Our story
Boxscoop wasn’t created on life long passion for litter boxes; nor for profit. It was formed from a series of perfectly timed events.
The journey started with Arthur, our little Bengal that changed our hearts. We had a litter box for her that rolled on the floor. Arthur hated being enclosed and the clumps would stick to the bottom or break apart when it sifted. It was never clean enough and we hated knowing she had to lick it off her little paws.
Enough already, we splurged and spent a fortune on what was regarded as the “very best” automatic litter box. It was a large eye sore that practically required its own room. It made noises that would wake us up, stress her out and it still smelled… it was far better then every thing else on the market… but that was the eye opener of how antiquated this litter box world was.
So, we toilet trained Arthur. We figured this way she’d always have a clean chemical free spot. Wrong. We did manage to get her toiled trained but the stress it caused her was totally silly. We realized how narrow minded and unfair it was to her.
I’m an engineer, and a tad obsessive with efficiency. We built climbing walls around our apartment, custom perches, and everything to keep her entertained but more important was that she had a clean environment to do her business. I never wanted to design a litter box; but it happened. It sounded crazy, leap in and throw all our savings going into debt for a litter box. I’m sure our friends thought we were nuts! But someone had to do something drastically different… these recycled roll, sift, flip designs were all just variations of each other arranged differently. It needed to be completely fresh and different.
Leaping into something like this takes tireless work and faith, and thankful I was full of it. Because my sister was courageously facing cancer and that instilled a certain faith and respect for life in us. She taught me to go after what feels right, to do what is right. This was right. This was a legitimate health problem for so many cats and their humans, a problem we tend to ignore... and thankfully, Michelle is supportive and amazing, so in we dove!
We released our first model. It received great feedback and considering our tiny marketing budget it sold out quickly. Then the unthinkable happened. On October 6th, Arthur was running around chasing a feather, and she collapsed. She was only 2.5 years old and her heart literally just stopped. She had HCM a genetic heart condition.
She was just a cat right... but she wasn’t. The bonds we make with our cats can be incredible, rewarding and enriching. She loved everyone but I was her human, she followed me everywhere, nudging away, and just like that sweet little Arthur was gone. She tore a huge chunk out of both of our hearts... and then 15 hours later my sister took her last breaths as well.
It was tough times and we were not inspired to continue creating a litter box. But soon after we were reminded of the positive impact Boxscoop was having. We’ve been through a lot and profit does not motivate us; purpose does. Too many cats have dealt with neglected litter boxes and when they rebel, many are given away… and too many of their humans have the struggle of integrating these litter boxes into their homes. This isn’t the way it has to be… and luckily through a series of events we were able to come in fresh and break the mold of what a litter box is.
Arthur was the inspiration, Kristy was the faith. Without their perfect spirits combining it would never have come to be. They planted this seed and we are beyond inspired to take Boxscoop to the next level.
James + Michelle
We promise, for as long as we can afford to continue, to keep improving and developing solutions that are healthier for cats and comfortably integrable into households.