First of all, congratulations on your new CatGenie! Welcome to world of never touching cat litter!
Your new CatGenie has arrived, and you’ve opened the box and read through the setup guide. Now you’re ready to start putting the unit together but WAIT. We compiled a short list of Do’s and Don’ts for your CatGenie setup based on the mistakes we see new owners make the most. And don’t worry, whether you’re using the bathroom or the laundry room, we got you covered. Please take a second to read over these tips before completing your setup and pressing the start button.
Do: Use the Hook, Only for a Bathroom Setup!
If you are using the bathroom setup, secure the hook to the end of the drain hose and hook it over the toilet seat. DO NOT use the hook if you are using a laundry room setup. Very important.
*Pro Tip – If you’re using a bathroom setup, refrain from sitting on the toilet seat while the unit is running a cycle. Adding weight to the hook can prevent the waste from draining into the toilet.
Do: Place the Scrubber Correctly
The scrubber should move freely under the bowl. DO NOT hook the scrubber around the bowl mount or anything else for that matter. Just place it in the bowl, with the little legs facing up. Like this…
Do: Use the Genie Ball
The Genie Ball is designed to help break up waste as it enters the hopper. After you have assembled your CatGenie, simply drop the Genie Ball into the opening at the top of the hopper. If the cat decided to use the Genie Ball as a toy while you weren’t looking, no worries, to order a replacement call customer support at 888-735-3927.
Don’t: Cut the Drain Hose!
Because the drain hose is attached to the base, we do not recommend cutting the hose to make it shorter. Shortening the drain hose can cause problems if you ever want to move the CatGenie to a new location or if you cut too much off. If you have extra hose, coil the remainder under the base or behind the unit.
Do: Add a Bump in the Drain Hose
When setting up your CatGenie in the laundry room, add a small bump in the hose if you notice any extra hose laying on the floor between the unit and washing machine drain. The extra bump can help if you are experiencing slow fill times or an error 2.
Don’t: Make the CatGenie Hard to Access
When you’re installing the CatGenie, keep in mind that you should be able to easily access the entire unit for your annual cleanings or maintenance. This includes reaching/detaching the drain hose. The CatGenie is designed to be assembled without a plumber. If a plumber is needed, make sure they have a copy of the manual. Understand that you will need to be able to dissemble and reassemble the unit without their help in the future.
Do: Double Check the Water is Turned ALL the Way On
I know, seems silly. But it’s easy to turn the knob and not realize the water is not all the way on. So double check. It may still run but you could end up with an error 2 because the water pressure is not meeting the requirements to completely fill the bowl.
Curious about the stern instruction not to use the hook with a laundry drain. I am forced to use the hook because the hose does not fit in the laundry drain along side the washer hose otherwise. I have been using it this way for over a year with no problems.
Hi Damon, good question! To fit the two drains, we recommend using a PVC Wye fitter instead of the hook. The wye fitter should allow both drains to fit securely in the laundry drain without the risk of drain issues.
We have had the unit for over four years and on at least three separate occasions during the past six months, our cat urinated in our laundry basket on top of our clothes! The unit was clean and working properly. We changed from scented to unscented sani solution and he still will pee on the clothes. Any suggestions? Nothing has changed in the way of location or operation or the level of granules.
Hi Carole, I’m sorry to hear your having issues with your Cat not using his CatGenie. Sometimes urinating outside the box can be a sign of an underlying health issue. Side note: I had the exact same issue with my male cat (he peed in my hamper) and a trip to the vet revealed he has Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) Now he’s on special food and (knock on wood) has not had any more accidents.
Just to double check, we can make sure your Washable Granules are drying all the way. Sometimes if Washable Granules are the slightest bit damp, the cat will choose to go else where. If you call customer service at 888-735-3927, we can help trouble shoot your CatGenie.
Might you give specific details about the “Wye.” I’m no plumber!
This may have been asked a few times but I recently bought a cat genie. 2 of the cats were fine with it until they saw it cleaning. Now they r so scared of it. I don’t know what to do. I bought it because I’m disabled and I find it very difficult to clean litter boxes each day. Any suggestions on how to solve this problem?
Hi Sascha, I’m so sorry to hear that. The CatGenie is not scary, it’s just your cat’s old litter box didn’t move or make noise and now their new one does. That is why we recommend not running a cycle around the cats until they are comfortable with the CatGenie. Now you have to work to build their trust again. You can start making the CatGenie a safe space by petting, praising and encouraging your cats to explore the CatGenie. You can try playing with them in the room with the CatGenie too. Also make sure you run the unit only on manual mode when the cats are not around until they get used to it. Eventually they will start to associate the sound with a clean litter box.
