Toilet training update

I said I'd give an update so here we are I've been toilet training my cats, which I didn't realize are about a month younger than I thought they were (19 weeks and 14 weeks). The 19 week old, who is a very bright kitty, has the hang of it, no problem. I think he realizes that the roasting pan won't support his weight (he's a giant kitty) so I never had to teach him to put his feet on the seat. The 14 week old, less bright, is still small and lithe enough that the pan will support him. He's got 3 feet on the seat and one foot still in the roasting pan, which is now almost not there (There's about a 2 inch border left of it). The 14 week old was the one using the bathroom on the guest bed and towels and whatnot. When I removed all those, he uses the toilet fine, so I figure I'll replace them once he's really got the hang of the toilet. Even though right now I'm still using a very small amount of litter, it rarely ever gets soiled, and it is SO NICE to just flush everything away and not have to scoop! If you have a spare bathroom to train them in I really reccommend it.

You champion! I have been thinking about that for ages but have never had a spare loo to use. What a great idea!! And the kitties must love it too - no icky litter to have to go in.

Congratulations to you and your cats! Sounds like you've got the situation under control.

Alcott is a little upset that he doesn't have anything to dig in anymore, but I'm making up for it with the collection of spare boxes in the bedroom they they LOVE to play in. The digging was the worst- when the litterbox was on top of the toilet, he would dig. And dig. And dig. Then hit the bottom of the box, turn around, and dig some more. From on top of the toilet, litter bounced EVERYWHERE. Thankfully thats nearly over with!

Sigh. SO close. But London has decided this is all too scary for him and has started going on the floor. As a result Alcott has as well. SO...back to the beginning again.

*chants: I will never have to clean a box again, I will never have to clean a box again*

Sorry to hear all your training has "gone down the toilet" so to speak, but these are cats after all and not really human children you are trying to potty train.

Scooping litter is just one of the little joys of being a cat owner that we have to do for our furry companions.

I suppose, but I'm not giving up yet when they were so close! We're talking...Alcott was actually using it fine, and London was getting it just a bit slower. But when London panicked....ah. Down the toilet. I think I'll give it another few weeks before giving in to the litterbox gods. Both actually consistently use the toilet to pee in, its just pooping, so I suppose I'm halfway there? And I suppose I should be grateful that they've chosen to perform the easier-to-clean action outside the box.

Originally Posted by RinaDaventry

I think I'll give it another few weeks before giving in to the litterbox gods.

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Bon chance!

You know, I've thought about this too, and looking at the "position" that a cat takes when pooping as opposed to peeing, he doesn't really have much surface area under his feet. I wonder if some sort of a change in toilet seats might help if you could possibly find one that was broader and flatter and grippier to coin a word. I would really think they'd be afraid they'd slip, and they know it's water down there and that they will get wet. After they've been using a toilet consistently it would be old hat and they'd know perfectly well how to balance and then you could probably get away with a regular toilet seat.

Originally Posted by RoseHawke

grippier to coin a word

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Lowe's and Home Depot sell self adhesive "non slip" surfacing for stairs and other places. It's sort of like 60 grit sandpaper. Stick a few strips of that on the seat..problem solved....
Great for the cats to get a grip.....if you don't mind a severly chapped butt for yourself.

So...Rina...what's more important to ya....

Wish I had the answer for you, still admire your determination.

I actually bought a padded toilet seat for that reason. It was quite funny the first time Alcott leapt up onto the downstairs toilet, which has a regular seat, and slipped right off...The padded one seems to help though. You're right though about the surface space- its possible, but I can understand why they're a little freaked out about it.

Oo....sandpaper. Ow. Maybe I could try those shower pad flowery things though? The padded seat helps quite a bit though.

Yayyy London. I've been keeping close tabs on when he needs to go to the bathroom- they rarely go when I'm gone, and if I'm home they only head upstairs if its to go to the bathroom. I waited until he squatted to pee and put him in the bathroom and repeatedly placed him on the toilet seat till he went...then the same a little while later when he needed to poop. So at least I know he CAN do it....and knows how...its just more convinient for him not to. Lots of treats and praise ensued, maybe he'll come around without me being there...

Going well- this was so funny though I had to share. Alcott still is compelled to scratch at the toilet seat in an attempt to cover the smell (which is still there at the moment since most of the poop is falling on the roasting pan, not in the toilet itself). He recently realized that all the scratching is just a waste of time- so he's started jumping on top of the toilet and slamming the lid down instead. It cracks me up- I had to tape the lid up though because otherwise they obviously can't use it again until the lid has been righted.

This is great! Good luck with the training! So, they're shutting the lid now, how about teaching them to flush?

haha, flushing- it actually can and has been done apparently, but its difficult to teach cats to associate it only with going to the bathroom, and the result seems to be that they flush just for the hell of it. I don't think I could handle 3 AM flushing parties seeings as how the bathroom connects to my room.

He's quite frustrated about it being taped up, and is now trying to wedge his feet in to push it down. It cracks me up!

All this work will be so worth it when you don't have to scoop litter anymore!

Originally Posted by RinaDaventry

haha, flushing- it actually can and has been done apparently, but its difficult to teach cats to associate it only with going to the bathroom, and the result seems to be that they flush just for the hell of it. I don't think I could handle 3 AM flushing parties seeings as how the bathroom connects to my room.

He's quite frustrated about it being taped up, and is now trying to wedge his feet in to push it down. It cracks me up!

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Yes, our cats are FASCINATED by the toilet flushing. If they ever learned how to do it themselves, our water bill would go through the roof.

Does anyone else here have toilet trained cats?