Litter Genie Plus Product Review

Interested in learning more about the Litter Genie Plus and how good it is at trapping odors from your cat’s used litter? Here’s my detailed product review, including a look at how it compares to other versions and the best refills to use.

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First impression of the Litter Genie Plus

The Litter Genie Plus is a cat litter disposal system designed to trap the smell of your cat’s waste. Simply, it’s a waste bin for your used cat litter, and it’s the same principle as the Diaper Genie for babies. Rather than a standard trash can, it’s been designed to minimize odors around your home by trapping waste and used litter in a compartment that isn’t exposed to the air, even when you open it.

A normal waste bin with a lid will keep odors inside to some extent, but will then release them every time you open the lid. The Litter Genie Plus is designed to stop that from happening because it has a spring-loaded drop drawer inside.

I didn’t understand why they didn’t make it all one color – that was something I disliked about it – the different color lid vs. the rest of the body.

Packaging of the Litter Genie Plus

The Litter Genie Plus doesn’t need a lot of extra packaging to protect it – it will be shipped to you in a simple cardboard box so there won’t be a lot of waste. It comes with a cardboard surround too that you just need to remove, and then everything else is shipped inside the unit to keep it safe, including the scoop, holder, and instructions.

Image of the Litter Genie Plus

Box Contents

The Litter Genie Plus usually comes with one refill cartridge of bags, although you may be able to buy a bundle that comes with more. It also includes a scoop and holder. I don’t like the scoop – it’s not big enough and it uses flat tines, rather than the triangular ones on the Litter Lifter, which I much prefer.

Assembly Required

Assembling the Litter Genie Plus is relatively straightforward, although it can be a little bit tricky to add the cartridges until you’re used to it. The actual unit will arrive fully assembled, so you just need to put the cartridge into place and tie it off at the bottom, and it will be ready to go.

Litter Genie Plus Demo

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Size of the Litter Genie Plus

The Litter Genie Plus measures:

• 9.5 inches wide (24cm)
• 8.5 inches long (21.5cm)
• 17 inches tall (43cm)

It’s not huge, so you can use it in small spaces, but it’s big enough to hold more than a couple of days of used litter. There is a larger XL version which is the same width and length, but it’s 22 inches tall instead – more on that below.

Best Benefit of the Litter Genie Plus

The best benefit of using a Litter Genie Plus is the fact that odors and bacteria are kept trapped within the unit. Because they’re sealed away, you won’t have as strong an aroma hanging around the bin as you would with a standard trash can. And every time you add to it, you aren’t releasing particles back into the air, since it stays sealed away in the lower compartment even with the lid opened.

How Does a Litter Genie Work to Trap Odor?

The way it works is that you put the soiled cat litter and poop into the Litter Genie Plus, where it sits at the top of the bag. Once closed, you then pull back the drawer so that the cat waste drops to the bottom of the bag in the pail. When you let go of the drawer, that acts as a second lid, using Odor Barrier Technology to seal it away. So, you aren’t exposed to the waste smells every time you open the lid.

Place it next to your cat litter box and you can easily clean out any kitty litter that has been used, trapping the litter clumps with any odor.

Litter Genie Reviews – Quick Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of the Litter Genie Plus:

Pros:

• Effective at sealing away bacteria and odors
• Easy to use
• Can hold up to two weeks of used litter, depending on your cat(s)

Cons:

• Official refills are expensive
• Lid can’t be fully removed, unlike Litter Locker – a little trickier to use, and harder to clean
• Overall design is undesirable to me – compared to the Litter Locker Design Plus and the Litter Genie XL

Litter Genie Hacks You Need to Know

If you don’t want to keep buying standard Litter Genie refill cartridges, you can just use normal garbage bags or even a plastic grocery bag. You just need to keep hold of an empty refill cartridge to wrap the bag around. In this video, I show you how it works, and while it’s not a perfect solution it is a lot cheaper.

Litter Genie Vs Litter Genie Plus

There are three main versions of the Litter Genie, although one of those – the original Litter Genie – isn’t really sold anymore. The Litter Genie Plus essentially replaced the original model. It’s the exact same size, but it has antimicrobial properties, meaning that it’s easier to keep the actual unit clean as it can stop bacteria from thriving. The refills also last longer with the Plus version than they did with the original.

