How to Train Your Cat to Use the Toilet
So there are many cats in the media today that are toilet trained, and of course, in our minds that is just Hollywood. Many people believe these cats were especially trained to do this for the movie, and they must have spent a lot of time and money training them. This isn’t true. Many cat owners have cats that are toilet trained, and it’s actually fairly easy. You can do it too. You just have to know where to start.
The first thing that you need to do is get your cat used to using a homemade cardboard litter box (rather than the plastic variety most use), when they are still a kitten. If your cat is older, all you have to do is put a piece of cardboard to the bottom of their litter pan to begin the training. Because the later steps of training require there to be litter very near to the toilet bowl, you will have to begin using shredded newspaper, rather than regular kitty litter (which cannot be flushed). Next, start slowly moving the litter box towards the bathroom. Be consistent, but patient and slow. If your cat gets confused, they may stop following the litter box and return to where the box used to be to eliminate. As you are moving the box towards the bathroom, start gradually trimming down its sides. Once you get to the bathroom, start gradually moving the box towards the toilet. Eventually you can place the box on the toilet. Once you do that, cut each corner of the box a bit so that you can use a bit of twine or string to tie the box down to the toilet and immobilize it. Once the box is on top of the toilet, let your cat eliminate in it just like that for one or two weeks. You don’t want to rush things here.
Now, it’s time to cut a hole at the bottom of the box. This is because cats natural instinct is to cover up their waste and as they do they will push their waste and some newspaper into the hole. (During cleaning, you may want to keep a large piece of cardboard handy with a hole in it. Simply put the cardboard under the seat and let your cat go. This is only while you are cleaning the toilet.)
Once they’ve gone in the toilet, cut down the sides of their litter box until there is nothing left but the bottom section of the box. As was mentioned before, you can place this flat piece under the toilet seat to keep it in place, but you still want to leave a little bit of the shredded newspaper so that your cat doesn’t get confused. Pretty soon you can eliminate the cardboard altogether and they’ll just be going in the toilet! The entire toilet-training process will probably take about three or four weeks for most cats, though some have learned even faster. You know your cat better than anybody, so just be patient and let them go at their own pace. You don’t want to disrupt the training by pushing the issue and making them uncomfortable. With some patience and a bit of animal know-how, anyone can use this method to train their cat to use the toilet.
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- Kathrynn Kelley
