Flushable toilet for cats and small dogs spares you from litter box duty

By Luke Dormehl November 27, 2017

Some gadgets are iconic embodiments of their time. They often fill a need we never knew existed, then quickly become items we can’t live without. Others are smart toilets for felines. Guess which category Catolet falls into.

Newly launched on Kickstarter, Catolet is an automatic smart litter box for cats and small dogs that doesn’t require any filler. Instead, it acts (a bit) like a human lavatory by connecting to the water supply and sewage system for flushable waste disposal. (The Catolet must be hooked up to your plumbing to work, although most people should be able to do it themselves, courtesy of the kit that ships with the device.)

Rather than asking Fluffy or Fido to sit on a toilet seat, the Catolet is based around a smart porous conveyor belt system. Urine passes through the belt, while solid waste products are conveyed into the main basin after built-in motion sensors have determined that your four-legged friend has concluded its business. They’re then run through a shredder, and dispatched into the sewer. Finally, the belt is cleaned and returned to its starting position. There’s even a mobile app that lets you customize the experience for your pet and will message you in the event of a “sudden situation,” whatever that may be.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

“There are many automatic trays on the market, but they have a number of problems: some of them require a filler, they are large in size, and usually of high cost,” Tatyana Bayramova, creator of the Catolet, told Digital Trends. “Together with cat breeders, we decided to create a tray without those pitfalls. Our target market are cats and small dogs owners who like technology devices and gadgets. We want to offer them a modern device that will help them in their pet caring routine.”

As much as we’re tickled by the idea of a smart cat toilet, this could turn out to be a great product if you’re the kind of person who totally can’t stand having to deal with a litter box. (Although explaining the miniature toilet next to your regular one could be all kinds of awkward!)

You can currently pre-order one on Kickstarter, where prices start at $159. Shipping is set to take place in April 2018. Cat or small dog not included.

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I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…

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