I had the pleasure of reviewing Wisker’s Litter-Robot 4 for Time Stamped Shopping a few years ago, and while I genuinely enjoyed the fourth iteration of their auto-scooping litter box, I was floored at how their team upgraded everything to make their latest and greatest the Lamborghini of cat boxes.
I expected a nominal upgrade along the line of this year’s new smartphone getting a whole extra hour of battery life when compared to the previous version, but the new 5 Pro raised the bar to the point where current Litter-Robot owners should seriously consider upgrading.
Anyone who loves their cat as much as I do wants to provide the absolute best for them, and this premium litter-sifter deodorizes your shared space, monitors your kitty’s health, and of course, minimizes the dreaded chore of cleaning cat potty down to once a week-ish.
Keep in mind, the price of admission is on the higher side, but it’d be tough to talk serious pet owners out of spoiling themselves and their favorite kitties with one.
Litter-Robot 5 Pro
First Impressions of the 5 Pro
I know it sounds like a small deal if you’ve never had a Litter-Robot 4 or earlier model, but I have to give the team at Whisker major kudos for making unboxing this otherwise rather large and unwieldly package far easier than its predecessors.
I remember how awkward it was to get the 4 out of the box, as opposed cutting four pieces of tape, twisting the dial-like plastic fasteners, and simply lifting the bulky box away from the 5 Pro.
Although I am familiar with how Litter-Robots work and I already had a Whisker account on my smartphone, setting up a 5 Pro is an absolute breeze.
Simply set it in a cozy spot in your home, plug it in, download its companion Whisker app, make an account, and follow the quick and easy steps to connect your Litter-Robot to the internet and set up an adorable profile for your cat.
Specifications
- Price: $899.
- Colors: White, Black.
- Multi-cat household: Up to five cats.
- Weight limit: Up to thirty pounds.
- Waste capacity: Up to ten days for one-cat households.
- Footprint: 22” x 27”, approximately the size of a traditional litter box.
- Weight: 29.6 pounds.
- Height: 29.9”.
- Modular accessories: Ramp, backup battery, Litter-Trap mat, Shield, and many others for a custom experience.
- Smart technology: Monitors cat potty type, which cat visits, pet weight, litter level, cameras inside and out, adjustable LED nightlight, bright LCD color display, on-device data storage for up to a week, safe cat-detection system only cleans when the cat is NOT present.
- Includes: Litter-Robot 5 Pro, power supply AC adapter, fence (to prevent litter from escaping,) Step (with grooves to catch extra litter particles,) five litter liners, and odor-eliminating carbon filter.
Pros
- Incredible odor control; eliminates that “cat” smell from your home.
- The information-packed and security AI/camera features are well-worth the $100 upgrade from the Litter-Robot 5.
- Emptying the litter box once every 7-10 days is a major time-saver.
- Easy to customize to your cat’s needs with many modular accessories.
- Relatively small footprint despite its additional height- it’s less “bulky” than you may expect.
- The cool-toned LED nightlight is cozy for you and your kitty.
- Its bright and vibrant display and conveniently designed companion app makes it a snap to monitor your cat’s potty habits.
- Practically silent operation.
- A snap to clean up and maintain.
- Sleek and modern appearance easily fits in with your other appliances.
Cons
- At $899, it’s admittedly expensive, but once you and your cat have one, you’ll never be able to go back to a plain $12 litter bin.
We all know how finicky cats can be about appreciating new things, and how scary it can be to invest money into something like a scratching post or cozy bed they’d shun for a cardboard box, but I can almost guarantee your cats will act like mine.
After a quick sniff of the litter and a mini-investigation, it’ll be their new favorite potty place before you know it.
What Makes the 5 Pro so Special?
As someone who has lived with both the Litter-Robot 4 and Litter-Robot 5 Pro, I can say they seem to be fairly similar at a glance, but the 5 Pro delivers more than enough to justify the price increase of $200.
Both sport the sizable waste capacity to comfortably work with multiple cats, have an array of safety features that ensure my cat is nowhere close to the Litter-Robot when it starts a cleaning cycle, and their respective sensors will send handy notifications to my phone when the litter is too low and when the waste bin is getting a bit too full. It also monitors my kitty’s weight over time.
