Petcove PurrTek Litter Box Review

New automatic cat litter boxes are coming out left and right on the market. I spent several weeks putting Petcove’s PurrTek™ Self-Cleaning Litter Box to a thorough in-home test with my cats. During the review, I took notes on setup, ease of use, and what my cats thought. And because we’re just one family, I spent a lot of time reading through the feedback of other pet parents as well.

In this review, I’ll share the details of the PurrTek™ Self-Cleaning Litter Box, including my experience and analysis of whether or not the automatic litter box from Petcove is worth the $720.00 price tag.

Why Trust Cats.com

As a lifelong cat mom, I know how important it is to keep your litter boxes as clean as humanly possible. And that’s not just my own high standards talking. I have cats with sensitive noses and the highest standards of cleanliness. Dusty litter? They’ll suffer a coughing fit on every trip to the litter box. Dirty litter? They might just pee on the clean bathroom rug in protest. Noisy automatic litter box? They won’t even go near it.

I’ve tested automatic and traditional litter boxes on cats who range from persnickety and squirrely to asthmatic and geriatric. When I test a new litter box, I consider how easy it is to set up and maintain, how easily my pets take to it, the initial price and ongoing cost, and how well it fits into my home.

Petcove Company Overview

Founded in the early 2010s, Petcove initially garnered attention for its range of grooming tools and health monitoring devices. It created innovative products aimed at improving the health and well-being of pets, particularly cats.

Petcove is known to integrate smart technology into its products, offering pet owners real-time insights into their pets’ health and behavior. The company also emphasizes sustainability by using eco-friendly materials and production methods.

But Petcove has also faced some criticism over the years regarding the durability and practicality of some of its products. Some pet owners have reported issues related to product functionality and disappointing customer service.

PurrTek Self-Cleaning Litter Box Features

I was thrilled to discover that this self-cleaning litter box from Petcove comes fully assembled right out of the box. The packaging was not excessive, yet everything was well protected. The power cord is tucked inside the waste bin and the waste bags are easy to install.

Automatic litter boxes are not known to be compact, but this one is fairly sleek and visually unobtrusive. It weighs about 16 pounds and is about 20″L x 20″W x 19″H. However, slightly different unit dimensions are found throughout their website, user manual, and Amazon listing.

The power cord is short, so you’re likely to need an extension cord. When first plugged in, it makes a loud beep and begins to slowly rotate back and forth. This is a test to ensure that the litter box is stablized and ready to set up. The small size and orientation of the entrance makes it difficult to pour litter in from a typical litter container.

Smart App

Though this wasn’t my first time setting up a smart appliance app, I had a lot of trouble getting this one started. The setup QR code brought me to a blank webpage. And many of the directions provided online and in the user manual didn’t align with what appeared in the app.

The Petcove app does a lot of things and hosts all of their other smart products as well. Dozens? Hundreds? It’s hard to tell and doesn’t come with a Search function. Discovering the PurrTek litter box within the Petcove app took a long time. After much troubleshooting without the help of support documentation, I was able to get it connected to my wifi.

Automatic Cleaning

My cats have always needed the freshest litter possible, so I scoop our traditional boxes multiple times per day. The PurrTek litter box automatically separates waste from the clean litter after each use. The barrel of the litter box rotates and clumps are sifted right into the waste bin. This is meant to stow away messes and odors, giving your cat a fresh box each time they return.

Before getting any cats involved, I conducted a warm water test. I slowly poured in warm water, gave the litter a few minutes to clump, and manually activated the cleaning cycle. I was pleased to see that the machine rotates slowly and is pretty quiet. The clumps slide into a trap door and vanish from sight.

The rotations also fling litter out of the box and onto the floor, so a good litter mat and daily sweeping is still necessary. I don’t happen to mind that part, but I have always had a disdain for scrubbing out litter boxes. This one is no exception. It’s challenging to wash out and the rubber bottom is difficult to clean and reattach.

Odor Control

Whether automatic or manual, cleaning the litter right away helps with household odors.

The waste bags inside that trap door do a pretty good job containing the smell—particularly if you’re using an effective odor-reducing litter. The automated waste removal and deodorizing cycles aim to ensure this box is always clean and fresh.

The deodorizing cycle uses a built-in fan and negative ions that Petcove says attach to odors and other impurities in the litter cylinder to neutralize odors. The deodorizing cycle begins automatically after the completion of each cleaning cycle.

