Purina Tidy Cats Hooded Litter Box System, BREEZE Hooded System Starter Kit Litter Box, Pellets & Pads

This litter system is genuinely life changing, and that’s not even an exaggeration. It’s improved both our lives re: cleaning and Miss Kitty’s re: using it. All the essay-length, updated-multiple-times reviews on here aren’t lying. It’s been about a year since we got it and it’s been worth every penny. So here’s my essay length review.Miss Kitty likes to pee in the same corner every. single. time. Without fail. That meant that when we still used regular litter, that corner was always extra gross. Didn’t matter how well the litter was designed to clump. Also the older Miss Kitty gets, the less she cared about keeping her feet clean, so she was tracking grody footprints everywhere. She also had litter stuck in the fur between her paws which couldn’t have been comfortable. And she was kicking the litter out and then grippin’ it in her paws, so she was tracking litter everywhere, no matter what we did to clean. Since she likes to sleep on our bed all the time, we were getting desperate for a solution.So I went searching and came across this (I think from a Reddit suggestion iirc). I read a bunch of the reviews, the multiple updates, the photos, the hacks. It sounded too good to be true. Good news: it’s true.The major pros:• The lack of smell. Oh man, that right there is one of the biggest pluses. Cat ammonia permeates everything and I hate the idea that I could become nose blind to it and then have family or friends over who could smell it. Scented cat litter was never an option because then Miss Kitty would walk by all perfumed but all that did was make me think of the fact that she just got out of the litter box. Ew. And then later that turned into scented cat ammonia when cleaning it out. Ew. This system is - somehow - 98% scent free, even when it’s time to change a batch of pellets. Truly magical.• The near lack of “ew” factor when cleaning out the poop or pee pad. You know what I mean, re: regular litter.• The pellets are advertised to work for 4 weeks, but we usually get about 6 weeks out of each batch. Each batch uses 3.5lbs of pellets and that looks like it isn’t enough if you’re coming from regular litter, but since it doesn’t need to absorb liquid, it’s definitely sufficient. They also mask the poop smell impressively well. There’s a little odor while it’s fresh, but the zeolite pellets dry it out quickly.• The pee pads are magical. I’ve used “magical” a few times, but I really mean it. Absolutely ZERO cat urine smell, no matter how full or even over-full they get. I don’t know how they do it. Based on plenty of other reviews, I’m pretty sure every new Breeze system owner accidentally lets a pad go too long at least once until it’s swimming in urine (gross) and then has a mixed bag of emotions of “ew!” and “how is there no smell??” We have to change the pad on a schedule because there will be no odor to remind us. With one cat, we change it once a week (the night before trash day).• Both the pads and pellets are available locally in PetSmart and Petco. No generics though.• Clean paws! No more disgusting footprints in the hallway. Her toe beans have never looked so perfectly clean and pink. She’s 20yo, so anything to help her hygiene helps her out.• No more litter everywhere. The pellets are too big for her to grip in her paws, so she can’t track them beyond the immediate vicinity of the litter box.• It’s easier to keep an eye on her health. Looking at her poop and seeing the color of her pee are good insights into her health and if anything changes, especially as she gets older. Also it’s really easy to use a dip strip indicator by just pressing it into the pee pad right after she gets out of the box.• The cover that flips back is great, compared to having to unclip the entire top each time. Makes cleaning out the poops easy, but keeps things covered and out of sight. It’s a small detail but it’s helpful.• Since there’s no regular litter with clay to conceal, the dried poop can just be tossed down the toilet. Makes it easier to clean more often.• Since the pellets dry everything out quickly and the pee is absorbed by a pad in the lower tray, the box just needs to be washed in between each batch of pellets, so about every 6 weeks.• Even with buying brand name pads and pellets, the annual cost of litter stuff is way, way lower than having to buy litter frequently.• Miss Kitty adapted to the new system right away. Fortunately, she’s never been picky when I’ve changed litter brands. I did a couple things for the first week to encourage her transition. I mixed a little regular litter in with the pellets for the familiar smell and feel. That shuffled out to the pee pad below over the week and then she was just left with the pellets. I put a couple old poops from the used litter in the new box, again to bring a familiar scent to the new system. And I left her old box out too for a week, but I left the used litter in there to discourage use of it. She was a little unsure the first evening, but after the first use, she never went back in her old box.• For people who are disabled/limited by lifting weight, picking up a 7lbs bag of pellets is way more feasible than 20-40lbs of litter or a box of used litter.Cons:• The Tidy Cats pellets and pads are pricey. That said, they are worth it for how well and how long they work. Some reviews talk about washing the pellets to extend their lifespan. I tried it just once out of curiosity, using the pet enzyme cleaner and a thorough rinse. It’s just not worth the gross hassle so I never did it again. Tidy Cat must have a stranglehold on the pellets because I can’t find an off brand, and if I somehow do, they’re back ordered or “we don’t know if these will be available again.” I wouldn’t think zeolite (the mineral they’re made of) pellets would be hard to find a generic of, but I’ve yet to. Even the pet stores don’t have their own generic versions. I haven’t tried generic pee pads yet, but the Tidy Cat ones work so well I’m fine with paying a bit more.• The pellets can be noisy. Miss Kitty loves rustlin’ in the box and those hard pellets against hard plastic can be fairly loud. I think she paws at the litter more now because she’s trying to cover the poop but it pretty much sits on top of the pellets no matter what she does. We tried getting the equine pine pellets that are dirt cheap and supposed to break down once they’re wet. But Miss Kitty apparently loved shredding those so much she was spending extra time rustlin’. All we ended up with was a messy pile of pine powder that was too much to fit in the lower tray. We gave up after a week. So we’re back to the louder, more expensive Tidy Cat pellets, but the pros vastly outweigh the cons. We got used to the sound in about a week or two.• Stepping on a pellet with your heel can feel like stepping on a Lego. With all her rustlin’ Miss Kitty still kicks litter out of the box. We have a litter pad outside the box - the kind with sizable holes and two layers so it’s easy to clean up (got it on Amazon too) - and that really helps catch them, but there’s still usually a few in the vicinity. We just have to be on top of cleaning the loose ones up. Also pointing the box opening towards the wall instead of the walkway really helped. The tray can be flipped to open either way - same direction or opposite direction of the box opening.Never thought I’d be evangelizing cat litter, but here I am. TL;DR just get it. You won’t regret it.

