Back Slide On Toilet Training--Help!

[morgan]

I am using the cit-kitty method of toilet training. I just removed the third to last ring and suddenly my 8 month old male Siamese, Irving, decided to stop pooping in the toilet.

He had been doing great peeing and pooping for a long time but when I removed the last ring he back-slided with the pooping. I tried to cover the hole back up with tin foil but he rejected that and tore it off. He is still peeing just fine. Right down the middle!! Can anyone help me?

 

[Anne]

I would contact the company about it and seek advice. Personally, I am not too thrilled with toilet training for cats myself. Have seen too many cases where the cats never learned to use the toilet properly, and also forgot how to use their own litterbox too...

 

[goldenkitty45]

I agree with the above, I am NOT a fan of toilet training cats. Its not a big deal to scoop litter pans. IMO what you are doing is going against nature of the cat.

You can start all over again, but I strongly advise you to stop and go back to the normal litter pan for your cat.

 

[morgan]

Anne & Goldenkitty45,
Thanks for your responses. I will check with the manufacturer and see if they have any advice. I hate to give up because he has been doing so well for months. He appears to be happy with the toilet and is fascinated by the flushing. He looks forward to me flushing. In the end, I will not force him to do something he doesn't want to. I will keep you informed.

 

[goldenkitty45]

My first cat, Mitten was partially trained for the toilet. At the time, I thought it was a neat idea. He did well at first, but when I took the middle part out and he saw the water in the bowl, he refused to ever get on the toilet again!

Mitten was terrified by water (think someone tried to drown him). I had to give him a bath with "dry" shampoo where you just wipe it one and then dry him off - never a water bath - he'd have a heart attack!

We went back to using the litter pan. Never tried the training with any of my other cats - not worth the hassle to me

 

[renovia]

i think it's almost a novelty - both for the owner and the cat. i mean if it was something everyone should do i think there would be commercials for it instead of a gag in a movie....

but to each their own - i know there are days that I wish I didn't have to clean the litter box.

I know that one false step and your kitty may completely refuse to use the toilet ever again. they don't quickly forget...

Also - i think (i read) it's bad for their posture and as they get older it hurts them to squat like that and even if for years they've been fine - they may avoid it strictly for that reason.....

 

[morgan]

Dear all that responded,
My cat has been back on the "litter kwitter" toilet seat for over 2 months now and is doing great. After a few weeks of pooping right next to the toilet on the floor he just got back on by himself. I did not force him to do it. He just did it on his own. I think he's ready for me to take the last ring off. Hooray!

 

[annierie]

I'm curious for anyone who has had success with the Litter Kwitter, if it has been a continued success or continued back and forth with success over a long period of time.

 

[shanynne]

What happens when you are away on a trip though, or out shopping? Any chance the cat can fall in the toilet? Do you have to leave the ring thingie on the toilet all the time for the cat?

What about when you have guests overs? I'm not trying to be critical, but I would feel kinda grossed out to use the loo right after my cat

Another thing to consider is that what happens if you ever have to leave your cat overnight at the vets? He will have a hard time with the litter tray for sure.

And last thing that comes to mind, what if your cat ever gets sick and is too weak to jump up onto toilet?

Anyways just some thoughts.

If ever you decide to go back to cat litter, I use Nature's Miracle. It's 100% natural, corn cob based and 100% flushable! It clumps and covers odors nicely. It's gentle on the cat's paws. Also if's safe for them if they ingest it while cleaning themselves.

Good luck to you!

 

[annierie]

Do you find an advantage to the corn cob based one over the pine? How's the odor control?

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[goldenkitty45]

My biggest concern (health wise) is the fact that if your cat is using a human toilet and he has problems with a UTI starting - you will not know it and may lose your cat when he blocks.

You cannot monitor how much or how little he is peeing in the toilet. Nor can you get a stool sample.

For these health reasons, I do NOT think its a wise thing to be teaching your cat.

We just lost our Oci, Charlie from UTI complications. And he was in the vet's office the minute he could not pee at all. Had he been toilet trained, we would have never known. Unfortuately we think (talking to other breeders) that he had an underlying problem with kidneys or liver that was triggered and reacted very quickly when he was catherized in the vet's office.

 

[jimisbell]

I think the concerns over not knowing your cat is sick are overblown since many of us have outdoor cats that never see a litter box. I have no idea where she dumps! That is until recently.

4 years ago we tried to teach "L. Gato" to use the commode using the plastic training thingy. We had the same problem that the original poster had. When we removed the last ring, she balked. But she had been so well house trained that she just held on. I thought that by not letting her out of the house she might relent and use the commode. She was as stubborn as I was and would not use the commode, even after holding on for 36 hours. I finally relented out of pity for her and let her out and she went out and dumped. I was amazed at her ability to hold it all in for 36 hours and was equally amazed at her ability to remember her training and not dump in the house. But her early training also was to use the bathtub drain as an emergency dumping place. She only used it probably 5 times in the 5 years she has been with us, when she was sick or got locked in accidentally.

But that was four years ago and I never tried to train her again to use the commode since she was happy to hold on until I let her out.

BUT now, at the age of 6 years, she has suddenly and without explanation forgotten her training. But, she has remembered the bathroom where I tried to train her to use the commode! ! ! The floor of the bathroom! ! ! !

