Any toilet-trained cats?

Hi all,

I've heard of some potty-trained cats who use the toilet.

I am moving to a new apartment soon which has a larger bathroom. So I am tempted to try to train my cats to use the toilet.

http://citikitty.com/

Some one on here had a big thread on doing that with her cats. She was successful (not sure if they STILL are using the toilet), but it takes many weeks and I would say its a 50/50 chance.

I can't see the cat doing that its entire life, and I have some reservations (like if you have to board your cats), but you are welcome to try. I tried with my first cat - he was only partially successful. He had a very strong fear of water and was fine tlil the inner lining was taken away and he saw the water - he refused to use it any more.

Never attempted it with any other cat. I have no problem with litter pan and scooping.

I think that if successful, it'd be a great idea. You probably couldn't do this with kittens, though...right?

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I tried with my first cat - he was only partially successful. He had a very strong fear of water and was fine tlil the inner lining was taken away and he saw the water - he refused to use it any more.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply GoldenKitty. What happened when your cat refused to use the toilet? Did he poop on the ground or did you still have the litter box out for him?

It's so tempting to try but I don't have much money to spare so I don't want to waste my money if it's not going to work

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...oilet+training

here's a link to one cat-owner's experience training 3 kittens. I read all the way though it, it was really interesting. I'm definitely going to try this!!

It's so tempting to try but I don't have much money to spare so I don't want to waste my money if it's not going to work

Click to expand...

On this link, they talk about several methods, and some seem quite inexpensive. I've seen the 80$ kits and thought that its just ridiculous, but there are kits for $12, and some people fashion their own toilet inserts out of foil roasting pans for only a couple dolllars.

I wonder how early you can start it. The kittens obviously have to be able to get to the toilet...

He just refused to jump up on the toilet any more - so he went back to using the litter pan.

I had originally thought about doing this BUT I read about the adverse side effects from it as they age - arthritis etc. So I decided that I would have my precious babies poop and pee the way nature intended them - and I'm ok with that.

Many years ago when my kids were little, we had a cat named Peaches. One Sunday morning I had gone out to get the newspaper, and was back in bed reading it when I heard tinkling coming from the adjacent bathroom. I was wondering which kid came into my bedroom without me seeing or hearing him and was using my toilet. I leaned forward to get a good look, and amazingly it was Peaches squatting on the throne! We didn't teach her, but she must have learned this from observation of the humans in the house.

So one day my elderly mother was visiting and she goes in to use the bathroom. Suddenly I hear a scream, and I rush in to see what the problem was. Mom was standing in the middle of the bathroom with her pants down around her ankles laughing hysterically! Seems she was in the process of sitting on the toilet when she felt something furry on her bare butt. Peaches got there first!

Peaches sounds like a very intelligent (and funny) cat.

My vet told me not to toilet train Gizmo since it was a very stressful thing for a cat to do.
In addition, they can't cover their waste. Gizmo is meticulous about this so it's better to just scoop the box. I have no problem doing this.

It also makes it possible to board the cat or have her visit someone else.

The odd thing about Peaches is that she only peed in the toilet. She still used litter to poop. It was funny to watch her!

I had the thought about 18 yr ago to toliet a cat .. GLAD I DIDNT ... see you cant catch tell tale illness sign like UTI small trickles or masive increase in output...

My bf tried to toilet train my two kittens at 6 months but we gave up after a series of issues. Initially they were okay peeing but with poop, they just did it once. We bought this kitty toilet training seat that opens up the hole slowly. We got as far as taking the first hole but after a day of not going #2, and one of them made an accident on a blanket in the living room, we gave up.

As soon as I took out their litter box, they went immediately. I was pretty upset at my bf because I was never behind this toilet training idea cause it's just not natural. Not to mention, I saw a little blood in their stool when they went in their litter box. I know my poor babies were stressing but luckily, no more blood the next day.

I tried it. Got to the second opening...and Remy just wanted to reach through and play in the water...strange cat. I took it out...got out the trusty litter box and that was that.
For some strange reason they are both fascinated with water. They both have jumped into the bath tub while i was bathing. I have to keep all lids down.
they love it if i take their cat it apart and just let the water squirt UP...the will play with that for a while.

Originally Posted by Ashley45

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...oilet+training

here's a link to one cat-owner's experience training 3 kittens. I read all the way though it, it was really interesting. I'm definitely going to try this!!



On this link, they talk about several methods, and some seem quite inexpensive. I've seen the 80$ kits and thought that its just ridiculous, but there are kits for $12, and some people fashion their own toilet inserts out of foil roasting pans for only a couple dolllars.

I wonder how early you can start it. The kittens obviously have to be able to get to the toilet...

Click to expand...

I just read her "diary" that she kept while toilet-training her cats. wow, I was hooked and I read it all the way through also. But she kind of just disappeared, I'm curious to know what the current status is on her cats' toilet behavior.

It's no doubt a LONG commitment that requires a gigantic amount of patience, time and dedication. I think my cats are capable of it because they are still young and don't have a hard time adjusting to new surroundings. However, I don't have the patience and time to be constantly monitoring them.

Ashely45, if you decide to start on this, please let me know your progress, I would love to hear about it.

As for me, I'm still pondering it. But for now, I'm going to be moving their litter box into the restroom and switching them to flushable litter.

That would be interesting to see if indeed the cats are still using the toilet or did they go back to the pan....something tells me that they are not using it 100%

Ashely45, if you decide to start on this, please let me know your progress, I would love to hear about it.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've made up my mind to do it....I just need to get a cat first! ha ha. it'll be a month or two... But I'm not sure if I can start it with a really young kitten. Some of the literature I've read on it says to wait until 6 months, and other stuff says to start at anytime. I'm thinking about getting one of those kits and just using it as a litter box on the toilet for a while, then start taking out the rings. Or I'll buy a regular box and just place it on the toilet from the get-go. But can young kittens jump that high? I might make some steps or something...

Depends on the kitten - Charlie's now 4 1/2 months old, but when we got him at 4 months - he was a bit hesitant to do some jumping between chair/treehouse.

I would test and see if you can intice the kitten to jump from the floor to the closed toilet seat with some string or something first. If the kitten can't do a clean jump without sliding back, then he/she won't be able to jump up to use the toilet..........other then to slide in and get wet and then you won't have him ANYWHERE near the toilet again!

Well, all my lot are fascinated by the toilet - they will happily sit on the cistern so we can flush and watch the water go down................and flush, and watch the water go down again............and flush......you get the idea!! They also love to barge into the bathroom whilst I am in there and shout at me if I dare to shut them out.

However, as far as using the toilet like this, I am pretty sure they wouldn't play along!!! We are lucky - we have lots of open spaces nearby, so they are outdoor boys, and we don't have to deal with waste. I can imagine it would be a great money saver though, if you could persuade them!

It all just sounds like far too much trouble to me. Scooping a litter box twice a day seems much easier! I'd be a bit concerned about them still being happy to use a litter tray if they were in a different environment too. And I have to say coming home from work to a loo full of unflushed cat pee and poop doesn't appeal (and would they even use it if it already had pee or poop in it?). Unless you teach them to flush also and I can see the potential for disaster there (great night time game!). But good luck to you if you decide to try it.

I agree with you Urban - why do people think its too much trouble to have a litter pan and scoop once or twice a day?

Sometimes I wonder why the person really wants to make their cat do something unnatural. Kittens are taught from tiny babies what a litter pan is for