Author Topic: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?  (Read 11267 times)

Wolf_Stache

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Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« on: June 26, 2014, 03:04:52 PM »
I found a instructions online for how to toilet train your cats, without buying a kit from the store but by making your own training kit using wax paper. Has anyone sucessfully trained their cat this way?

I took the first three steps:
1)moved the litter box from the hall outside the bathroom to inside the bathroom right next to the toilet

2)raised the box on risers to toilet height.

3)decrease the amount of litter in the box

Yet to do:
4)move the litter box to sit on top the toilet (how do you keep from sliding off?)

5)take away litter box, open toilet, and put on your wax paper plug w a little bit of flushable litter

6)Cut a hole in the center of the wax paper, slowly expand over time

7)Remove the wax paper

MicroRN

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2014, 03:14:47 PM »
I haven't, but a friend did quite successfully.  It took about 3 weeks start to finish  Word of warning though - he taught his cat to flush the toilet too, and that was a big mistake.  Kitty apparently started flushing the toilet over and over for amusement while he was gone all day, and his water bill was through the roof. 

By the way, he used a cheap plastic colander instead of the waxed paper, and slowly cut a bigger hole in the middle of it. 

nuprinmmm

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2014, 03:15:54 PM »
http://www.amazon.com/CitiKitty-Cat-Toilet-Training-Kit/dp/B000F1OS20

we tried this and got the cat to urinate put could never get the poop to work.
we theorized he didn't like the splash from the poop hitting the water

http://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Training-System-Litter-Kwitter/dp/B0014N70QO/ref=pd_sbs_petsupplies_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KXS9197C4Q2D4J8XFJV

this system might be better because you can "go backwards" if your kitty doesn't like what he had, you can make the hole smaller unlike the first one when you cut a hole in the cover, it's gone forever

Wolf_Stache

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2014, 03:54:34 PM »
I haven't, but a friend did quite successfully.  It took about 3 weeks start to finish  Word of warning though - he taught his cat to flush the toilet too, and that was a big mistake.  Kitty apparently started flushing the toilet over and over for amusement while he was gone all day, and his water bill was through the roof. 

Yeah, the instructions I found said NOT to teach them to flush for just this reason. ROFL. I can totally my kitties doing that, too. Anyway, I'll just be happy eliminating the litter box & cat litter!

By the way, he used a cheap plastic colander instead of the waxed paper, and slowly cut a bigger hole in the middle of it.

Oh, I like that idea about colander.


GGNoob

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2014, 04:19:17 PM »
A lady I worked with did this. She also said her cat was scared of the splash when it pooped, but was able to get it to poop by giving it a treat afterwards. So now when she comes home, if the cat is begging for a treat, she knows it pooped!

My wife and I have considered it for our 2 cats. I would love to get rid of the litter box and the mess. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure only one of our cats would be smart enough to be able to get it into the toilet. The other one pees onto the back of the little box instead of into the litter, so I have a feeling she would just completely miss the toilet.

We do have the litter boxes hidden in our small walk-in closet. Since we have 2 in our bedroom, figured we could give one to the cats. We cut a hole out and installed a cat door. This at least works to keep the mess in one little area. Our cats are also scared of everybody so they like to hide in our bedroom when we have guests, so we needed the little box in our room.

Mrs. PoP

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2014, 05:10:08 PM »
We wanted to, but Kitty PoP has a bad habit of dunking his stuffed toys in the toilet and carrying them around the house/dropping the sopping wet toys on me in the middle of the night if we leave the seat up.  So I think it's a no-go for him. 

My MIL tried with her cat.  The cat slipped off the raised "box" when taking a poo and it freaked him out enough he didn't poop for over a day.  Then when he did, he went on her pillow.  When the bed was stripped, he went again on her mattress.  Twice.  She hasn't yet tried again.

arebelspy

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2014, 06:27:33 PM »
We tried, and failed.  One of the cats started taking to it okay, but the other is a HUGE cat and didn't feel comfortable up on the toilet.
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Wolf_Stache

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2014, 10:01:42 PM »
We tried, and failed.  One of the cats started taking to it okay, but the other is a HUGE cat and didn't feel comfortable up on the toilet.

