We recently were given the chance to upgrade our traditional litter box to a Neakasa M1 self-cleaning litter box. While I was happy with the ease of cleaning our current litter box, I’ve always loved the idea of a self-cleaning litter box for the comfort of our cat, Stevie.
Setting up the Neakasa MI Self-Cleaning Litter Box
Lesson learned here: follow the instructions entirely. Honestly, it is so easy to set up that I just winged it; however, I kept getting a flashing red light on the litter box regarding the “leveling”. This is because I should have put litter in it first. Other wise the setup is simple: insert the legs, pop out the trash bin, install the trash bag (specific to the Neaskasa M1), add litter, and connect the app. Once it is set up, you can calibrate the Neakasa MI self-cleaning litter box. This is important due to the different types and weights of litter.
Type of Litter You Can Use
This was definitely one of my main concerns when switching litter boxes. I did not want to have to purchase a special litter, and I do not use the traditional clumping litter. I use Micro Crystal Litter, which is a very lightweight litter, and I was not sure if it litter box would recognize it. Thankfully, I had no issues, but there are a few recommendations and restrictions regarding litter:
- Compatible Litter: clumping or scoopable waste litter
- Not Compatible Litter: highly absorbent, non-clumping, loosely clumping, newspaper, or wood pellet litters
Features of the Neakasa M1 Self-Cleaning Litter Box
One of the things that makes the Neakasa M1 stand out from other self-cleaning litter boxes is its open-top safe design. Many self-cleaning litter boxes on the market are closed in and almost resemble a space pod. I will admit that the litter box is large, as are all self-cleaning litter boxes, so you will need to make sure you have the room.
Features include:
- Open-top safe design
- Large capacity
- Self-cleaning
- Quiet operation
- App controlled
Neakasa App
From the Neakasa app, you can remotely clean, level, or calibrate your litter box as well as keep tabs on when and what your cat is doing. Since this was a new litter box for Stevie, and she is often scared but curious about new things, I wasn’t sure how she was going to react, or if she would use the new self-cleaning litter box. So, I set up the notifications to let me know when she used it.
Cleaning App Features:
- Clean
- Level
- Calibrate
- Litter level
Pet App Features:
- Automatic notifications of when your pet uses the litter box
- Records of what and when they do their business
- Pet profiles for each cat
It may be silly, but I love the detail when it records an event. It shows the time an “event” occurs, how long your cat was in the litter box, how much your cat weighs (This appears to be pretty accurate), what they did while in the litter box, and when it self-cleaned.
Some additional notifications and settings you can turn on and off include:
- Automatic Cleaning: includes the length of time between exit and cleaning
- Automatic Covered: makes it easier for cat litter to wrap up excrement during cleaning
- Auto-leveling: levels the cat litter for next use and is recommended to stay on to record the accurate % of cat litter
- Notification for Cat’s Litter Box Use
- Stop Cleaning when Cat Litter is Low
- Kitten Mode: due to a kitten’s small weight, the unit may not be able to detect them, so this mode turns off the automatic self-cleaning.
Reminder Settings
- Litter box cleaning reminder
- Emptying reminder
- Waste bin cleaning reminder
- Reminder to buy new cat litter
Some other additional settings/features include the ability to name your Neakasa M1 self-cleaning litter box, child safety lock, silent mode, and reset weighing.
Neakasa M1 Self-Cleaning Litter Box in Action
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Our Thoughts on the Neakasa M1
For the past week, we have been testing out the Neakasa M1 by leaving both the traditional and self-cleaning litter box in the room. So far, Stevie appears to be using the self-cleaning litter box in favor of her other litter box, which is a closed-in litter box. Our only issue has been that Stevie is a small cat, and she doesn’t have a tail so she doesn’t jump quite as gracefully as other cats. She can get in and out, but because she is jumping out, there tends to be a lot of litter on the floor, even though the unit does come with a cat litter mat.
Additional Accessories
For this reason above, we are going to try using an additional accessory offered by Neakasa, a Cat Litter Ramp Step. We have not received this yet, but we are hoping that this gives her the extra height she may need to get in a little more easily. Its design will collect the litter similar to the litter mat.
I really like the Neakasa M1 self-cleaning litter box because I know that each time Stevie uses the litter box, she will have a nice, clean box to do her business. Until we are able to review the ramp step, my only complaint is that I wish she could walk into the litter box instead of jumping into it due to the mess it appears to create by her jumping out. I will update this post once we have been able to test the ramp step.
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