#jackson galaxy

In this he repeats his old stance and says he’s changed his mind. Talks about his conversations with the CEO and then says that he was the one to suggest a partnership with them “so he can have a voice in the future of where this is all going.”

Then he breaks down why he likes it, and this is what he says:

Safety: the LR has a sensors to detect the cat entering the box and weight sensors and “backups if those don’t work”. It has a cycle delay in case you are still afraid it’s going to cycle your cat.

Confidence: quiet, cycle delay so it doesn’t scare your cat.

Comfort: “an open feeling”

Health: app that records health stats, weight records, “25 year safety record”

Misc: it can tell cats apart

Otherwise he just says he’s excited about the partnership and that there’s “stuff coming in the near future” about that.

I went back through his old automatic box comparison video and found a number of important things he does NOT touch on or explain how the LR actually is a solution:

“Litter Box Report Card.” In the LR video he doesn’t explain how well the app works, what the app tracks, or how accurate it is. A lot of things can’t be tracked by an app (ie. stools) so how does the LR solve this issue? Auto boxes “get rid of the evidence” into a bin so you can’t take in samples to the vet. The LR also needs internet/bluetooth/an app to work. It can’t track your cat’s health at all without it, so if you don’t have that you’re SOL.

“Malfunctions”. Anything that’s electronic can malfunction. And beyond that, no matter how many sensors you have, if you have a <5 lbs kitten that decides to have a nap in the litter robot, it’s still getting cycled (real story I saw unfortunately).

“Bad experiences.” If the cat is stuck in the box, or doesn’t like loud noises, then it could put them off the box forever. He suggests the LR “solutions” with the delayed cycle but that’s banking on the cat not being in the room when the cycle goes off. You can’t guarantee that.

“Enclosures.” Open feeling or no, the LR is less open than a standard box and doesn’t allow for multiple escape routes, still contributing to an enclosed feeling and the potential for other cats to ambush them. It is also too small, as are most auto boxes. They’re less that 1.5x the length of most cats, especially large breeds.

“Cleaning.” Like a standard box you still have to clean it, and it can often be even more difficult or disgusting to clean than a standard box.

It bothers me so much that both his most recent Litter Robot videos don’t really address his concerns and worse, don’t really even talk about the benefits to the cat. Yes it’s convenient, yes there’s things to mitigate a few of his previous concerns, but what does this do for the cat that a regular box can’t? Is our convenience as humans really that important? Idk.