I have using a CatGenie practically since it 1st came out. I now have 2 large long-haired cats, and even though I brush them regularly, every 3-5 weeks, I find that the CG is getting clogged from their hair. When I pull out the hopper to clean it, I find the hair wound all around the impeller rod. The teeth at the bottom of the hopper aren’t sufficient to deal with this hair. Please keep this in mind as you consider design changes on future models. This is the only trouble I ever have with the CG. If you like, I have pictures of what it all looks like.
I have had my cat genie for almost 2 years no problem a couple of nights ago it started making a loud popping noise when scooping the litter. It stops during the wash cycle then it will pop again during drying. What is going on? Any suggestions to fix it?
Hi Julie, I’m sorry to hear you are having an issue with your CatGenie. It’s possible Washable Granules are getting stuck under the brim of the bowl, causing the pop sound when it rotates. Please give us a call at 888-735-3927 the next time you are home with your CatGenie so we can troubleshoot with you and find out for sure what’s going on.
I’m considering buying a CatGenie for use in my laundry room. Is it possible to add an extension to the water supply and drain hoses? It seems like extending the water supply would not cause an issue. But my concern would be whether it would drain properly if the drain line were extended somehow.
Hi Julie, The CatGenie fresh water intake hose can be extended due to its universal 3/4″ connection to the processing unit. Any pressurized water hose of good quality can be substituted for our intake hose. Please note that we do not warranty the aftermarket hose you’ve selected to replace our OEM hose.
Unfortunately, the drain hose is sealed onto our CatGenie base and cannot be extended. Our pump motor is only rated to pump the length of the included hose (9 ft.); adding an extension could cause for a loss of draining performance.
Still So no suggestions on how to extend drainage hose? Has anyone at least tried to? Mine won’t reach unless I extend it.
Hi Jill, Because the drain hose is fused to the base of the unit, we do not recommend extending the drain hose.
Is there any way to connect this to a bathroom sink. Our utility room is not large enough for this. I am seeing it is not recommended but is it technically possible
You can a purchase a faucet to hose attachment at most hardware stores.
I have had the Cat Genie for about 2 years and have lo ed it until very recently. Over the last few months, whenever my cat poops the machine does not adequately scoop and bits of poop are then blow dryer, creating the most horrific smell permeating the whole house…it also makes a rather loud popping noise when it is scooping, loud enough to wake you up… . I have changed out all of the granules, I have gotten and used the cleaning solution… and it still happens. Tonight it failed to scoop a full sized poop and blew dry it… it is horrendous… I stopped it and scooped the poop out manually but it is still absolutely disgusting. I am about ready to throw it all away and say forget it, that is how bad it is…. please advise what the problem is….
Hi Holly,
I’m sorry to hear you are having an issue with your CatGenie. If you have your unit programmed to Cat Activation, try setting it to run on a timer instead. Sometimes the cats waste is too soft for the CatGenie to scoop and needs extra time to harden. If you do not have your unit on Cat Activation, please call customers support at 888-735-3927 for assistance trouble shooting. There could be another issue. We are available M-F 9am-10pm ESt and weekends 10am-7pm.
I Holly, did you ever figure out why your machine was making that loud popping noise? Mine is doing the exact same thing as yours. Leaves small bits of poop and dries it. The cat has started to poop outside the machine on the mat because its dirty and she won’t go inside it.
Hi Deidra, please contact CatGenie Customer support at 888-735-3927. The customer service center is open Monday-Friday 9am-10pm EST.
Is there an extension for all of the hoses or longer hoses we could buy ?
The CatGenie fresh water intake hose can be extended due to its connection to the processing unit. Any hose of good quality can be substituted for our intake hose!
Unfortunately, the drain hose is sealed onto our CatGenie base and cannot be extended. Our pump motor is only rated to pump the length of the included hose (9 ft.); adding an extension could cause for a loss of draining performance.
The drain hose on our 120 has broken and is leaking as the base of the unit. I am NOT buying a new CatGenie just to replace this hose. I’ve detached the old hose from the base and now have the 3/4″ opening in the base for a new hose. How do you suggest I replace the hose entirely?
Hi Maria, unfortunately there is no way to replace the drain hose because it is sealed to the base to prevent any leaks.
Hi Avery,
This works great, except some water stays in the hopper causing an error. We are setup in the laundry room and dont know what to do!
What happens to the litter granules that are stuck to the solid waste that goes into the hopper??
Hi Gregory, only a small amount (tablespoon or less) of Washable Granules will stick to any waste. These will biodegrade in about 9 months and are safe for your septic or sewer system.
