Toilet Training

I've recently been trying to train my cats to use the toilet. It's gone fairly well, and we're in the home stretch, but I wanted to know if anyone had any tricks or tips that they found helpful and could share?

It is quite easy but I woulsd not do it if only because it has now been documented that some cats have developed arthritic probs after yrs of the abnormal way they have to sit to go to the bathroom. YY's mom (a Blue Point) was trained to go to the toilet but after she had her kittens - and while she is a champion with mega rosettes, her "owner" opted for it to be her one and only litter - she reverted to teaching her babies to use the ltter box. The breeder decided this meant she (Precious) was not too keen on the other notion.

So, while I know it is trendy and I considered it - since it would have been so simple to do - YY has litter boxes and loves them. Precious' mom was able to teach her in about 2 weeks - she used a round pan and that is a good idea if you do go this route. Then you gradually cut thru to make the circle smaller. And use litter than can be disposed of in the tolet. I think the key re the health issue may be to teach the cat both methods so when the kitty is older, s/he does not have to squat in that unatural position.

I imagine that any cat can revert to using the litterbox, which wouldn't be a problem when they are older, but while they're young I want them to use the toilet, primarily because the money I'd have to spend on litter. Right now I'm using a roasting pan and have been progressivly cutting a larger and larger hole in it, but this morning for the first time on of the cats pooped on the spare bed. It's the first accident we've had and I can't quite figure out which of my two cats did it, but I added a little more litter and we'll see how it goes!