toilet train my cat

It’s been quite a few months with the CitiKitty and the last time Meow had an accident was so long ago I can’t even remember- so I encourage you all to keep being patient! I’ve left about 2inches of the last ring on so that I have a place to put the litter- I fear that Meow may stop going if I take away the litter- right now I’m looking for a wide enough toilet seat to replace the one we currently have. Two reasons- Meow straddles his legs over the hole instead of squatting neatly like I see most cats do, and secondly, he likes to dip his paw into the water before he goes- that’s gross!- so hopefully with a smaller hole he will be less likely to stick a paw in. Is there some sort of child toilet seat that’s available?

Well, despite our perpetual stream of visitors this summer, with whom Meow had to share his bathroom, we’ve made it through another ring. I can see the end now, though I am a little jealous of a friend of mine whose cats (using another system), after 2 months is just as far along as mine (after 9 months!) Meow has also begun showing lots of interest in the other toilets in the house- I would be thrilled if he ever went in any of those. For now I think we are still on track to finish by the New Year. Keep up the good work everyone!

It took us a lot less time to get through the second ring than it did for us to poke through the first one, and now we’re onto ring #3. Cross your fingers, because this is where I figure the hole will be too big for Meow to straddle his back legs across. Also, since I’ve changed his diet to an indoor cat formula, he’s been extremely regular, making it very easy to reward him for successful #2’s. The hole is also big enough now for him to stick his head through- he always comes out with litter-powder all over his forehead- looks funny- I hope seeing water so close won’t freak him out. All in all, very hopeful!

Meow has been very good these past few weeks, the only accident a result of his fear of my in-laws (I don’t know why- he’s never met them before). Despite having to share the guest bathroom with the in-laws, Meow kept using the CK (only when we were out or asleep.) Anyway, now that the in-laws have left I think Meow feels more comfortable than ever on the CK- he goes #2 every day instead of holding it for every other day and his #1 ends up more in the hole than on the litter. Fear is all relative, I guess…

So far so good since our last accident. I’ve even enlarged ring 2 a little more. My plan is to keep enlarging the hole, while removing newspaper from his accident spot and moving food a little further from the toilet until he has an accident, in which case I’ll move the food closer and add newspaper again- I figure this way the bathroom won’t be full of newspaper and the food won’t be beside the toilet by the time Meow is trained…

I’ve been cutting into ring #2 and everything was fine for about a week and then the last two days Meow pooped on the bathroom floor despite the newspaper and the food there. Sigh… However, I do take consolation in that he has chosen 2 different spots in the bathroom to go- which I take as him not developing an actual habit of going on the same spot. So… I’ve added an extra piece of newspaper and moved the food bowl a few inches closer towards the toilet. He knows he’s not supposed to go on the floor (he will always hide after he’s had an accident) but he just can’t help himself when he’s not comfortable on the CK- the big Q for all of us, I think, is how to make our kitties feel safe on the CK.

Meow has defintely stepped up- the hole is getting larger, I’m starting to take the newspaper away a little at a time, still feeding Meow in the bathroom, and I think he has stopped holding #2 in (although he still prefers to go when we are sleeping or out). From all our troubles thus far, you probably think we are further along than we actually are- still on the first hole- but now I think we are almost ready to cut into ring #2. Any suggestions as to how to go about cutting ring #2 without making big changes? Is it better to keep the oval shape and just keep cutting long slices or cut in chunks? Keeping the oval shape seems like a good idea at first but that would waste a lot of litter into the bowl, but cutting in chunks would give the hole an odd shape. Any ideas greatly appreciated.

It’s been a week with our new setup of feeding Meow in the bathroom and covering his fav. accident spot with newspaper and so far all #2’s have landed in the right place. We even took an overnight trip and when we got back there was #1 and #2 on the CK. I’ve enlarged the hole slightly again and no problems so far. The only thing is that Meow will jump off the CK immediately after going and run away if he hears me coming, so it makes it very difficult to treat him for #2. (Probably because once I caught him going on the floor and yelled “no!”- hopefully he didn’t think that going poop was actually a bad thing…. come to think of it, that’s probably exactly what he thought!) Suggestions? Is it better just to leave him alone?

Meow has been pooping on the bathroom floor for the past week and we were about to give up altogether. Yesterday I placed newspapers over his regular accident spots (he doesn’t like stepping on newspaper) and started feeding him in the bathroom as well. This morning when I awoke to that unmistakeable #2 smell I thought for sure he picked a new spot on the floor, in the tub, or worse, outside the bathroom, but was pleasantly surprised to see a huge pile in the CK!...So thrilled and hope that this setup will keep working. Cross your fingers!

It’s been 4 months and still at 1/4 of the first hole. This past week I think Meow has begun to hold #2 in, and of the past 4 times he has gone, 3 have been on the bathroom floor. What I’d like to know, from those of you who have gotten further than I have with this endeavor (that would be everyone, I assume!), is whether your cat had a harder time adjusting at the beginning or at the end of the training process….because if it just keeps getting more difficult then I may as well quit now and save everyone a lot of trouble. Has anyone else had this much trouble at the beginning?