Toilet-Training FAQ
Intro | Email List | Starting | Sitz Bath | Litter | Extras
Toilet Training FAQ: Starting
- What is the most important thing to know/remember?
- My cat is X years old. Is it too late to try this?
- Is there data regarding gender and training ability?
- Ok, so how do I do it already?
- If it isn't already there, put the litter box in the bathroom you want your cat to use and ALWAYS leave the lid up/seat down.
- Slowly (rate varies with cat's comfort) raise the height of the litter box (with phone books, etc). Be sure that it's stable, or your cat will not use it.
- Once the litter box is the same level as the toilet, and your cat is jumping on the toilet seat to get to the box, put the litter box on top of the toilet seat.
- Transfer the litter to a sitz bath so that your cat starts using it.
- Slowly decrease the amount of litter and cut a hole (~3" diameter) in the center of the sitz bath.
- Slowly increase the size of that hole and gradually add drain holes around the sides and use without litter. ALWAYS remember to rinse after each use or your cat may get angry. :)
- Grow the hole until it's impossible for the cat to stand in it while using the toilet.
- Remove sitz bath and voila!
Train with the smallest steps possible while still going forward as the trick is to be patient, rewarding your kitty along the way.
If you and your cat are willing, and your cat is physically able to get up on the toilet seat, it can be done by almost any cat of any age. (I trained my cat when he was around 4 years.) However, know in advance that patience is a required personality trait for the human
To my knowledge, no. If you discover an answer, please let me know.
Well, here are the steps that the 21-day books go into and that I followed (so feel free to save your money unless you're interested in the other training aspects of some of those books).
