Update!

Sorry that I haven’t updated in a while. It’s been about a month, and a lot of the latter half was spent out of town. During that time, Starbucks’ tin foil had gradually increased in size, and he learned to periodically use all fours on the toilet seat…however the pan in the toilet was a bit of a ‘cheat sheet’ for him. When I was around him, he would go on the seat, but he was also inclined to balance his hind paws in the pan. Also, he spent lots and lots of time inspecting the areas under the pan…So, I removed the pan completely a few days ago. The hole increased in size by about 3cm around the rim since the last update, so in no way did I wait until the bottom was completely opened up. Also, I didn’t increase the hole in a ‘perfect circle’…I took more of a integrated learning/teaching approach to the whole thing: If Starbucks was consistently eliminating in a certain section of the pan, I opened that part up so that he would get used to having to eliminate into water. Then, when I felt he was comfortable with the setup but needed to be weaned off of crowding his front paws in the pan and instead balance on them on the seat, I would slowly remove the front part, which prompted him to use the toilet seat. I admit, there is a little bit of cheating on my end with the final removal: since the toilet bowl is mostly empty (the water doesn’t rest past the very bottom of the bowl), I am able to sprinkle a little bit of kitty litter in there, to signal to Starbucks that this is, indeed, his litter box. And what happened?

As you can see, Starbucks has learned to use the toilet! There was no real ‘adjustment’…noticed the kitty litter and did his thing-balanced and all-very naturally. It’s almost as if this set up works a lot better than the pan! However, the training is not over just yet. He still needs me around in order for him to use the toilet…and he is awfully tempted to use anything else. Although, from my experience, that phase wears off in a few days since cats in general lament change. Here are some more pictures of the quickly growing Kitten!

Progress!

Bucky has finally gotten used to the hole at the bottom of his litter box. He is also becoming less and less dependent on my presence in the bathroom. The highlight was an unexpected run Starbucks made to the bathroom a couple of mornings ago where he placed his front two paws and his one back paw on the toilet lid! After about 3 weeks, I made the hole slightly bigger….he definately notices but it seems all in all ok! In fact, I think that although he notices that somehow the hole is “different” he doesn’t seem to think too much has changed.

It definately took lots of patience to get Bucky to the point of feeling comfortable with not being able to just sit in the litter box. I felt so guilty about the process…he was not happy with the set up and I was second guessing the ethics of toilet training him. After all, it is only natural for a cat to want to eliminate and then bury it and the only reason I was training him to not do that was for my own benefit. I stuck to the plan despite these concerns and now, after about 3 weeks, Starbucks is very comfortable and doesn’t seem to think twice about the setup. I am sure that anyone who has toilet trained their cat has come across a few stumbling blocks. The best piece of advice I have during those times is sticking with the plan and thinking about the goal. If kitty is not liking the setup and would much rather use your bed or the carpet or anythings else rather than his “litter box”/the toilet (as was the case with Starbucks) you need to remain on your toes! Although my cat was quite vocal about when he needed to go (almost as if warning me that he knew he was doing something bad but doing it anyways), keep a watch out and as soon as he starts pick up him and put him in the litter box and praise and encourage him to go. If he was trying to go else where, at this point he will begrudgingly go in the litter box.

Another challenge I had was that he got so used to me taking him to the toilet seat that for about 2 weeks, he stopped trying to use my bed, but instead telling me that he needed to go and would want me to go into the bathroom and encourage him while he went. He would hold it in all day and then go when I got home. Only now has he started going by himself, without needed me to follow him into the bathroom and that has definately been a great step for us!

Week 3 Part 1

So, Bucky has gone to the new litter box with the hole. Alas, he feels pretty uncomfortable by the change and would prefer it if I let him go on my bed. He definately pee’d on my bed the first morning after introducing the hole. However, I can’t blame him since he made it very clear that he needed to go (Bucky is very vocal and always lets me know when he’s going to the bathroom).  I am learning to be more perceptive of those tones which tell me instinctively that he needs to go.

This behavior has also convinced me that he has gotten used to the praise associated with going to the bathroom: he doesn’t want to go there, but he will if I tell him he’s a wonderful kitty and praise him every step of the way. When I came home Monday night from work there were no messes, but there was definately no activity in the litter box. So, the good news was that he goes on my bed only when I’m around, meaning that he’ll go when I’m around and gives me ample opportunity to encourage him to be a good kitty. The bad news is that he’s holding it in.

So, last night he was very good. We went into the bathroom, and we made progress on two accounts. He went to the bathroom in the litterbox and I introduced the sound of the flushing toilet…I was afraid that he was going to be afraid of the noise-but nope! He was mesmerized by the water. He has associated it with wonder, as this morning, after he went, I flushed the toilet and he came running back to look inside the hole at the water. This is perfect for when I will eventually train him to flush the toilet!