Safety

After recent reports of cats being harmed by poorly designed automatic litter boxes, I’m extremely cautious about safety warnings for the products in my home.

The PurrTek litter box has weight sensors in the feet and an infrared sensor on the front control panel. The sensors pause the cleaning and deodorizing cycles if your cat approaches or enters the box and won’t resume until they leave. This could be useful for any other curious pets or children in your household too.

What Did Our Test Cats Think?

My cats have used an automatic litter box before but it took them a long time to get curious about this one. This is the first one we’ve tried that is fully enclosed and the opening is pretty small. Although one cat is well within the weight range at 11 pounds, she’s quite round and fluffy. She never seemed comfortable entering and exiting the litter box, though she had the necessary space to turn around inside.

Some drawer-collection systems have been known to overflow, requiring laborious clean-up. Waste disposal has been pretty simple and the included disposable bags are easy to replace. I err on the side of caution and empty the waste bag often—partly for odor control and partly because it doesn’t alert you when it is full. It just stops working instead.

The cleaning cycle is only a few minutes long, so the company suggests you can use just one box for up to three cats. But any litter box with cycles that render it unusable for a period of time comes with risks for inappropriate urination. If your cat can’t use it when they want it, they’ll just pee on the floor. I still recommend having a litter box for each cat and on each level of your home for easy access.

There is quite a high step to get into this thing. It is not for cats with mobility problems due to illness or aging, which rules out my eldest cat. I was surprised to learn just how many types of cats this smart litter box is not recommended for.

The PurrTek User Manual lists a variety of cats who are not good candidates for using it:

• Kittens, seniors, and any cats who may have trouble climbing up into the box
• Large cats over 17 pounds who may struggle with the small entrance and interior
• Anxious cats who might get startled by the sounds and movements
• Cats with digestive problems resulting in soft stools
• Cats who urinate without squatting

What Do Customers Think?

Many of the reviewers are very pleased with Petcove’s customer service! That carries a lot of weight when it comes to overall customer satisfaction. The majority of negative reviews surround ease of use, complicated cleanup, and the smart app. I noticed that many of the positive reviews also contained a lot of critical information. This indicates to me that users’ expectations for automatic litter boxes are pretty low to begin with.

[…]Removing the majority of notifications would be nice. The app has way more features than the Litter Robot app but it falls short on picking which notifications you want to receive. It will notify you that your cat used the machine, left the machine, the machine rotated and self cleaned, then that it deodorized. I don’t need 4 notifications each time my cat uses the litter box. Honestly just one or 2 notifications that the bag is about to be full would be nice. Besides that, for the price, this thing is great. It has less errors than the Litter Robot. I like that the bag is easier to access than the litter robot and easier to replace. —Antonio Da Costa, Amazon.com, January 2025

My cats took to it right away, although one of them is heavier and the barrel tends to rock a bit which makes her a bit uneasy. […] When it’s time to wash, it’s very awkward, especially if you are inside in a sink, even a utility sink. […] I would not buy this again or recommend. As for safety of my cats, the opening never closes during cleaning so they are never trapped like some models. BUT…I must say their customer support team is beyond amazing. — 2 cat family, Amazon.com, February 2025

So I’ve had a chance to really use this automatic litter box for sometime now. I will say that I would give the customer service five stars, but this box is less than desirable. The first problem is that urine leaks out the back and out the front. Perhaps it’s the way my cat pees but either way it makes quite the mess. Also, because the gray mat does not form a complete seal on the inside when my cat pees, if it hits the side of the drum, it rolls underneath the mat as well as the cat litter and this forms a concrete-like substance that is extremely difficult to remove.. I can understand now why the unit smells because urine has leaked out the back as well as out the front. — Amy, Amazon.com July 2024

Overall Recommendations

The base price on this unit is a whopping $720.00 on Petcove’s website. This is well above the average price of an automatic litter box and even higher than our currently top-rated Litter-Robot 4.  The PurrTek™ Self-Cleaning Litter Box is frequently (or perhaps always) “on sale” at closer to $359.99. This may be a misleading marketing strategy that makes it seem like you’ve scored a deal—when you haven’t really.

With all the manual labor required to clean this product, all the groups of cats who aren’t good candidates to use it, and the less-than-useful app, I don’t recommend this product. However, their reputation for helpful customer service makes me feel open to trying more of their pet products in the future.

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