Illustration: Victoria Ellis/Axios
There's a big-dollar arms race in high-tech cat waste "solutions," from color-changing litter that can detect diseases to AI tech that tracks Fluffy's toileting habits.
Why it matters: As COVID-era cat ownership has surged, companies large and small have flooded the market with products aimed at improving pet health and reducing the top reason people return cats to shelters: Litter box unpleasantness.
Driving the news: That familiar plastic tub filled with clay litter is morphing into an AI-powered hardware/software platform that includes a scale to weigh what Tabby has been doing (and detect if she's putting on pounds), an app that alerts when she's done her business (and tracks the frequency) and health-monitoring litter that can flag urinary tract infections or other problems.
"I was one of the beta users of the Litter-Robot app, and we got 18 notifications in like one hour," Zuppke said. "I didn't know if it was a beta flaw or something was happening with our cat." (A swift — and possibly life-saving — trip to the vet revealed a UTI.)
Also in the offing: The forthcoming Petivity Smart Litterbox Monitor System from Nestlé Purina is a $200 scale that sits under your cat's litter pan and transmits data about a "solid waste or liquid waste event," as Gleckler put it.
Between the lines: The world of litter and boxes is remarkably suffused with controversy, marked by routine throwdowns over clay litter (a potential carcinogen?), enclosed litter boxes (do you enjoy a port-a-potty?) and environmental concerns (clay litter, again).
Yes, but: The high-tech litter solutions are far more expensive than a simple cat box — the Litter-Robot 4, for instance, costs $650, while a rival offering, the Purrsong Lavviebot S Robotic Litter Box, goes for $900.
What they're saying: "For me, it comes down to how easy it is to clean the box," says Kate Benjamin, founder of Hauspanther, a resource center for stylish cat products.
The bottom line: Not only have people been adopting more pets since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but they've also been paying a lot more attention to their animals' needs and habits.