Cat Litter Scoop Buying Guide

A cat litter scoop is a perforated spatula like tool which one uses to clean the waste from a cat litter box. They come in many different sizes and qualities of material, and are usually made of plastic or metal. There are also automatic litter scoops on the market. Cat litter scoops are an essential tool in the battle against cat litter odor, and is a must have with any feline owner. Below you will learn out about the different types in order to find the one best suited for you and your cat.

The scoop its self was invented by the “Tidy Cat” brand in 1987 to accompany their newest invention, clumping litter. The first scoops were rudimentary and did not work as well as one would expect today. They were merely square toy plastic sand shovels with perforations set in. As time went on cat owners started to patent their own ideas, then to sell these patents to businesses and corporations willing to develop and market their product. Some of the newer Scoopers are very imaginative in design ranging from the elaborate to the simple.

The three most common types are plastic scooper, the more durable metal scooper and the more elaborate automatic or “hands free” scooper.

The plastic scooper is what will be found most setting next to litter boxes around the world, and it was with the plastic scooper were the imagination of their inventors took off. The most commonly used types of plastic scoopers are enlarged designs of the original released by “Tidy Cat”. The perforations are not usually round any longer though. It was soon discovered that a long slit perforation helped to pass the litter through the scoop easier and with fewer clogs.

The metal scooper of course is more durable and some of these were made with longer handles to limit how far one would have to bend over to scoop litter, and to increase distance between the waste and operator of the scoop.

The “hands free” cat litter box scooper is one of the more recent developments in this field; there are several varieties of “hands free” scoopers some encompass the litter box and the operator simple turns the box upside down in the proper manner and the box dose the sifting for the operator, and catches the waste in a drawer or hatch to be more easily and sanitarily disposed of. Some hand free scoopers are completely automatic requiring very little contact with unit or box. It is simply a unit that either sits on the top of an all ready existing box, or a unit all unto itself. Most automatic scoopers are equipped with sensors that can tell when the cat is in the box and waits until the cat leaves the box. Then it sends out a combing device from the unit, that sifts the litter from one end of the box to the other and back again. These can be noisier and a bit expensive, but most consumers find it is worth not having to touch the litter box at all.

There are so many choices in this area ranging from simple, to very complex. No matter the choice one makes in the vast world of cat scoopers, it is always best for one to make an informed decision for them and their feline.

If you found this article helpful, check out my other articles on dog clothing, Urine Gone, and the Turbo Scratcher.