Pet Zone Self Cleaning Automatic Cat Litter Box - Smart Scoop Cat Litter Box with 6 Bags & Carbon Filter for Up to Two Cats 6-16 Pounds

UPDATE #2:Owner for 6 years. Went through one under warranty, then had to replace the motor unit out of warranty for $35 with improved design. Not too bad, comes to about $26/year of fairly dependable operation. I've decided to try another brand since the motor unit just broke again, and it is going to take too much effort to even remove it from the pan. I never really liked how dirty the components got, the shallow amount of litter the pan accepted, and the noise.UPDATE:I had an earlier version of this unit which had known issues with broken plastic gears. They sent me a new motor unit with metal gears. I think this happened after about a year or maybe 2. It worked with my low maintenance cat ever since.Then I took in a crazy stray cat that is totally available for adoption in Socal as of this review (Jan 2019). I estimate he generates 1/2 his body weight in poo every day. I've had him a few months and the extra strain has broken my spirit, but not this litter box.I see reviews about bad motors, but not experienced this, perhaps I was sent a new motor unit at the right time before they cheapened it? Maybe there is too much load on the motor with too much litter? At any rate, the competition does not seem any better with people regularly changing motors or just buying replacements every year or so. This product has exceeded my expectations while service from the manufacturer was good and prompt. It must have been out of warranty when it broke. Although the plastic gears were a flawed design that should have been taken care of.'d expect about 5 years of operation out of something like this and it looks like it will get there. I also expect improvements but it looks exactly the same in the photo as my older box, which is disappointing: The rake is still not great (difficult to clean, too large to scoop everything, doesn't reach bottom, doesn't groom the litter), it could use more litter depth, motor seems weak noisy and slow, and it could use a larger bin with a better lid to seal the waste. It needs to be emptied too often.4.5 stars, which rounds up to 5_________________________________________________Owner for 12 months. I have four issues so far:The photosensor (I assume) doesn't seem to be able to detect my cat 100% of the time. I put my hand in front of it and trigger it. My cat uses the box and nothing happens. My cat is black as the night.The rake has 1/2 inch wide openings, way larger than any hand scoop. It also doesn't quite reach the bottom. It tends to miss a lot of little things.You can only put in about 2-3 inches of litter according to the instructions. That's not enough. Any litter brand will tell you on the packaging that you want at least 3", but they are telling you to only put in enough for one use of the box. After that it will essentially be running low on litter. This seems to be the root of many other reviewers problems as clumps stick to the bottom and cause failure. If they just designed for deeper litter it seems like a lot of issues would go away.The unit doesn't groom the litter in any meaningful way after scooping. So, the rake could be a lot better. So could the pathetic motors that all of these automatic litter boxes seem to use. It pushes the litter to the end of the box and strains the motor.The rake recently started getting caught on the end where a there is a raised plastic feature.The waste bin can get full on one side in just a couple days depending on your cats habits, which blocks any new waste from entering and creating a mess. I have a skittish kitty, and the unit is quiet enough that he just seems curious rather than afraid (bit noisy for a bedroom though). After many months he continued to be fascinated by it. I was sure to be around the first time he used it.It does mostly work, but it's only marginally better than an old fashioned litter box at ten times the price.I have bumped it up from 3 to 4 stars. I was expecting it to break just looking at the other review, but it's still working after over a year of daily use. It's good to have if you are busy/lazy/out of town.

UPDATE TO PREVIOUS 5 STAR REVIEW;I bought this box on January 9, 2015 and it started malfunctioning in August. Intermittently, the box will rake to the end, and then do a little dance and error out with the box held wide open (talk about smelling bad). The rake will not return on it's own, requiring me to power cycle the unit. Even that doesn't always work, you have to repeatedly power cycle it until it finally decides to return the assembly to the ready position. At first, this would only happen about once a week, but now it is multiple times a day. Being a fairly mechanical person, I pulled it apart to see if there was something stuck or perhaps debris stuck in the gears. No such luck. Also, the advertising of metal gears is very misleading. Yes, there are some metal gears, there are also some plastic gears. I considered buying another one, but after skimming through the reviews, it appears this is not an uncommon issue. I will purchase another Littermaid instead as my previous Littermaids lasted years instead of the months I got out of this unit!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you have use a LitterMaid, you know the pros and cons of automatic litter boxes. This box is far superior to the LitterMaid variation in the following ways; It is FAR quieter, easier to empty, and feels much better made. Instead of using bins that you have to properly align with tabs, this unit uses a permanent bin that you put a trash bag around. When it is time to empty it, you simply remove the bin using the handle, then peel the bag from one end of the bin and roll it down to the other end. This traps the mess in the bag, you never get your hands in the refuse. Put the bin in a new bag (a plastic grocery bag works just fine), and drop the bin back into place. Such a simple solution to this messy job. With the LitterMaid, I hated this job. You could never avoid getting crap on your hands, and the bins were a pia to reinstall. With this unit, it is a five minute frustration free job. As far as the litter goes, I suggest Tidy Cats hard clumping litter. This litter works perfectly with this unit. Do not fill the unit above the upper line of the pan. I have three large cats (MainCoon, Angora, and a Blue Russian), and this box is more then up to the task.The only two downsides I see with this product are the charcoal filter does not stay in place, and you must leave room on both sides of the unit as the motor and guide rails are on the outside of the box.Answers to a few questions I have seen posted;1. The attachment on the end of the box is to help release sticky refuse from the rake as well as to insure larger clumps do not roll off the end of the rake.2. If your cats pee on the rake, turn the box around. They are aligning themselves with your walls, not the box.3. If the clumps are sticking to the bottom of the box or are breaking apart, use a better litter. Again, I suggest Tidy Cats hard clumping litter. I tried their feather light product with my old LitterMaid, and they broke apart instead of being raked. In fact, I have tried several different litters over the years, and, in my experience, Tidy Cats simply works best with automatic litter boxes.4. All of the automatic litter boxes I have used do not rake all the way to the edges. This is not usually a problem, but can cause small pieces of refuse to be left in the box. Your cat will adjust the litter without your help, this will cause the missed pieces to eventually be picked up.To sum it up, this is the best automatic litter box I have used. Is it perfect, of course not!