Kathrynn Kelley asked: Everyone’s heard of
cats out there using a
toilet rather than a
litter box. Most of us probably just think that those
cats must be specially trained in the same manner you would
train a circus elephant or an animal that’s used on a movie set, i.e. it is way over our heads. The fact of the matter is that these
cats have simply been trained by their owners using consistent
training methods. Anyone can do it.
The first thing that you need to do is get your cat used to using a homemade cardboard
litter box (rather than the plastic variety most use), when they are still a
kitten. If your cat is older, all you have to do is put a piece of cardboard to the bottom of their
litter pan to begin the
training.
Because the later steps of
training require there to be
litter very near to the
toilet bowl, you will have to begin using shredded newspaper, rather than regular
kitty litter (which cannot be flushed). Next, start slowly moving the
litter box towards the bathroom. Be consistent, but patient and slow. If your cat gets confused, they may stop following the
litter box and return to where the box used to be to eliminate.
As you are moving the box towards the bathroom, start gradually trimming down its sides. Once you get to the bathroom, start gradually moving the box towards the
toilet.
Eventually you can place the box on the
toilet. Once you do that, cut each corner of the box a bit so that you can use a bit of twine or string to tie the box down to the
toilet and immobilize it. Once the box is on top of the
toilet, let your cat eliminate in it just
like that for one or two weeks. You don’t want to rush things here.
Next, cut a two- to three-inch hole in the bottom of the box. As a cat’s instinct tells them to cover up their waste, your cat will soon begin to push their waste and some of the shredded newspaper into the hole.
In case your cat needs to go when you are cleaning the bathroom, you may find it advantageous to have on hand a flat piece of cardboard with a small hole cut in it. If they need to go and their box is unavailable, all you have to do stabilize place this flat piece under the seat and let them go.
Once they’ve gone in the
toilet, cut down the sides of their
litter box until there is nothing left but the bottom section of the box. As was mentioned before, you can place this flat piece under the
toilet seat to keep it in place, but you still want to leave a little bit of the shredded newspaper so that your cat doesn’t get confused.
Pretty soon you can eliminate the cardboard altogether and they’ll just be going in the
toilet! The entire
toilet-
training process will probably take about three or four weeks for most
cats, though some have learned even faster.
You know your cat better than anybody, so just be patient and let them go at their own pace. You don’t want to disrupt the
training by pushing the issue and making them uncomfortable. With some patience and a bit of animal know-how, anyone can use this method to
train their cat to use the
toilet.
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