Pets

How to choose pet gear that actually gets used

Pet products are only worth the money if your animal accepts them, so the specs that matter most are the ones about your pet, not the gadget. Right now this section covers automatic litter boxes, the biggest single purchase most cat owners make after the cat itself.

• Start with your cat's weight. Self-cleaning boxes use weight sensors, and the published limits range from 3–19 lb (Litter-Robot EVO) to up to 33 lb (PetSafe ScoopFree OpenSky). Kittens under about 3 lb usually shouldn't use automatic mode.
• Count your cats. Brands publish how many cats a model supports, from up to 2 (Litter-Robot EVO) to up to 5 (Litter-Robot 5).
• Keep the litter you already use if you can. Most rotating boxes want clumping litter; PetSafe's crystal models need their own trays.
• Price the running costs. Liners, filters, refill trays and app subscriptions add up over the years you own the box.
• Buy where the return window is long. Some cats take days or weeks to switch. Published windows we found run from 30 days (PetPivot) to a 90-day in-home trial (Litter-Robot).

Every figure in our guides links to the brand page it came from, with the date we checked it.