The one that buys back an hour a week · review
The hooded, top-entry ScoopFree rakes crystal litter into a covered disposable tray and counts each visit. It is the tidiest box here for tracking, and the one whose running costs are entirely set by PetSafe.
The bottom line Buy it for the top entry and the hood, not for the automation — the tidiest box on the floor of the six PetSafe sells, provided you are content to buy their trays and their crystal litter for as long as you own it.
A hooded, top-entry version of PetSafe’s ScoopFree rake box. The cat climbs in through the top, the rake sweeps the bed a set time after it leaves, and solids and dried urine end up in a covered disposable tray underneath.
It takes crystal litter, and nothing else. PetSafe states this plainly, and it is not a preference: crystal granules dry urine rather than clumping it, and the rake and tray are dimensioned for that. Filling it with clumping clay produces exactly what you would expect — a rake dragging wet cement.
That single line governs the cost of ownership. The trays are PetSafe’s, the crystal litter is PetSafe’s, and both are bought on their schedule rather than yours.
The hood and the top opening are the reason this version exists. Litter that would otherwise leave on paws stays in the box, which is the difference between sweeping the hall weekly and not sweeping it at all. The cost is access: a cat has to get up and in. Kittens manage it easily and elderly cats often do not, and there is no way to convert this model to a front entry.
PetSafe fits a visit counter and presents it as a health feature. Treat it as what it is — a count of visits over time. A change in that count is a reason to speak to a vet, not a diagnosis, and no litter box is capable of making one.
Amazon lists the same reference in all six of our stores, so the box you read about here is the box that arrives, whichever country you order from.
| Mechanism | Rake, into a covered disposable tray |
|---|---|
| Litter required | Crystal litter — PetSafe states crystal only |
| Entry | Top entry, hooded |
| Usage tracking | Built-in visit counter |
| Manufacturer reference | PAL00-16965 |
| Amazon reference | B08FMW2VVR (identical on 6 markets) |
| EAN | 0729849169654 |
No. PetSafe specifies crystal litter for this model, and the rake and tray are built around it. If you want to keep using clumping clay or tofu litter, the ScoopFree Clumping model is the one designed for it.
The tray and the crystal litter are both PetSafe consumables, and they are bought together. Before ordering the box, price a year of trays at your usual number of changes — on this family that figure decides the two-year cost far more than the purchase price does.
It can be. A top entry asks the cat to climb in and drop down, which is a different movement from stepping through a doorway. Cats that hesitate at height, or that are stiff in the back legs, are usually happier with an open front-entry box.
App · ~35 dB · 9 L litter · all litters except crystal
A mid-priced drum box with an ozone-ion deodorising system and the Smart Life app. It holds up to 9 litres of litter, runs at about 35 dB, and takes everything except crystal.
Best for: A European household that wants a full-featured drum box at the lower end of the price range and already has other Smart Life devices.
≈ 170 €
Open design · cats to 15 kg · 11 L waste · ≤50 dB
An open-topped drum box for cats that refuse enclosed machines, with the widest stated weight range here — up to 15 kg — and 6 infrared plus 4 weight sensors watching the cycle.
Best for: A large cat, or a nervous one that will not enter an enclosed machine — and a household that can put the box somewhere the litter scatter does not matter.
≈ £300 / 315 €
76 L drum · 7 L waste · 20 cm entry · cats 2–8 kg
The best-documented box on this page: PETKIT publishes the drum volume, the internal dimensions, the entry height, the cat weight range and the age limit. It takes any clumping litter except crystal.
Best for: A multi-cat household with adult cats between 2 and 8 kg, a hard floor, and no intention of changing litter type.
≈ 390 €