I wasn't sure my cats would be ok with the hood. All our past Tidy cat boxes have been open top. The front opens up for cleaning and I presented it to them this way. After a little, hummm, what is this? They now prefer this box. I will be replacing the other old boxes with the hooded one

I was worried about getting this litter system because of some of the negative reviews. Would the whole house smell when my cat pooped? Would the pee smell even with the odor absorbing pads - would I need to change them every day? Would my cat even use the thing, or would I lose money trying this out?We just adopted a 5-month-old kitten. I started him on the litter he was used to, which was a clumping litter, but I didn't like the smell of the litter itself, and even though I tried a mat and a covered box, the litter still sprayed whenever he sprang from his box and I had to vacuum it up. I really wanted the Breeze system to work for us.At first he wouldn't use the Tidy Breeze system. I think he didn't like that he couldn't bury anything in it. So I doubled the amount of pellets, so that he'd have enough material to do his burying without standing on the grate. I put it next to his old litter box, and I filled the old litter box with half pellets, half clumping litter, so that he would get used to the feel of the pellets. He MUCH preferred his old litter and never tried the Tidy Breeze, even when I let his old litter get pretty dirty. I didn't want the old litter to get SUPER gross, so I finally just removed it and hoped he'd use the Tidy Breeze. Well, he didn't. He went a whole day with no poop or pee,and I know he didn't go in the house because he was still kept in just one room. So I replaced his old litter box (cleaned) and waited a few days....cleaning out the clumping litter but adding in just a few more pellets until it was 3/4's pellets. Then I finally removed it again and left only the Tidy Breeze system. FINALLY, he used it. Only once did i have a problem where he pooped on the carpet right next to me. I figured that it was because there was poop in his Tidy Breeze box and he didn't want to use it and wanted to let me know that. He had never minded how much poop was in the clumping litter , and I'm sure that's because the poop in the tidy breeze did smell that time because it wasn't very well covered. It's like he had to learn to bury it completely...and since now he buries it completely under the pellets, I pretty much don't smell it until I uncover the poop it to clean it out, and then I put it in a bag and toss it in the outside garbage, and the smell is gone and it isn't a problem. It's better than smelling the other litter everywhere in the house all day long.To prevent another 'outside the box' mishap, I bought another system, also filled it with double the amount of pellets, and I clean them both out in the morning and at night (which takes less than five minutes), so he typically has at least one that is free of poop, and I haven't had any problems with him going anywhere else. When he just goes pee he doesn't dig as much, so I don't think it becomes a problem for that.As for the pee pads, I change them about twice per week, which costs me four pads per week. I am ok with that, but if you have lots of cats maybe you'd want to change them more and it would get expensive, I don't know. I don't think I necessarily have to change them that often, but that's just the way I want to do it.I'd rather have this than have to vacuum up the clumping litter and smell its awful scent. Also, when I clean the 'dust free' clumping litter, there is definitely dust. Since my kitty likes to dig a lot, I prefer he isn't creating a cloud of dust to breathe in every time he uses the litter box. Also, when I clean this, I don't really have a problem with the poo sticking to the pellets like some people do, nor do I have little pieces of poop all over. Maybe one or two pellets actually stick to anything and on occasion there might be a tiny piece of something that I have to get with the corner of the scooper so it won't fall through the cracks. My kitten eats mostly canned food with only a little bit of kibble, so perhaps that makes his poop unsticky, I don't know.I was able to fit these hooded litter boxes into these : https://www.amazon.com/New-Cat-Condos-Premier-Enclosure/dp/B00VBBPBOC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=new+cat+condos+litter+box&qid=1585798069&sr=8-2It doesn't even look like i have two litter boxes in my house. Of course, if you use the litter box enclosures above, maybe you don't need the hooded Breeze system unless you want everything to be really super clean.I'm really relieved that this system worked!

I bought the XL first for the foster kitty room. They were making a huge mess with clumping litter. The pellets do not track out, although a few may be kicked out. So easy to pick u and toss. I liked it so much that I bought this hooded version for my cat. She is not large, so it works out. She accepted the pellet texture fast, unlike the foster kittens. If I had charger cat, I’d want the XL.The pee pads on the bottom control the urine smell fabulously. I started with the unscented ones. May try the scented ones on my next order. It is recommended to change weekly. With multiple cats sharing a box, you need to do more often. I’m going to do twice a week for trash days.Downside: the poop smell is not controlled. Because they are pellets and not sand, the cats do not always cover. And when they do, it is not buried. Not sure, but I think the pellets are supposed to absorb the odor; but they don’t. As soon as I smell poop, I scoop it out.

The absence of litter on the ground brings me soooo much joy. My cat is 20 years old and I’ve had her since she was a tiny kitten. She’s so fully and tracks litter everywhere. She took to the pellets immediately after having never used them. Another huge plus is there’s no odor whatsoever. Totally worth the buy.