The Litter Genie XL

The Litter Genie XL is the larger version of the Litter Genie. I recently bought one from Amazon. In this video, I look at how the Litter Genie XL compares to the Litter Locker Plus, and how they’re the same design but the XL has extra space. The video also shows how the refills fit into the Litter Genie XL, and how the design is meant to prevent aftermarket cartridges from being used.

The Litter Genie XL is more similar in design to the Litter Locker than the Litter Genie Plus, which is good. The pail is able to hold around 50% more than the Litter Genie Plus too, as they’ve extended the base of the unit.

Because it’s closer in design to the Litter Locker, it’s a little bit easier to use. It still uses the same refill cartridges, but it has a plastic ledge inside that stops you from using aftermarket cartridges. You could remove this ledge with a bit of DIY, or use it open – the unofficial refills will sit on top, and you just won’t be able to add the lid.

The only other difference is in the choice of color – with the Litter Genie Plus you can choose from a selection of colors, but the XL is only available in silver at this time (they might add other colors later as they have with the Plus). I’m a lot happier with the design of the Litter Genie XL compared to the Litter Genie Plus, especially as it’s easier for US customers to order instead of importing one.

The Litter Locker – Europe and Canada’s Equivalent

The Litter Locker is a very similar product to the Litter Genie. It’s available in Europe and Canada but otherwise has a very similar design.

There are some differences though, which I explain in the video – mainly about how you put in the refills (no tabs that need long nails here) and also ridges that let you use an elasticated sleeve to add a design to your waste bin, stopping it from looking like a boring plastic device.

My Favorite Refills for the Litter Genie

One of the things that can frustrate me is when a company makes a product that needs an ongoing cost, like the Litter Genie refill bags, but then manufactures them in a way that means you need to buy them directly from the company, so they can charge you what they want.

Thankfully when that happens, there are often unofficial or ‘knock off’ versions produced, which are sometimes better or at least cheaper. My favorite Litter Genie refill alternative is by Firik.

This video talks you through Firik refill cassettes, which are compatible with the Litter Genie and the Litter Genie Plus (but not the Litter Genie XL). In it, I explain what makes them different from the Litter Genie brand refills and how the longer length (21 feet per cartridge) should last for more weeks, although how the amount of time is subjective depending on your cat’s toilet habits.

Here’s another alternative refill that works quite well, by Lion Papa.

Durability of the Litter Genie Plus

There are no real concerns about durability with the Litter Genie Plus. It’s not the most solid-built item you’ll ever own, but it doesn’t need to be. If you take care of it, it should last you a long time. And because the Litter Genie Plus added the antimicrobial properties, it should last longer from a cleanliness perspective as well.

Jenny’s Personal Take Away

I first bought the Litter Genie Plus in 2017 when I picked up two from Target through a coupon deal. I ended up donating one of them, but then bought another in 2018 with a mail-in rebate that PetSmart was running. Since then I have swapped to the LitterLocker (after doing a review of it), but I wanted to give my thoughts on the Litter Genie since that’s the main one you can buy in the US.

It’s a useful product. I realized after selling one of them that the litter odor smell in my basement was worse and while that might have been something to do with a change in Charlie’s diet at the time, I think the design of the product does work as intended.

Price

The Litter Genie Plus tends to cost somewhere in the region of $20-30, although the exact price can vary. What you need to be more aware of is the cost of the refills – official ones can sometimes cost around $10 a time. You can save by buying in bulk, or by choosing a cheaper alternative.

Litter Genie Rebate

There have, in the past, been times where the Litter Genie Plus was available on a rebate offer. While the last rebate offer was a couple of years ago, it may happen again, so it’s worth looking out for any similar offers in future. It’s not surprising that the pail was offered on a rebate deal, since the refills are where the company makes more of its money.

I have been able to take advantage of Litter Genie rebate deals over the years

Where to buy the Litter Genie Plus

You can buy the Litter Genie Plus on Amazon or on Chewy.

Litter Genie Plus on Amazon [Amazon]

Litter Genie Plus on Chewy  [Chewy]

FAQs

Conclusion

The Litter Genie Plus is an effective cat litter disposal system, although it isn’t my absolute favorite – if you’re able to get a Litter Locker or even a Litter Genie XL (which is a taller Litter Locker) then it’s a little bit easier to use. Overall though it does a good job, but you might want to consider looking at alternatives to the official refill cartridges if you want to save money.

I purchased the Litter Genie Plus at Petsmart and sent in for a rebate. I did not receive it for free from the manufacturer and did not receive a review fee. As always, all reviews on Floppycats are completely honest and unbiased.