I have done EVERYTHING according to the book but I still get Error 2 when the car genie fills the bowl with water- but only the first time. Please help- it’s making the cats poop on the floor!!!! I don’t like that…..
Hi Pamela, sorry to hear you’re having this problem! Please contact our customer support team. They are available 7 days a week to help you over the phone (888-735-3927). Thanks!
We are just trying to get our ct transitioned, for this first week she is urinating in the Cat genie, the problem we are having is that she is still using her old box for the other even with us not cleaning it. If we take the old one away what are the chances that she will use the Cat Geni for both?
Hi Tracy, yes, the next step you should take is to remove the old cat box. Odds are that she will switch over. If you’d like, you can place a piece of her waste in the CatGenie, as this may help encourage her to switch over. Let us know if you have any more questions.
We ran the cat genie after cleaning the whole system and it worked great. The next time we ran it, the first scoop it threw a lot of granules into the back and didn’t sift it well. Is the rake not shaking enough or could it have been a different issue?
Hi Beth, I’m sorry you are having an issue with your CatGenie. Please call our CatGenie Customer service so we can help you trouble shoot and get your unit back up and running ASAP. We are available at 888-735-3927 M-F 9am-10pm EST and weekends 10am-7pm.
One cat, genie on timer twice per day. I am going through a lot of litter. Have a pile of litter behind the scoop “seat” area and surrounding. It doesn’t seem to be going under the bowl, but is being scooped out.
I also have the loud popping sound while scooping as someone mentioned above. Thanks for your help.
Hi Tija26, if you’re having any other issues, I encourage you to call our Customer Support Department at 888-735-3927, available M-F 9am-10pm EST and weekends 10am-7pm. We always want to ensure that your CatGenie is running perfectly!
My cat is terrified of the box. It “settled” once when he was in it and now he won’t go in any longer. I have tried placing his waste in the cat genie and he won’t use it. I’m not cleaning his old box any longer.
I have had my Cat Genie for almost three years. I run the maintenance cycle regularly and take it apart to clean it once or twice a year. Last night it clogged for the first time. I spent the entire night cleaning it and unclogging the hose. The hopper was FULL of granules. Because it was the middle of the night and tech support was not available, but followed the manual and got it back up and running. I checked on it while it was running and the arm was about to dump an entire scoop of wet granules in the hopper. There was no waste at this point the granules had been cleaned. I can see a couple dozen granules in the bottom of the hamper now. I tried calling support, the recording said they would call me in 17 minutes. That was 50 minutes ago and now they are about to close. Why would granules be in the hopper?
Hi Jacquelyn,
I’m so sorry you are having this issue. I apologize for the wait. We were very busy the night you called. I hope customer service has reached you to resolve the problem. Large amounts of Granules end up in the hopper if they are wet at the end of the cycle. Then the next time the CatGenie runs a cycle, the scoop will dump them into the hopper. Most likely, after you cleaned your CatGenie, the Granules were still wet from the clog, causing them to clog again the next time a cycle ran. To determine why your Granules are not drying properly, we would need to trouble shoot with you over the phone.
i just got a new scrubber, ran for a few months without one because the old one broke. it constantly gets caught in the base where that trough is and makes a LOUD banging noise. it is did this before and I think this is also what other people are hearing and mistakenly think granules are getting caught in the bowl gears. it is actually the scrubber getting caught in the trough.
any harm in running it without one? i’ve done it before for a long while and on last disassemble cleaning and reassemble i wondered if it would do better with the scrubber replaced, which it had been running without one.
Hi John! To answer your question, I highly recommend calling our customer service line 1-888-735-3927 Monday through Friday: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. They’ll be able to walk you through in detail what might be causing the loud noise when running and the effects of running the CatGenie without a scrubber! Thanks for commenting!
Where can i just buy the scrubber part mine is broken?
Hi Allen, we would be happy to assist you. Please call customer support at 888-735-3927 to order a replacement scrubber. We are available M-F 9am-10pm EST and weekends 10am-7:30pm EST.
I was really hoping to get some legitimate advice on running without the scrubber. It’s nice to know I can contact customer service, except my CatGenie seems to know when you close and issues almost always make them selves known after 10pm ET. And since my cats freak out after just a few hours without the Genie cleaning behind them, it usually means cleaning up a mess on the floor next to the genie and manually washing and drying the genie while waiting to get everything back to normal. I’d honestly rather scoop litter, except, like I said my cats are spoiled by the genie that came with them when I adopted them from a friend who couldn’t keep them.
