Boba, Babo...
Come on
Hey, what's up? Sami here.
This is the FurBuilt Catbula Litter Box.
They claim it’s specially built for
large cats and multi-cat families.
Well, what a coincidence.
I have three cats,
and one of them, Boba has grown a lot since I made the PetKit Dryer Box review video.
That's why she is so shy to appear in the video.
So, how is it?
And especially is it any better compared to other big brands I’ve used?
In this video, let's find out!
OK! Let’s get started.
Unlike other litter boxes that are ready to use out of the box,
the Catbula you have to spend some time to assemble.
These are all the parts that’s included in the box,
right now, Boba is checking them carefully to see if there are any missed out.
OK, seems fine.
The first step is to put together the frames, just insert them in,
connect the cables, and screw it all together tightly.
After that, we just wait for our client’s quality inspection.
All good.
Moving on, we attach the left and right support assembly to the top frame,
install the guide rail,
put the litter container onto the top,
align the motors to the slots,
and don’t forget to connect the cable.
Then we install the covers,
the official FurBuilt told me
that since the covers are of a modular design,
for future upgrades they might add other cool features
like a camera or something. That sounds cool.
Lastly, we install the multi-hole filter,
the stairs, and the bedpan.
There is a lot to talk about the bedpan, we’ll get to that in a second.
That’s basically the assembly. Overall it takes about 10 minutes to assemble,
it may seem a hassle but this is a once and for all thing,
you don’t have to do that each time.
Now we have it assembled, let’s put this thing to use.
We first connect it to the power and the unit starts initializing,
the litter pan will tilt to an angle and then center itself.
It takes about 30s to do that.
Then we add some cat litter to the pan, press once the Clearing Button,
then the machine starts to rotate and flatten the litter,
this process takes about 2 and half minutes.
A little bit longer than other litter boxes I’ve used,
but considering the large size of it
and slower speed it is actually safer for pets, I found it’s acceptable.
After that, all you need to do next is wait for your beloved cats to use it.
Here let me share you with some tips so your cats can get used to it faster.
I put some snacks there to lure them getting on.
I even scooped a few pieces of cat litter they had already used
- yes, that’s the real “shit”, from my old cat pans to the new litter pan,
because cats are sensitive to smells, aren’t they?
After that, alright…
I’ve gotten to admit that all my three cats
still hadn’t got a chance to use it during my hours of shooting.
Yeah, with so many lights and cameras there,
I think they definitely felt the pressure.
Me, as a director there, also felt lots of pressure.
Shooting pets videos are the most difficult ones,
so care to subscribe if you haven’t already?
Anyway, the show must go on.
Here I will do a series of experiments
just to verify if what they said were true on their official page.
First is the Automatic Cleaning Ability.
Since they claim this machine is especially made for large cats.
So here I created three extra large chunks of blocks there,
though I seriously doubt what kind of cat can produce that much.
It’s an extreme test, let’s see if it can deal with that.
The Catbula will then automatically enter the self-cleaning process.
The litter pan will rotate forward a bit and then rotate back
until it fully moves the chunks to the slot.
As the litter pan is centering itself,
the bedpan will automatically open its cover,
so the chunks can flawlessly slide them in.
Then the litter bag will seal it in a cool rotating way.
Once it has sealed the litter it will close the cover by itself.
While the litter pan keeps moving until it has fully centered itself
and the slide will point right to the litter bin.
And that is basically the whole automatic cleaning process.
I’ve got to say,
it is the most sophisticated one I’ve ever tested.
But gladly it all went very smoothly.
I actually tested several times, you see this chunk is even bigger, to a gigantic level,
and I also tested super small chunks, there was nothing stuck or any bugs appearing.
That’s a marvelous thing considering this product is still in its prototype stage.
For such auto cat litter boxes, another thing I would always test are the safety protections.
You never know what strange things your pets would do.
Don’t ask me how I know it.
Here I tested multiple times by just throwing fluffy toys from different angles,
each time the safety protection triggered and stopped,
and once we removed the toy, it started working again.
For many litter boxes that I’ve used,
they more or less have such safety protections,
but from my tests were not as accurate as the Catbula,
meaning that they don’t always trigger reliably each time.
Personally, I think if a litter box can offer a flawless self-cleaning and accurate safety protection,
I would say it’s an excellent litter box already.
But during my tests,
I found there were even more things that’s unique and interesting.
One is how they deal with the odor.
We normally see manufacturers using deodorants or something,
which may not work that much and more consumables, more cost.