Naturally, the 5 Pro has a few notable advantages over the Litter-Robot 4 in these core stats, as it easily accommodates five-cat households over four, cats weighing up to 30 pounds vs. 25lbs, and stores up to 10 days of potty from a single cat as opposed to a maximum of eight days of waste.
Both models excel at minimizing the unpleasant chore of sifting cat poo and clumps of litter while deodorizing your home from that “cat smell” that non-cat owners can identify a mile away. But the 5 Pro sets itself apart from previous models due to its array of technological advancements.
Both the 5 and 5 Pro include the new WasteID AI system that scans a cat’s business to either quickly remove poo to its odor-sealing waste chamber before the fresh turd has a chance to stink up the room, or give urine a little more time to soak and settle into a solid clump before scooping it away.
I love how WasteID improves on the Litter-Robot design by keeping your space even fresher-smelling, and it keeps a cleaner litter space by allowing clumps to form that don’t crumble and mix urine-soaked bits with the unused litter.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear, or rather *not hear* that the 5 Pro runs even more quietly when it auto-sifts my kitty’s litter. The Litter-Robot 4 sound was barely noticeable as a background mumble when it ran a cycle, but the 5 Pro is practically silent.
The 5 and 5 Pro also share an LCD display, but the 5 Pro is an upgrade. It’s bright, bold, and a snap to read at a moment’s glance. But my second-favorite improvement over the Litter-Robot 4 is the new nightlight.
The entire interior of the new generation of Litter-Robots is illuminated by a cool and inviting nightlight that gives cats slinking away for a midnight potty a clear path, and it’s a cheery modern touch to the house that I appreciated when the sun went down.
Dual Cameras Make All the Difference
Although the Litter-Robot 5 and its slightly pricier 5 Pro cousin are almost identical when their core stats are compared, the Pro model’s pair of 1080p cameras is easily worth splurging for the $100 upgrade.
I’m the type of pet owner who regularly checks in on my cat and dog via petcams when I’m away from home, and my advanced litter box’s outward-facing camera provides me with another view of a well-traveled spot in sharper visual fidelity than my old camera.
The inclusion of an interior camera pointed at the litter itself sounded like an odd choice until I learned how the 5 Pro’s AI-powered cameras actively track and monitor cat movement and easily distinguish between cats to consistently monitor each pet’s potty habits and weight.
No worries about a “breach of privacy” for you our your kitty: The interior litter bed camera is worth checking in on occasionally to make sure they aren’t having potty problems, and its exterior camera actively seeks out your four-legged friends. People are only captured on video when they’re in the same room as a kitty-cat.
I absolutely love the razor-sharp livestream of the 5 Pro’s outward camera for checking in on my cat at a moment’s notice and watching recorded videos as she skulks about when I’m not home.
If you’re as much of a doting pet parent as I am and are considering a Litter-Robot 5, the $100 upgrade to the Pro 5 is worth every penny.
Litter-Robot 5 Pro
Who Is the Litter-Robot 5 Pro for?
Gomi, my six-month-old Maine coon kitten, took to the Litter-Robot 5 Pro like a fish to water. (Or a cat to fish!) Since I was familiar with the Litter-Robot 4, I expected the 5 Pro to be quality, but I didn’t realize how all of the technological enhancements and slight design tweaks would make this the definitive best-of-the-best self-cleaning cat box on the market.
It’s silent, excels at maintaining a cat-odor-free space, continuously provides the latest data on my precious giant furball, and includes other ways to keep tabs on her when I have to step out.
Whether you’re the type of pet owner who needs to absolutely pamper your cat, or maintain the best potty solution for multiple cats in one home, the Litter Robot 5 Pro is expensive, but totally worth the price of admission.
In a nutshell, the Litter-Robot 4 is great across the board, but if you’re considering the 5 for its odor-minimizing WasteID feature, do you and your cat(s) a favor and spring for the 5 Pro; those dual AI cameras make it a valuable upgrade!
