Cat toilet training – pros, cons & how to

Cat toilet training in easy steps:

Toilet training your cat is an easier task than you might think.
Several techniques can be used for training your cat to use the
toilet, and you can even buy products that will assist you in
toilet training a cat.

The advantages of cat toilet training: Teaching your cat
to use the toilet can hold several advantages for any cat owner.
The biggest advantage of having your cat use a toilet is that
eliminates most of the disadvantages that using cat litter
holds. Cat litter is expensive. After toilet training your cat,
you won’t ever need to buy cat litter again. Cat litter boxes
needs to be cleaned regularly or they will become smelly. With
cat toilet training, the water in the toilet masks most of the
offending smell and all you need to do is flush regularly – much
simpler and easier than cleaning a litter box. Going away for
weekends or holidays also becomes easier for your neighbor -
instead of asking someone to clean out the litter box, all they
need to do is flush your toilet once in a while (when they come
around to water your plants and feed your cat).

How to toilet train a cat (do it yourself): Toilet
training your cat depends entirely on the cat’s personality.
Toilet training sociable cats that love being praised make the
training task much easier. You might want to adapt the toilet
training technique described below to fit your cat’s
personality. Training your cat to use the toilet can take
anything between 2 weeks up to 3 months, depending on the
individual cat’s personality.

Cat toilet training basically consists of a simple procedure:
gradually moving your cat’s litter box closer and closer to the
toilet, finally placing a bowl with cat litter inside the
toilet, and removing it altogether when your cat is comfortable
and used to it. Toilet training a cat is a gradual, step-by-step
process, consisting of making small changes to the location of
the litter box and only continuing to the next step when your
cat is entirely comfortable with its current situation. You
might have to wait anything between 2 days or 3 weeks before
moving on a next step in cat toilet training. You might even
have to go back a step once or twice when it turns out that your
cat wasn’t ready to move on to the next toilet training step.
Beware – cat toilet training takes a lot of patience!

Cat toilet training steps:

1. Start gradually moving your cat’s litter box nearer to the
toilet until finally it should be next to the toilet. Ensure
that your cat is always comfortable and sure of its litter box’s
location.

2. Now start elevating the cat’s litter box. Put something
non-slippery like newspapers or cardboard underneath the litter
box. A normal rate to increase the height of the litter box
would be about 5cm a day, but be very attentive to signs that
your cat is not comfortable with the current height, and adjust
the pace of raising the litter box accordingly. The cat litter
box should be raised until it is at a level height with the
toilet bowl. Throughout this process it is very important to
keep the toilet lid open and the seat down, because your cat
will get used to it and might even start climbing on the toilet
seat in order to reach its litter box.

3. Move the litter box to rest on the open toilet seat. Keep it
there until your cat seems comfortable with this arrangement.

4. Buy a metal bowl or tray that will fit snugly inside the
toilet bowl. It would be advisable for the metal bowl to have
small draining holes. Fill the bowl with cat litter (preferably
the flushable type). Now remove your cat’s litter box entirely.
If you have reached this step successfully you are very close to
having a toilet trained cat!

5. While your cat is using the metal bowl inside the toilet, be
attentive to where its paws are. The goal is teaching him to
squat with all four paws on the toilet seat rim. You can move
the cat while it is using the toilet and praise it (or reward
it) when it is sitting in the correct position. Normally the cat
will first sit entirely inside the metal bowl, then with front
paws on the toilet seat, and finally it should sit with all four
paws on the toilet.

6. Start using less and less cat litter. This can get smelly, so
be sure to clean the bowl after every time your cat uses it.
Cats scratch in sand or cat litter to cover up the smell (this
is out of instinct), so if the bowl becomes too smelly your cat
won’t be comfortable using it (and you probably wouldn’t be
comfortable with using your toilet either). Using flushable cat
litter makes cleaning the bowl very easy – just throw out the
contents in the toilet and flush down, rinse out the bowl,
refill with correct amount of cat litter and replace. A handy
tip is to place newspaper on the floor around the toilet to help
keep the room clean should your cat scratch in the cat litter.
Decrease the amount of cat litter in a pace that your cat feels
comfortable with.

7. When you basically don’t use any cat litter inside the bowl
anymore, start gradually filling the bowl with water. The water
will also help mask the smell so your cat will be more
comfortable using the toilet. Be attentive to your cat’s
behavior through this whole process – if your cat stops using
the bowl inside the toilet, you may be moving on too fast and
might need to go back a couple of steps.

8. When the water level in the bowl has reached about 4cm and
your cat has no problem using it, it is time to remove the bowl
entirely. Your cat should now be toilet trained. Remember to
always leave the toilet seat up and flush regularly!

Products to assist you in toilet training your cat: There
are several cat toilet training kits available on the market.
They basically consist of a tray that fits inside the toilet,
and with a hole in the middle that you can gradually make
bigger. When choosing a cat toilet training kit, ensure that you
buy quality. The cat training kit should not be flimsy and
should be able to support your cat’s weight even when the hole
becomes large. Be aware of cheap, flimsy products you buy at toy
stores or pet stores, because if your cat falls in, it might
loose interest in toilet training completely.

The disadvantages in toilet training your cat: Not
everyone agrees that cat toilet training is such a great idea.
They argue that it is unnatural for a cat to use a toilet, as it
goes against their natural instincts to cover up their smell.
Toilet seats can also be slippery and there might be the risk of
your cat injuring itself. Even if your cat doesn’t fall in at
all, he may become anxious whenever he uses the toilet and going
to the toilet can become an unpleasant task.

A litter box also has the health benefit in that you can easier
monitor your cat’s urine for signs of infections or sickness.

Moving locations will also be harder for the cat, because a
litter box can be moved easily but the cat will first need to
get used to using the new toilet. With some cats this is no
problem and they can become comfortable with the new toilet very
fast, while other cats might be less adaptable.

Things to remember when toilet training a cat: The most
important thing to remember is that the toilet training should
be done gradually. Be very patient and never rush to the next
step until you are sure that you cat is completely comfortable
with the current setup. Make using the toilet as easy as you can
for the cat. Always remember to keep the toilet seat up and the
bathroom door open. When you have guests, ensure that they also
know about considering your cat. Flush the toilet regularly as
cats do not like using smelly toilets.

For more information about
interesting facts about cats, cat urine problems and cat urine
removers see cat-urine.net