For the Catbula, they just offer an innovative,
in their word - “Spiral-Seal” technology to seal the trash physically.
They even use smoke to imitate smell to show how the bedpan blocks all odors.
I was kind of skeptical about that so I did the same exact experiment.
And here are the results.
Not bad, but don't try this at home.
Yeah, it’s fine. I’ve got to say it is innovative, I haven’t seen this on any other litter box.
The other one is the litter bag they use.
Believe me, it is a super long one.
The official info says it’s 7 meters.
Just to give you an idea of the length, I compared the one from PetKit.
Even my cat agrees with that.
And if you are wondering what the trash looks like in the bedpan,
here you go.
since it sealed them tightly each time
so you don’t even need to see the faeces directly like others,
which is such a relief for people with a cleanliness fetish like me.
If you are wondering how much the litter bag can take before switching to a new one,
They claim it lasts for 30 days for one cat use.
That’s great news for lazy people like me.
Oh, btw, if you have to finally take the litter bag out,
just pull the strings on the bag and it will seal all the trash completely.
Easy and convenient.
That’s basically all the highlights I experienced
during my almost one day with the Catbula litter box.
Before I enter the Pros and Cons of this unit,
let me compare it with the PetKit PURAMAX and Litter Robot 3.
I know this sounds a bit unfair because these two are more for
single-cat or small cat’s families.
If by size, they lost from the start.
Everything is bigger on the Catbula,
the main unit size is much bigger;
The bedpan is much more spacious.
It may not be that obvious from this angle because the one on the Catbula is very deep.
I poured the full container of cat litter from the PurMax to the Litter Robot,
(of course, just to be fair,
I used the tape to seal the holes on the back, otherwise, it can’t hold anything),
and then added even more until it was full,
and then poured it into the Catbula one.
It’s not even half full!
As I’ve shown earlier the Catbula can process super large trash chunks.
But this is not the case for the other two, if for the same size huge chunks,
there is a great chance that they get stuck and can’t clean out by themselves.
However, if we don’t compare about the size, just to be fair.
I found there is one super good thing on the Catbula
is it’s super easy to clean.
To be honest, for any cat owners,
one of the biggest troubles is the cleaning of loose stools when they get sick,
cleaning the litter box would be a nightmare.
But for the Catbula, the litter pad is waterproof,
it will not absorb water that easily as I just dropped a few waterdrops here,
they got away.
So even if your cat had loose or liquid stools,
any chunks will most likely not attach to the litter pad.
But if it really gets dirty, you can just peel the litter pad off and throw it away,
easy peasy.
To change to a new pad just attach one to the base, easy job.
That is the comparison.
To be honest, the Catbula seems really enticing for
multi-cat owners like me.
But calm down a bit.
The PURAMAX and Litter Robot 3 are already very mature products
and you can buy them right now.
However, for the Catbula,
it will be in a crowdfunding campaign very soon
and if you really want to get your hands on it,
you still have to wait for several months.
That’s one of the disadvantages you have to consider.
Speaking of that, let’s talk about the Pros and Cons.
First to the cons, for me is the lack of smart features like an APP or voice alerts.
I know it says it will offer an APP eventually but at the time we were testing the machine,
I didn’t get a chance to test so I don’t know how it is.
Second, though I’m not sure if it’s a con, is the size. I know the Catbula is for large cats
or multi-cat families but that big size makes it less maneuverable than others,
it’s a bit too heavy. But yeah for most users you just put in one place and leave it there.
Now the pros. It is obvious, actually the whole video is talking about the good stuff.
The open-style design, so cats will get used to it more quickly with less stress.
Innovative bedpan design,
safety protections, sophisticated automatic cleaning,
and especially the huge size and greater waste capacity,
every part of the Catbula yells “I am made for big cats”.
Oh, and the price, I will just list it on the screen.
Since it will be in a crowdfunding campaign,
the price will always be better compared to the others.
But keep in mind, you may have to wait for some time to get it delivered.
But if you are like me with many and cute fat cats, then this is definitely made for you.
Alright, that is the video.
Thanks for cooperating okay.
Since I only got really limited time with it,
so my cat still didn't get used to it
but as you can see from these tests this Furbuilt Catbula Litter Box
is really special and it's very different from those traditional litter boxes
and if you are interested in this product please check the link in the description
and even get one.
Thanks for watching
I'm Sami and I will see you in the next one, byebye
Hey, Boba come on.