information about clay litter, I switched to Blue Cat Litter. While that may be a safer alternative, it’s still really messy and expensive.
This sounds like it may be good to try.
Thanks for the information.
I tried to view the video on youtube and it said that it was private. Anybody know of another place where a video of the product might be viewed?
I have 8 cats. I had 3 cats and a litter robot which I loved until 1 of my cats back knees started popping out of joint so he stopped using the LR and using the floor. Now I’m looking for something that isn’t quite as heavy when used since my number increased to 8. I have 3 pretty hefty cats so I’m not sure the floor would hold up too well and the size might be too small because I would have to get the sides.
This seems very similar to the Breeze litter system by Tidy Cats. The main difference is that a pad (kind of like a minipuppy pad) is placed in the reservoir to absorb urine. I have 4 boxes for 5 cats; I replace the pads weekly and the litter monthly. And yes; I love them. They control the smell of urine very well and generate almost no dust. That’s a biggie for me since my husband is asthmatic. The little pellets do track like crazy but I can live with that, considering all the benefits.
This sounds very similar to the Breeze system. by Tidy Cats Only the Breeze has a tray that you put an absorbent pad that does stop the urine odor, the pellets are not natural but they do last a long time.
I bought this as I had a diabetic cat and it worked great….odor is pretty well contained and the urine reservoir worked great. For very heavy or too many cats for one box the bottom slatted piece did crack in places. They do sell the pieces for this separately for replacement. After I purchased more litter boxes the breakage did not happen again. I do have one cat that won’t use this box.
The seeds are very light, no dust whatsoever, long lasting as long as rinsed in between, less for the landfills.
The fecal matter can be flushed when dry and no seeds adhering…..urine can be flushed and needs to be emptied once a day. The sides work well to keep the seeds in the box or for cats that urinate up high.
The seeds do track around in the cats paws. This can only be purchased online, and the seeds also are only online. I can see the seeds to clean up whereas I couldn’t always see the dust from clumping litters.