Cat litter tray with pink scoop and bengal cat - stock photo Cat litter tray with pink scoop and bengal cat
(Getty Images / Svetlana Sultanaeva)

A viral litter box may actually be a death trap for cats

Cat lovers need to be warned about this death trap disguised as a litter box. A popular “automatic self-cleaning litter box” has tragically harmed numerous pet owners’ beloved cats.

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Trigger warning: this post includes references to animal death.

YouTuber Philip Bloom runs a channel called “One Man Five Cats.” In a recent video, he referenced a TikTok user named @carli.jay, who shared her brutal experience with one of these self-cleaning machines. The TikToker mentioned that she found her kitten’s lifeless body hanging from the closed door of the litter box.

According to Bloom, the deadly ‘Amztoy’ litter box is a knockoff of a trusted brand. Although the models look identical, the quality of the products is wildly different. The unbranded self-cleaning Amazon litter boxes have faulty engineering. The sensors on these cheap machines aren’t sensitive enough to detect movement inside the litter box, and as a result, these litter boxes turn into a makeshift death trap for cats.

@therealphilipbloom

This deadly design of self cleaning/ auromatic litter boxes is killing cats and must be avoided at all costs!! Watch the full story over at my One Man Five Cats YouTube channel linked in bio. #catsoftiktok #amztoy #selfcleaninglitterbox #automaticlitterbox @????? ???

♬ original sound – Philip Bloom

There’s no escape for cats or kittens who get stuck between the litter box and the exit; if they’re lucky, their owners are around to free them on time. Even then, however, Bloom’s stuffed animal demonstration proved that removing a cat from these awful machines safely is nearly impossible.

Most cat owners buy self-cleaning machines because they don’t have time to scoop out poop. Some cats are particular about their toilets, and cat owners understand this. My cat, for instance, hates coconut litter and dirty litter boxes. For many cat owners, self-cleaning machines tend to be the easiest solution.

To clarify, several self-cleaning litter boxes are safe to use, you just need to be careful about which brand you buy. Bloom’s YouTube channel posts reviews of several branded litter boxes, which you can check out for yourself in the video below.

Despite consumer concerns, terrible reviews, and the deaths of multiple cats, the faulty litter boxes are still available on Amazon. For anyone who wants to ensure their cat’s safety, it’s best to avoid buying these types of self-cleaning litter boxes on Amazon and AliExpress.


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Vanessa Esguerra
Vanessa Esguerra (She/They) has been a Contributing Writer for The Mary Sue since 2023. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy, she (happily) rejected law school in 2021 and has been a full-time content writer since. Vanessa is currently taking her Master's degree in Japanese Studies in hopes of deepening her understanding of the country's media culture in relation to pop culture, women, and queer people like herself. She speaks three languages but still manages to get lost in the subways of Tokyo with her clunky Japanese. Fueled by iced coffee brewed from local cafés in Metro Manila, she also regularly covers anime and video games while queuing for her next match in League of Legends.