It would be nice if there was an option for message based troubleshooting for those that cannot talk over the phone. My first cat genie lasted 5 years. I purchased a new one with confidence when the last wore out. After a couple months it would stop running mid cycle and give an error. I have gone through the manual and done everything digested for every error. I’ve replaced the sensor. I’ve flushed the hose. I’ve repositioned hoses. I’ve checked the water filter. I’ve checked it with a level. I’ve done everything and nothing fixes it. I go in the laundry room and see the red light flashing because it has stopped seemingly mid cycle. I unplug the unit and plug it back in and the cycle completes- although the smell is horrendous. I had never had this issue in the 5 years prior. I reached out via email and was told that it sounded like ‘a simple full issue’ and told to call technical support. I cannot call on the phone and speak to someone. It would be nice to have the option to live chat or message- or even to have some option via email. If it is a simple fill issue, I am not sure why recommendations can’t be made through email or chat. I hate to change to a different machine, but since this one has been unreliable since only a few months after purchase, I am wary of investing in a new one, should it have the same issues. I am now wishing that I had not replaced my first one, and instead tried to repair it (since I am now so familiar with all of the parts and pieces of the unit from trying to troubleshoot this one). A couple of years ago, I recommended the cat genie to everyone (and I have worked in the veterinary field for over 22 years). Now I don’t, because this one appears to be defective, and even after explaining that I can’t make a voice call from the place where the box is housed, no other option was offered to assist with troubleshooting. It’s disappointing. I am now looking at the robot, which I have had friends say has been trouble free. I would prefer to not deal with litter at all, and the first 5 years of flawless performance spoiled me for sure- it was a dream to not have to deal with litter at all. But having the company not offer any assistance or alternate solution when I tell them I can’t call and have a conversation over the phone is a ball drop in customer service.
I have hunted around online for solutions and can’t find anything, which makes me feel that it’s more likely that I got a defective unit instead of it having ‘a simple fill issue’.
Please consider alternate options for troubleshooting for those that do not have the option to call in. Email or messaging or some sort of live chat. Any of these would work.
Hi DEB, I’m going to email you!
Hello, I just recently purchased my very first cat genie for my new apartment and I must say I am quite frustrated with the outcome. I brought my cats old litter box when I moved just to ensure he would still have a few elements that made him feel safe. I gradually moved his old box towards the cat genie and didn’t clean his old box for 3 days. By the third day, my cat urinated in the cat genie for the first time. But he kept going back to the old dirty box for poop so on the 7th day, where he took his initial poop in the cat genie, I decided to throw his old box away. And that evening, he peed on the floor.
I am so worried as I feel like he doesn’t recognize the cat genie as his litter box because his smell gets washed away with every cycle. He always walks around the cat genie after his meal looking confused (he usually pees after his meal), and decides not to go because the box is again foreign to him. Does that happen to other cats ?
As well, because the granules are not absorbent, the few times my cat actually peed in it, he ended up damping his paws with urine ( because he tries to cover his pee by shoving the wet granules) and making my wooden floor full of his pee marks. I’ve cleaned the floor 3 times already this week…
Any tips would help…
Hi V! I had a very similar experience with my cat. What setting do you have the CatGenie on? When acclimating my cat, the first couple of weeks I ran it on manual once a day so that it didn’t erase his smell every time he went. My cat peed on the floor one time, and when he did, I didn’t make a big fuss, I calmly cleaned the area with a pet odor-removing spray (so as to erase the pee smell so he wouldn’t go there again) and showed him the CatGenie. He hasn’t had any issues since. That said, I will also email you our new cat acclimation guide as method #2 in there may work best for you!
Good afternoon from currently sunny Washington State. So I had my first Cat Genie from 2014-2021 without a single problem until I took it apart to clean and broke a part so I replaced it in Fall of 21. This new Cat Genie (another 120, not the AI) is very persnikitty and currently the waste arm is not going up.. when it does it goes bang,, bang,, bang very loud scaring everyone awake in the house (except the cat)Cat. Ot also eans then rests about 10 minutes and cleans all over again after wakeup and after kitty uses. Today I watched the whole 2 cycles to see if Manny stuck his paw in or something and nope, its doing this all on its own.
Any great ideas on why? It’s set to 1 cat auto mode, is cleaned with the cartridge regularly and is hooked up like the other one to the washer drain sans hook as guided.
Thank you!!!
We set up our cat genie yesterday and it leaks from the base 🙁 not sure what is wrong. Very upsetting.
Hi there – we are sorry for the delay in our response. This blog is no longer frequently moderated. Please call our CatGenie Specialists at 1-888-735-3927 for assistance with your issue.