PETKIT
This is PETKIT's answer to the ScoopFree: an open crystal tray, but with a camera that watches urination patterns and a 7-inch entry sill. It takes only PETKIT's own Crystal Litter Set, about $20 per set at 4-pack pricing, and PETKIT rates a set for up to 30 days. There is no hood on the base model and no drawer at all.
Approx. price
~$200
maker's store, not a live price
Best for: Single-cat owners who want a camera on a crystal-tray box
PETKIT says the sensor detects cats from 3.3 lb and sets a minimum age of 6 months. At the usual rate of about a pound a month, that means leaving automatic cleaning off until roughly 6 months. Below the threshold, a kitten may not register at all, and the box could start a cycle with it inside.
Detection: camera. The maker does not state any anti-pinch protection.
How minimum weights work, and what to do below themNo drawer: the disposable tray is the unit you replace. The maker rates a tray for up to 30 days with one cat.
The two lists above are drawn from the maker’s own pages, manuals and prices, not from owner reports. Where owner discussion has been read it appears in its own section below, so the two are never mistaken for each other.
The Crystal Duo is cheap to buy and open enough for bigger cats, and owners who like it mostly like the simplicity: an open tray, a rake and a camera. The disagreement is almost entirely about the trays.
The box reads a code on each tray, and several owners report that it flags a tray as expired and stops cleaning or beeps once that tray has been in long enough, even when they have refilled it with their own crystals or built a reusable liner. Combined with tray life that some multi-cat homes put at a week or two, the running cost is what owners complain about most. One owner with a single large cat, on the other hand, was getting nearly three weeks from a tray.
A single cat is the best match, ideally a large one that finds drums cramped, in a home willing to buy PETKIT's trays indefinitely. Cats that dislike crystal litter, households with several cats, and owners hoping to use their own litter are better served by a drum that takes ordinary clumping litter.
Owners who tried say the box reads a code on the tray and eventually reports it as expired, beeping or refusing to clean until a new PETKIT tray is fitted. PETKIT says the box works exclusively with its crystal litter set.
PETKIT says up to 30 days. Owners report anything from about a week with two cats to nearly three weeks with one large cat, so the monthly cost depends heavily on the household.
Its open design is the reason several owners of large cats chose it over PETKIT's drums, which they found cramped. PETKIT states no maximum weight.
No. PETKIT says it only works with its own crystal litter set, and owners whose cats dislike crystals have found no supported way around that.
It is meant to, but one new owner found the live view worked while no clips were recorded when the cat was inside, and camera features beyond live view are tied to the Care+ plan.
Crystal tray
Best for: A single cat in a small home where no drawer ever gets emptied
Crystal tray
Best for: Cats that want a covered box, with an owner who likes a visit log without an app
Crystal tray
Best for: Owners who travel and want a visit log from a crystal-tray box