I will keep this in mind, as one of my cats is quite big.

We do have the litter boxes hidden in our small walk-in closet. Since we have 2 in our bedroom, figured we could give one to the cats. We cut a hole out and installed a cat door. This at least works to keep the mess in one little area. Our cats are also scared of everybody so they like to hide in our bedroom when we have guests, so we needed the little box in our room.

My place is a tiny little studio, with no good place to put the litter box, which is why I started researching this. 

I'm going to try it. I'll update this thread as I progress.

dodojojo

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2014, 08:25:51 AM »
I considered toilet training my cats but decided against it for a couple of reasons.  If the cat has health issues--being able to examine their poop can be helpful.  You also want to know how often they pee.  Burial after doing their business is natural for cats and they can't do that with a toilet. I have heard some cats go through with the motion anyway. Standing on the toilet seat may alter their natural stances for #1 and #2 and this may lead to health issues.  I don't think all of the above are critical and necessarily result in problems.  There are obviously happy and healthy cats trained to use toilets.  But after taking them into consideration, I decided to err on safety and stick with litter boxes.

The litter tracking is very annoying.  And it's not very mustachian but I would love to have more space and have a dedicated space for the boxes.  Alas I'm in a small apartment with one large box under the bathroom sink and another in my bedroom.

begood

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2014, 08:33:36 AM »
We had a cat who taught herself to pee on the toilet. She perched 18-lb self on all four paws along the side of the toilet, lifted her tail, and whzzzz. Scared the bejeezus out of my dad and me, who heard it and wondered who the hell had come in the house and was peeing in the toilet!

She would never poop there, though - maybe the splashing thing?

Guses

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2014, 08:40:54 AM »
I read that potty training a cat screws with the cat's natural instinct and actually raises the chance for behavioural and physiological problems, especially if other cats are in the household.

We have three cats and one of them is missbehaving (marking in the house) and we are trying to see what it could be related to. I read the above in a book related to cat behaviour, but I don't have personal experience with this.

If I hadn't read the above, I would definitely try it though.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2014, 08:43:30 AM by Guses »

skunkfunk

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #11 on: June 27, 2014, 08:54:24 AM »
Known 2 people who failed to do so.

Myself, I've apparently trained my cat to poop on the floor beside the litter boxes quite successfully. I've also trained her not to cover her urine.

begood

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2014, 09:04:49 AM »
Not quite on topic, but...

We had an old-man cat and adopted a 4-year-old rescue. Old Man *hated* the new addition and avoided her as much as felinely possible.

As his health deteriorated, he stopped covering in the litter box. The little rescue kitty would wait until he finished business and had left the room, and then she would go in and cover for him. I don't know what instinct drove her to do that, but I thought it was very sweet.

starbuck

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2014, 09:22:32 AM »
I considered toilet training my cats but decided against it for a couple of reasons.  If the cat has health issues--being able to examine their poop can be helpful.  You also want to know how often they pee. 

This was also my reason for not doing it. Knowing how often and how much they're going to the bathroom is really helpful in diagnosing potential health issues. It's usually one of the first signs of something going wrong.

What about a covered litter box made out of a plastic storage container? You can cut a cat-sized hole in the side for entry and exit. That way you could store stuff on top of it too if you're short on space. And it wouldn't scream "Hey everyone, the cat poops right here in your face!"

JD2001svt

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2014, 02:58:00 PM »
I have. I purchased a product called litter quitter, but you can easily rig up your own device to train them.  He's been trained for almost two years now and it has saved me hundreds in litter.... my girlfriend tried with her cat and he never quite picked up on it.  Best 20 bucks I ever spent. Something else I'll mention to cat owners.... feed your cats wet food, expecially if they are male since they are much more prone to urethral obstructions.  My girlfriend started feeding her male cat a 50% dry diet and he developed a urinary obstruction within a month.  The vet bill has already exceeded 500.00, and that's on the LOW side compared to what many pay for this event.  A little extra on food can potentially save tons on vet bills down the line.

