Imperial Cat Neat 'n Tidy, Heavy Duty Litter Scoop for Cats

This is my husbands favorite scoop. Original one I bought in 2019 when I had surgery & bending was difficult. Initially I wasn't a huge favorite of mine but was nice. Wire cross section means must be gentle with removal and if clump is still fresh can be disaster. Buuut, as I said, husband loves and when original one broke after constant use, I bought him a second one and he's happy as a clam.

We have 8 cats and 8 big boxes (think ~18 gallon storage container sized). This is the scoop I use, my girl prefers the shorter handled type.The Good: Easy to drag through the Sahara desert of each box to find the "goodies" and the unclumped litter falls away easily. Sure a loose clump my get broken up and sift through from time to time, but not a huge issue (I have the same happen with tighter weave/smaller opening scoops.Long enough handle I don't have to get "in the box".The Bad: Not overly durable for our use. I have the handle break at the weld after ~ 6 month, I reweld it and then replace when it breaks again. For most people this would probably last many years (8 cats & 8 boxes, so high use). Use some finesse to dig stuck pee lumps off the sides/bottom of the box and it will last. That is what causes my issues (ramming into a subterranean lump stuck to the bottom).Better than any other for my use. The cast scoops are sturdier, but feel like your digging a garden and the litter takes a few seconds to sift out (and sometimes is doesn't).Until I break down and make my own version (same type of basket, but much sturdier handle-to-basket attachment) I will take the easy route and buy a new one each year

I like to think that I'm a bit of an expert in scooping cat excrement from boxes filled with various types of litter. I'm no casual scooper, having grown up with 16 cats while I was younger and now the proud owner of 4 as a fully functioning adult.My setup:Currently transitioning to different litters and trying to reduce litter sticking to the pan- 2x Petmate 22040 Giant Litter Pans (1 box has Arm & Hammer Slide, 1 Box has Fresh Step Multi-Cat Clumping)- 1x Van Ness Giant Sides Litter Box (Fresh Step Multi-Cat Clumping)- 1x Unbranded Small Box, coated with Rustoleum Neverwet (Fresh Step Multi-Cat Clumping)My experience:Overall a great scooper that I was on the fence on but will have in my arsenal from here on out. It's become my go to when I have 4 others with various features (extending arm, coated in teflon, wide mouth), this is a happy compromise that displaces those.- This scooper does a great job on both litter types, quickly leaving the chunks in the bucket of the scooper while the loose litter goes back to the pan. Fastest scooper in the west!- The handle length is great to keep from having to bend over, it is uncomfortable to hold when you need to apply serious pressure to get a stuck on chunk up. The slide litter and Neverwet stop that in those boxes.- The low profile on the front plus the flat bottom allows you to push this like a scraper against the bottom of a litter pan, quickly removing the bigger chunks without having to shake the pan much. This does remove and damage the Neverwet coating on the litter pan but that is to be expected when using any metal scooper.- The holes are big enough they don't clog and If something does stick to the scooper, it's easily knocked away by tapping it against the litter pan.- I love this scooper so much I'm willing to spend 30 minutes to write this review!My constructive criticisms:- The wire handle is uncomfortable to hold and apply pressure for long periods of time, it would be nice if this had a proper handle as it can roll in your hand.- The scoop is adequate for most needs but on the larger boxes I could use something that's a little deeper.

I've been using one just like this Imperial for years and it has held up beautifully. Now, I have litter boxes in separate rooms, so I wanted to have an extra scoop.This Imperial is the PERFECT scoop. It is lightweight (unlike the Yangbaga that I tried - I did not like Yangbaga and it was hard on my wrist and shoulder), but this Imperial is very sturdy and not heavy at all.The grid design is superior!! With other scoops that have the various-sized cutouts for the litter to fall through, you have to shake and shake to get the loose litter to fall through, which adds more dust to the air. This Imperial scoop lets loose litter fall through much more quickly than any other scoop I've tried. That, plus the long handle, keep me as far from any dust as possible, plus it is easier on my back so that I don't have to bend as far.In my opinion, there is nothing unlikeable about this scoop - it's the only one I ever plan to use. Hey, if you're going to be scooping litter, make it as easy on yourself as possible with this scoop!

The ONLY scooper I will buy!

This scooper has the grid hole spacing of 3/8 of an inch, but I was hoping for it to have 1/4" or smaller to catch smaller litter crumbs when I ordered. However, the larger holes with the thin wire grids do make it easy to scoop out only the clumped mass without much shifting action. I don't find the handle too comfortable as you can imagine by seeing the photo, but I do appreciate the 16" long handle. If the handle gets more comfortable with 1/4" grids, I'd give it 5 stars.Update: I have transitioned one of our cats to Tidy Cats Breeze system, so I've re-purposed this scooper as an amber/ash sifter for my wood-stove. It works perfectly along with a hearth glove on, and we've been using it most often out of all our hearth tools. One of out cats refuses to poo in the Breeze litter box so we still scoop his clay litter (and we don't want to push the troubled Siamese devil) but My husband stopped using this because of the handle discomfort and awkward scooping angle. He prefers an inexpensive  Litter-Lifter Kitty Litter Scoop for Cats Assorted Color  that also shifts litter with virtually no shifting and collects smaller pieces. The only downside is that it's made out of plastic, but it works well for frequent scooping and hasn't broken in over a year.

This is well worth the cost when you compare ease of use with short, plastic, easily breakable scoops. We have three cats so 3 little boxes. Using this scoop is so much easier on my back because of the long handle. I'm not having to bend as far and am not as close to the kitty litter dust. The scoop basket picks up a lot more in one swipe so scooping takes less time and effort.Great product!