Tips To Start Your Cat Toilet Training
If you have ever owned a cat, then you know the perils of a stinky cat box, as well as the exertion required to get home those giant bags of expensive litter. You may have heard stories about pet owners using cat toilet training to get their feline friends out of the litter box and into the bathroom. It can be a reality for you too. In as little as 3 or 4 weeks and sometimes up to 3 or 4 months, you can learn how to potty train your kitty and banish the box forever.
To start potty training your kitty, go slowly. The transition from litter box to toilet should be accomplished in a series of stages. If at any time he has a setback and uses a rug instead of the potty, then you may be going too quickly. Just back up a stage or two and try again.
You have to gradually train your kitty to use the toilet properly. Start your cat toilet training off by placing the litter box next to the toilet bowl. Gradually, after a few days or a week, when you know he’s used to the new arrangement, add newspapers or a phone book under the box to raise it a few inches at a time. Continue adding height until the bottom of the litter box is even with the top of the toilet seat.
Now, move the litter box over so that it is sitting directly over the toilet seat. Let your cat adjust to this for a few days. The next step in potty learning is a big one. Take away the box entirely.
Toilet training for cats is big business and many companies sell “kitty potty training” kits or a toilet training system online and at pet retailers, or you can purchase a metal mixing bowl or aluminum roasting pan for this next step. Place either container (measure the inside of the rim to make sure your bowl or pan is big enough) inside the toilet bowl and lower the seat. Fill it with a few inches of scoop-able litter. You may need to tape it in place to prevent it from sliding around.
Begin reducing the litter in the container every few days. Go as fast as your cat will feel comfortable with. Make sure to flush the waste immediately to minimize both the smell and the possibility that your cat tries to cover it up and ends up tracking unpleasantness into the rest of the house.
By now, you should be down to a teaspoonful of litter in the bottom of the container. Start adding a little bit of water to the container. Increase the water level every few days. Remember that if your kitty isn’t adjusting well, back up a step and try again more slowly.
Once the water in the bowl or pan is a couple of inches deep and your cat is comfortable with everything, take the container away, leaving the bare toilet. The task of potty training is now complete.
Cat toilet training can take a short time or long time, depending on the kitty. Don’t forget that if your cat becomes reluctant at any stage of the training, go back a step or two. Just slow down, follow these potty training tips and your patience will be rewarded. Felines adapt to toilet training quite well.
Toilet Training Your Cat in Two Quick Steps
December 31, 2008 by admin
Filed under Uncategorized
Nearly anybody who possessed an indoor cat knows how much of a chore it is, to take care of a kitty litterbox and sanitize it every day. And so many owners of indoor cats have experienced what an even greater chore it is when the cat doesn’t use the litter box! For sure there are many among us who dream of more important things and do not care to learn more about litter box cleaning. For these kitty owners, there is good news now. Yes, believe it or not, cats can be trained, to use a real toilet. When you do the toilet training with your kitty, you will teach it in the process to go ahead and use the toilet instead of the litter box. While this sounds too good to be true, moderate your imagination a little bit with the realization that you still have to flush the toilet for your kitty.
1. Relocating Your Cat’s Litter Box
Just in case that your cat’s litter box is not already in the bathroom, you have to place it there. The box should be by the toilet on the ground for some days. After a few days you will raise your litter box up several inches using something very stable to sit under it. If you have no furniture to secure the box, you can use books if they are stacked in a stable fashion. The goal is, to reach the point where the edge of the cat litter box and the toilet bowl are even. Only then you should put a sturdy aluminum pan over the toilet bowl in a way that will support your cat without wobbling as you start the toilet training. You should put less than an inch of cat litter over the bottom of the pan.
2. Get your Kitty Accustomed to the new Toilet Seat
When you have taken away the litter box and have the cat using only the pan, you are now ready to start with the last part of toilet training of your cat. You will begin the training by putting some holes in the surface of one side of the pan. Of course, you should cut back on the cat litter so that it doesn’t leave through the toilet. Plus, you should consider using flushable cat litter at this time. The holes are supposed to direct the kitty to put its front paws on the toilet seat when it needs to potty. After your cat has been doing this for some days, you can put holes on the opposite side of the pan so that the cat can stand completely on the toilet seat. The difficult part of the toilet training is that you have to take away the pan after your kitty has been doing this successfully for quite some time. If you have been successful with the cat toilet training, your kitty will from now on take the bathroom toilet!
One Last Info on Toilet Training your Cat
These two lessons could take as long as two or three months time with a stubborn, senior cat. So be patient with your little friend. Always remember water isn’t exactly what felines are naturally comfortable with. Don’t stop if your cat doesn’t use the toilet a couple of times in a row. Just keep your pan in case your feline friend is not willing or is momentarily not in the mood using this toilet. Put the pan back on the toilet seat and the cat can be re-trained to use the toilet again pretty quickly. The advantages of toilet training your cat are many.