JD2001svt

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #15 on: June 27, 2014, 03:02:38 PM »
Also, as far as not knowing how often they are going to the bathroom, I have never had that problem with mine.  It's very easy to see the color of his urine due to it not being clumbed up in a litter box and everything else is super easy to do a quick inspection as well. I feed him when i am home and he typically pees right after so I can tell how MUCH he is going.  This has been a non issue.  Mine still does a digging motion before and after on the toilet seat, though.  I've read this is instinctual as well as a way to stimulate their bowels before eliminating.   

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #16 on: June 27, 2014, 07:14:03 PM »
Aah, kitty crunchies

I would be very interested to hear how this goes. We have a stray that adopted us who is...okay about using his litter box but prefers to be let outside to do his business. And since I have a dog who will not stay out of litter box to find "treats" I would love to not have any

late2theparty

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #17 on: June 29, 2014, 09:51:33 PM »
We were successful with out kitty. I uses the citikitty toilet adapter thingy and it was super helpful. The toilet seat did seem a bit slippery at times for our cat. He was also very vocal while up there so I was concerned at times he didn't like it. A year later we moved across county and stayed with my sister and her cat at which point my kitty began using his roommates litter box. I didn't try to switch him back after we moved out so I'm not sure how long he would have kept the habit. No attempts at flushing for us thou!

Wolf_Stache

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2014, 01:18:54 PM »
Thanks for all the tips. I have two cats, one is 11 y/o male (about 10 pounds) and one is 6 y/o male (about 20 pounds). I've handled the litter box before by putting it in the second bedroom or an unused closet, but this tiny studio I don't have anywhere I can stash it out of the way. I'm also getting really sick of the litter tracked everywhere - with an added problem I've discovered at my new apartment, where I am on foot, and there is no where even remotely close to purchase cat litter. Closest I've found is a min of two buses away and having to cart the litter three blocks up a very steep hill.

I tried step 2, putting the box on the toilet, but as I was afraid, my big 6 y/o jumped in and it slid off onto the floor. So it is back next to the toilet while I figure out how to fix it so it willnot fly away.

dodojojo

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #19 on: June 30, 2014, 01:26:21 PM »
Good luck, but it may be a really tricky process to retrain the 11 year old.  As she or he gets older, it may be difficult to climb up to the toilet and balance to do the business too.

kyanamerinas

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #20 on: June 30, 2014, 01:29:16 PM »
we've always had males and they prefer going outside so we have a cat flap and no litter box.

starbuck

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #21 on: June 30, 2014, 02:16:59 PM »
with an added problem I've discovered at my new apartment, where I am on foot, and there is no where even remotely close to purchase cat litter. Closest I've found is a min of two buses away and having to cart the litter three blocks up a very steep hill.

Amazon sells cat litter if that's a feasible solution for you. I buy pet food online, usually enough to qualify for free shipping. Much simpler. If storing too much litter is not an option in your studio, then I'd probably buy one bag, and find some other household things that need replenishing to hit the $35 minimum. Or spring for Amazon Prime and and cancel netflix!

Manguy888

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Re: Toilet Train Your Cats? Has anyone sucessfully done this?
« Reply #22 on: July 02, 2014, 12:48:51 PM »
We did this successfully for one cat (3 years old) using the Citikitty insert. I think we got it for 20$, and it was money well spent.

Our only mods from their instructions were that we went a bit slower, taking about a month and a half for full training. We also had to get rid of our larger potted plants since he started treating them like litter boxes. Once the pots were gone, he started peeing and pooping in the toilet.

but other than that, it has been amazing and worth all the work (the bathroom becomes messy for a while, with kitty litter on the floor from the car scratching around.). Keep treats in the bathroom to quickly give him positive reinforcement when he goes.

Good luck!

 

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