IRIS Top Entry Cat Litter Box with Scoop Review

We purchased the IRIS Top Entry Cat Litter Box so our reviewer could test and assess it with her cat. Keep reading for our full product review.

Finding the right litter box can be tricky—you want something your cat feels comfortable using but isn’t too much of an eyesore. American home décor brand IRIS USA offers an excellent option in its Top Entry Cat Litter Box, which is designed to do both. With clean lines and stylish color options, there are many reasons this litter box is highly rated online. To see if it lived up to its reputation, we took it home and tested it for over a month. Read on to find out the scoop—no pun intended.

Unboxing and Setup: Packing materials too sticky

This litter box arrives with three plastic pieces: a lid, a base, and a scooper. Its lid and scooper were taped onto its base to secure them during shipping, which made sense, but it was ultimately annoying to unpack—the tape stuck to the plastic so much that it was hard to remove and also left a sticky residue.

Other than that, setting up this litter box was incredibly easy. Once we unwrapped the product, we just clipped the scoop to its spot along the side of the lid and filled the box with litter.

Check out our other reviews of the best cat litters available on the market today.

Design: Sleek, contemporary look

So many litter boxes are eyesores, but we loved the design of this one. Its plastic material feels sturdy, it blends in, it comes in attractive neutral shades (white/seafoam, black/dark grey, white/beige, grey/white), and its top entry makes it look much less like a litter box.

Because we have a roommate, we keep this litter box in our room, which is fairly small. We were nervous about this originally, but its design blends in with our décor better than we imagined. Also, as promised by the manufacturer, its top entry prevented our cat from tracking litter all over the apartment.

The one thing the design of this litter box lacks, however, is special features—although it does come with a scooper, there aren’t many bells and whistles (like an odor control charcoal filter). But if you’re looking for a more basic model, the design is excellent.

Need some more help finding what you're looking for? Read through our best cat beds article.

Ease of Use: A hit with both cat and owner

When thinking about how easy it is to use a certain litter box, it’s good to consider both the cat and the owner. What stood out to us was how easy this litter box was to clean. It's shaped like a large trash can with rounded corners, which makes it simple to dump for us to dump the litter into a trash bag and wipe it down.

Our cat had never used a top entry litter box before so we were skeptical that she would understand the design. We're happy to report that she started using it immediately and hasn’t had any issues since. However, just a note—the entry hole itself is a little small, so make sure it's big enough for your cat!

Price: A great value

At around $25, this well-designed, great-quality litter box is a fantastic value, especially if you factor in price per use.

IRIS Top Entry Cat Litter Box vs. Petmate Arm & Hammer Top Entry Litter Pan

Petmate, a pet supplies brand, offers a similar option in its Arm & Hammer Top Entry Litter Pan. They both work pretty much the same way, with ventilated lids that offer cats a top entry. There are a few key differences, though. Petmate’s litter box—which, at a list price of $40, is approximately twice the price of IRIS’—has built-in antimicrobial protection that inhibits odor. However, it only comes in one color combination of grey and dark grey. IRIS’ product, on the other hand, comes in many color combinations and its corners are more rounded for a cleaner, more design-forward look. This litter box also includes a scoop, while Petmate’s model doesn't.

Take a look at other product reviews and shop for the best litter boxes available online.