Most cat lovers will agree that the existing litter box options are really bad. You either get a simple but ugly plastic bin that looks like it came from a dollar store. Or you get a space-aged robot that’s huge, loud, and prone to breaking.
Our team is obsessed with design and cats. We just wanted a litter box that was simple, beautiful, and easy to clean. But nothing existed – so we designed one ourselves.
One thing we found during our research was that the litterbox tools are as important to user satisfaction as the box itself. Yet, most litterboxes include, as an afterthought, a cheap flimsy scoop that ends up just being tossed on the floor beside the box. Another common user frustration is the litter scatter caused by a cat’s coming and going.
So we thought – why not engineer a litterbox with well-integrated tools that address the realities of maintaining a litterbox? The Cove includes a scoop, dustpan, and hand brush that fit perfectly into an accessible top compartment.
After in depth user research, we discovered the most important feature of a litterbox is that it should be easy to clean. Yet many litterboxes have shapes and materials that don’t align with this. Cove’s shape is incredibly simple and open – there are no unnecessary bends or hard-to-get-to corners. For the material itself, we considered a variety of options, but ultimately landed on recycled plastic because it’s durable and especially easy to clean.
Cove is the perfect size. The dimensions of the box are 22″ x 16″ x 6″. Many litter boxes are smaller at the base than the top and slope outwards. Cove’s walls are vertical – so it actually feels bigger and more spacious for a cat despite taking up a similar footprint. The sizing will work for all except very large cats (i.e. Maine Coons or 20 pound+ cats).
Here is Cove beside a competitor litter box brand “Giant (XL)” and “Large” sizes. As you can see – the competitor’s have a smaller base but slope outwards to appear larger. Cove actually holds more volume than their XL size, and our vertical walls are much better than sloping walls at preventing litter scatter from coming outside the box.
Cove’s vertical walls are much better at preventing litter scatter than sloping walls.
Fancy litter box designers want to replace the scoop, but doing so introduces new complications. So we decided to make scooping faster. Our scoop is sturdy, and engineered with angled slots to make litter sifting as fast and minimal as possible. The handle and grip feel great in your hands, and it all slides easily back into the box for safe keeping.
The last thing we want to do is create more plastic waste – so we’re using recycled plastic to make Cove – it is completely toxin-free so it’s good for our planet and our pets.
Our design is made to be durable and long lasting. We chose plastic because it’s easy to clean and lasts forever. It lasts so long, in fact, that we’re using recycled plastics to build our litterbox. This is the only litterbox you’ll ever need to purchase.
Being environmentally friendly is one of our core values. We’re constantly working to create better designs that will last longer and have less impact by using eco-friendly materials. We participate in a carbon offset program where 100% of our emissions caused by transporting the product are offset by planting trees.
We’ve partnered with over 50 shelters across the US – if you ever need to get rid of your litter box, we’ll happily pay to ship it to a shelter in need.
We’re obsessed with cats and we feel we’re the perfect team to launch this product. Over the past 18 months, we’ve developed countless iterations with constant improvements – we’ve explored a ton of options. Now we have the final product ready to go and we believe it’s the most beautiful litterbox in the world.
If we’re lucky enough to hit our stretch goal, we’ll release 3 new colors: Sand, Seawash, and Salmon. If we hit our super stretch goal, we’ll make a black Cove from 100% recycled ocean plastics.
We need your help Kickstarter – large scale production runs require us to pay for expensive tooling up front. Please help us make this project a reality.
A special thanks to:
Marci Koski for her endless and in depth knowledge about cat behavior and litter box habits.
Laiya and Octavia, Erin and Grubber for their incredible modeling and cat whispering abilities:
Julian Kenchenten and Alex Waber for their amazing videography and photography:
This project is promoted by Jellop, the ad tech power behind the best Kickstarters with 1000+ successful Kickstarter projects with over $430M raised between them.
We’ve been working day and night over the last year to dial in the design, production, and logistics of the litterbox to ensure the experience is a smooth as possible. We’ve built our prototype, partnered with reputable manufacturers, and secured third party logistics for timely deliveries. We’ve done our homework so that once we have the funding in place, we will immediately start creating the mold and move into production. Our team has lots of experience manufacturing products at scale so we’re familiar with the issues that can arise. Delays are always a small possibility, and if we ever need to choose between quality and speed, we will choose quality every time. But what we can promise is 100% transparency and constant communication to keep our backers in the loop. We’re in this together. We are laser focused on making this the best litterbox you ever own.