L.Gato is an indoor/outdoor cat. She would rather be an indoor cat, but for all her life she has gone out an 10PM and been invited back in at 8AM. She has access to the garage through a kitty door if she wants it, but South Texas rarely gets really cold and if the temp will be below 40F at night (probably 4 or 5 times a year) she gets to stay in and sleep with us. She stays in all day and has NEVER until recently dumped in the house. She is a very loving cat and is with me all day when I am there, sitting beside me or in my lap when she can. Suddenly, without any warning, she has started heading for the bathroom to dump ON THE FLOOR.

This behavior is very deliberate and it is obvious that she knows what she is doing is wrong. She holds it in until we let her in and then heads straight for the bathroom to dump even though she has been outdoors for a couple of hours and could have relieved herself outside. Then she goes and hides so we cant get her to put her back out. If we don't see her go to the bathroom she will come galloping down the hallway making a noise like a horse, as if to say, "Hey you missed it, I crapped in the bathroom" Cats are normally quiet when they move so I know this loud galloping is deliberate to tell me what she has done. Also I know she is feeling guilty because if I have missed the event and have picked her up and am petting her as I walk around the house, as I get near the event location, she will start getting uneasy and wanting to get down and away from me. All this behavior points to her being very aware of what she is doing, that is is bad, and that there will be consequences.

I have tried putting her out every 2 hours during the day to try to give her lots of chances to relieve herself outdoors. But it hasnt worked. She seems determined to come in to dump in the bathroom on the floor.

I would appreciate any comments on what has happened to make her do that and how I might get her back in her old behavior patterns that she was so comfortable in for 5 years.

If I cant change her, I will have to get rid of her, though I love her very much. I will not have a litter box in the house, period. There will be those that say it is possible to have an odor free litter box in the house and to that I say "BS." Its like those that are alcoholics denying their addiction or those that say artificial sweeteners dont have an after taste. They are in denial. I have friends that claim their cats litter box doesnt stink and I have been to their houses and know better. People that live with litter boxes become immune to the smell and their friends wont tell them that they are wrong...just as I dont tell my friends that they are wrong... I dont want to become a person in denial as they have.

 

[sweetkara]

Originally Posted by JimIsbell

If I cant change her, I will have to get rid of her, though I love her very much. I will not have a litter box in the house, period.

Yeah, you sound like you love her a lot....

You probably should get rid of her since you are so against litter boxes.

Having a cat = Having a litterbox

If you are going to have a pet you have to deal with cleaning up their crap!

 

[jimisbell]

I am 73 years old and have had cats all my life and NEVER had a litter box. If you think they go together you just havent had a well trained cat...OR...you just dont mind having an open sewer in your house.

 

[goldenkitty45]

Sorry Jim, but I highly disagree with you re litter boxes. There are people that do not keep them clean and I've been in houses with STUD cats who you would not even know they were in there - the litter boxes were CLEAN and if you've ever had a stud you would know that tom cat urine is almost impossible to deal with.

It CAN be done. We are now using the wood stove pellets for litter and unless the cat has just gone (which is cleaned out right away if we are there), you can't really tell. And also it depends a lot on the type of food you are feeding - cheaper foods will produce a more smelly litter pan!

 

[jimisbell]

I assume that you have a litter box in your house? I submit that you are used to the smell. I dont know how many times I have heard the same thing as you are saying and have been invited to that that persons house (and you know they are keeping the box clean if they are inviting you to check it out) only to find that their noses just are not as sensitive as mine and I draw the conclusion that it is just that they are familiar with the smell and dont smell it anymore. I do.

I have had people tell me that "Splenda" artificial sweetener "doesnt have an after taste". They also are wrong. In a double blind test I can prove that it does...to me.

When I was a kid I used to mow lawns for several "little old ladies" in the neighborhood and I noticed the odor of their houses and I can still remember it. At that time I thought that was what old people smelled like. Now I am old and I realize that we dont smell different than young people, its just that older people are more likely to have cats!

 

[goldenkitty45]

Whatever - my cats are 100% indoor cats and there is NO need for them to be going outside to pee/poop. When your cat is having a medical problem like UTI or other, then you have NO way of knowing your cat is sick.

 

[kro]

Originally Posted by JimIsbell

When I was a kid I used to mow lawns for several "little old ladies" in the neighborhood and I noticed the odor of their houses and I can still remember it. At that time I thought that was what old people smelled like. Now I am old and I realize that we dont smell different than young people, its just that older people are more likely to have cats!

JimIsBell- you say that people with litter boxes become immune to the smell of the litter box. I would just like to point out that, through your logic, you probably do smell like an old person- you're just used to it by now.

 

[shanynne]

Originally Posted by AnnieRie

Do you find an advantage to the corn cob based one over the pine? How's the odor control?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Well I've never tried the Feline Pine type of cat litter. From what I understand it does cover up urine odors very well, but does nothing to cover up the poops.

With Nature's Miracle the cat can dig around and then cover up it's poops. I use a 10 lb bag to fill the litter box, so that gives my cats plenty of room to dig around. It has a pine scent that is not too overwhelming. I also use it for an entire month before completely changing out the entire litter box.

It clumps well. I shake the box from side to side, etc. to loosen the clumps, so I don't break them apart when scooping.

I never smell urine with this cat litter. When Samson has given a "gift" (poop)

I can smell it a little, but it is certainly not overwhelming.

I really like it as well because it is 100% natural and flushable!

 

[sweetkara]

Originally Posted by JimIsbell

I am 73 years old and have had cats all my life and NEVER had a litter box. .

Well how's that working for you?? Obviously not so well... lol