Inevitably, in the life of every animal lover, a little deuce must drop. (Or a lot, depending on the size and diet of the animal you love.) For cat lovers, where exactly said deuce drops can constitute a seemingly never-ending, fruitless search for, that most elusive of items — the stink- and mess-free litter box. Good luck with that one.

ModKat was kind enough to send Pawesome a review unit to find out. My two stinky monkeys, Orson and Bea gave it a three-week test run before I started scrutinizing. I gave them three weeks since I wanted them to have plenty of time to get used to the unusual top loader aspect of the box.

The top-entry element, by the way, is supposed to radically reduce litter tracking — the main reason the ModKat appealed to me (aside from its physical adorability). Since switching back to natural clumping litter (World’s Best or a similar corn- and wheat-based brand called Smart Litter) I’ve found cat dust everywhere. It got to the point where it felt like I was living in one of those country and western bars that throws sawdust on the floor to soak up the nightly vomit. I even found the stuff in my bed. Ick.

With the ModKat design, gravity and a perforated lid are intended to take care of the problem — when kitty jumps back up through the hole, the litter falls off her paws and either back in the box or on the perforated top, falling through the holes or collecting there to be swept off when you clean turds.

I’m happy to say that the ModKat dramatically reduced the amount of litter tracked outside the box. Although it doesn’t eliminate it entirely, I found I could go two whole weeks without vacuuming the surrounding carpet or sweeping the area around the box and still found very little litter in the rest of the house. The more fastidious housekeepers out there will probably encounter tracked litter even less. Most of the dropped litter seems to result in the cat jumping out of the box in one fell swoop rather than jumping onto the top (which will easily support her weight) and then jumping down. Again, this still results in far less litter escaping the box than with a regular side-door box. A little mat placed by the side should catch most, if not all, of the other loose litter.

Style and Substance

At this point you might be wondering why a simple top-entry box should set you back that $180. It’s a hole in a box, fer Chrissakes. But it’s just one chapter in the ModKat manifesto. The whole thing has been revamped to make poop disposal slightly more aesthetically appealing. Honestly. Another bonus: practically speaking, it’s incredibly compact — taking up a little more than half the floor space of my previous box — but still seems roomy inside. I’m thinking this box would be a natural draw for well-heeled, tony individuals in tiny apartments, so it’s no surprise that the company is headquartered in NYC. Obviously, the ModKat designers took cramped urban living quarters into
consideration.

The reusable litter liner that come with every box (replacements are also available) has ingenious attached handles, allowing for exceptionally easy litter changing, which historically has been my least favorite aspect of box maintenance. I don’t think I spilled a single grain of litter when I dumped the used stuff in the garbage.

Historically, I haven’t used litter liners, feeling they were something of waste. But this liner makes such a difference to overall box cleanliness: no more pee-stained boxes with nasty poop crusties that require endless scouring. I just gave the liner a quick rinse with water, wiped it off with a paper towel, and popped that sucker back in. Some dry litter did manage to escape the liner and ended up in the bottom of the box, but no biggie, it was clean.

I’d say that the ModKat design offers average to above-average smell
control, doing the job as well as a standard hooded box.

Cat Un-Fancy
Back to the kitties. There’s a cat-veat here (get it?), and it’s a pretty major one. At first, both my cats seemed profoundly disinterested in the ModKat. It was almost as if they didn’t grasp the very idea that it was meant to be their new litter box. (Orson, in particular, isn’t that bright, and Beatrice is an inherently paranoid individual.) I had to get rid of the back-up litter box before they would even give it a go. They both came around, but somewhat begrudgingly.

When I took a two-day trip to Lake Tahoe the second weekend of using the ModKat, I put the back-up box back. Minutes after returning home, my boyfriend pointed out the litter all over the carpet. I checked the backup box. The cats had completely beaten it up”it was a stinky mess of overuse. I then immediately checked the ModKat. Nothing. Not so much as a tiny clump of pee. It was as pristine as the day we left. Needless to say, their lack of enthusiasm for the ModKat was duly noted. Orson is quite a big boy, about 17 pounds, and while he fits in the ModKat, I’ve noticed he sticks his head out the top. Beatrice, however, is just a prissy little princess.

If only my cats shared my excellent design sense! The ModKat is about as stylish a litter box as you can get, and I have to say it makes the process of cleaning up poop as pleasurable an experience as possible. Its branding is insidiously brilliant and total. Its slogan, “Where modern cats do their business,â€? is even emblazoned on the side of the cardboard box it’s delivered in. Like an Apple product (the New York Times has referred to the ModKat as “the iPod of litter boxesâ€?) it comes complete with a sticker featuring a graphic depiction of butt fudge over the word “happens.â€? Cute! But I think I’ll put it on the box, not my car.

Mod Money

Now about that $180 price tag. If you have that kind of money to spend on a litter box, by all means, snap one up. But if, like me, Capital One is a majority shareholder in your soul, you might want to hold off until it’s more accessibly priced — somewhere in the $50-60 range seems reasonable. Who knows if that will ever happen, but it’s a thought.

The Final Poop

Don’t get me wrong. Scooping the ModKat still stinks, and, to some extent, it still sucks, but appreciating a simple, well-designed product while taking care of a yucky, menial task almost turns cleaning cat poop into an enjoyable experience. (I don’t mean that in a sexually deviant, weirdo kinda way, I swear!) It’s just so darn perty.

For my review, I was sent the yellow version, but the ModKat also comes in black, white (the most iPod-esque version), blue, and red. I initially considered the yellow to be the least appealing color of the bunch, but I’ve since come around — the color is soft and buttery, not stop sign attention-drawing. I mean, who wants a litter box in a color that screams “Check out the poop pan over here, yo!â€?

But who knows? Maybe Beatrice is just sore because she wanted a red one. Sorry Bea. Shit happens.

^{Images: Michelle Devereaux}

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