Sunday, November 28, 2010

Potty Training Cats

I think every cat owner, upon hearing of the idea, at least momentarily considers the idea of toilet-training their pet:
  • Time saved cleaning litter boxes
  • Time saved sweeping tracked litter
  • Money saved purchasing litter
However, horror stories abound. Reading through the one- and two-star reviews of products like Citi Kitty and Litter Kwitter remind owners real life often thwarts the best laid plans.

Still deciding for myself how to approach this issue, if at all.

Notes
  1. Moving litter box too quickly can cause cats to hold in their waste, leading to urinary tract infection and accidents (for example, bathroom floor, bathtub, and/or other rooms).

  2. Some cats may use it most of the time but not all the time (random #2 next to the toilet)

  3. Training multiple cats at a time represents a different challenge than a single cat, as each may have a different learning curve

  4. Some people recommend purchasing big turkey roasting pans and cutting holes in them as your cat progresses, ala The Toilet Trained Cat: "The premise of The Toilet Trained Cat is that you use an aluminum foil roasting pan within the toilet, and put a small hole in it. Unlike Litter Kwitter, you put the hole in the corner, not the center. Gradually, you increase the hole size until the cat needs to balance on the toilet while going in the litter/water. Further, the idea of this system is that the cat will eventually "miss", which means they will go in the toilet. Litter Kwitter assumes that a cat is immediately willing to go in the water and not the litter." (link)

  5. Removal of the last one or two rings seems to be the hardest stage

  6. Cats "falling in" to the toilet will set back the process...obviously
Commercial kits:

Litter Kwitter
Citi Kitty
Cat Seat

Links:



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