…oh yes….the water. So, I think aside from the fact that his litter box suddenly has a hole in it, he is facinated by what is in the hole: Water! Everytime he goes in, he sticks his head in and he is so small that he occasionally drops into it and gets both his paws wet. He is so curious about it, that he can’t go to the bathroom unless I encourage him and play with the litter and not focus too much on the water.

Patience is so important in this phase and I can only see it becoming more so as the hole starts getting bigger and kitty tries to figure out how to position himself. Starbucks’ main problem is that he is confused and he’s not sure how to sit, and whether the litter box is toy or a bathroom.  So, as he gets used to it, I might start adjusting his body into how he should eventually be-i.e. balancing on the lid, starting now to ease the transition. Just gentle nudging when he’s about to go.

Pictures to follow!

Week 2

Starbucks came home last week, and I must admit that I am at a slight advantage here. He was already litter-box trained, and all I had to do was show him where his litter box was in his new home (which I placed in the toilet) and he took to it just as easily as any litter box (meaning, for the first few days when he was adjusting to his new home, he would be tempted to eliminate anywhere he pleased). I bought an aluminum tray used for roasting turkeys, and just needed to manipute it slightly, so that it would fit inside the toilet. I wasn’t sure if the tray would be strudy enough to support the kitten-but after fitting it in and closing the toilet seat over it, it fit perfectly and was very sturdy. At first I placed the alumunium tray beside the toilet, with the intention of raising it slowly and then placing it over the toilet. However, on the very first day Starbucks seemed to prefer climbing on top of the toilet seat and looking down into his litter box…so I thought, why not just put it up there now? He seemed perfectly fine with it.

As you can see, the aluminum tray was manipulated to fit inside the toilet….

And, the toilet lid come down very easily and helps keep it in place. The entire set-up is pretty sturdy and easy to do. I used an organic, flushable kitty litter. I learned very quickly to:

1) Get rid of the bath mat or anything that would “tempt” kitty to eliminate on instead of the litter box. I had a bath mat on the floor in front of the toilet-Starbucks successfully eliminated on the bath mat and was tempted to whenever I put it there. This might be an issue kittens come across during litter box training in general though…but I would advise to get rid of items that would be great alternative places to go around the toilet.

2) Be VERY good about keeping the litter box as clean as possible. Kitty might be already somewhat uncomfortable with the setup…keep him happy as much as possible by keeping the box immaculate! He will appreciate the set-up a lot more.

3) Don’t overdo the kitty litter. Again, this is probably a general kitten-litter box issue, but don’t drown the kitty in kitty-litter.

4) Once he eliminates, he will be somewhat confused on how to cover it up…he’ll try to cover it up with the litter, but most likely he will start scratching the toilet seat. If you are NOT ok with this, then I would advice to set-up a scratching apparatus right by the toilet seat so that he can do this. For the first few days I placed an old towel by the seat to help him with the scratching….but it seems that he’s taken to simply doing a few scratching motions on the seat.

5) THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE: LOTS and LOTS of PRAISE! When Starbucks first came home, he has no clue where to go when it was time to go to the bathroom. So, as soon as he started to go someplace, I would prompting place him in the litter box and start praising him ‘What a good kitty…good boy!” and pet him and gently coo him. I wanted to associate the bathroom with good things. After a day, he would love going to the bathroom for the fact that he knew he would be cuddled there. After 2 weeks, he’s been almost perfect with his toilet training. There was one incident when a guest was over, and I think he was excited and started on my bed…but he knew he was doing something bad, since as soon as walking/ran towards him, he ran to the toilet. I cannot stress how imporant this part of the process is. When you are home, and you notice him going there, just shower him with praise-at least for the first week!

So, it’s been 2 weeks, and I feel that Starbucks is adjusted to learning where to eliminate. He is very comfortable with getting on the toilet seat and with the general surroundings. Now it is time to introduce Phase II: the 2 inch diameter circle.

Cutting a 2-inch diameter circle was very easy to do, and I placed it as centered as possible on the floor of the aluminum tray. The purpose of the circle is the slowly introduce Kitty to the concept of a hole in the middle of his litter box, with the hopes that as he learns to manuveur around the hole, he will learn to balance on the toilet seat, as the hole gets bigger. Apart from the small hole, nothing else changes: same kitty litter, perhaps a little less than before. And, of course, LOTS of praise in the next phase of the toilet training process.

The Legacy of Mr.Jinks

I’m sure most of us who have seen Meet The Parents would remember the infamous cat, Mr. Jinks. Infamous, of course, for his ability to use the toilet. Cats learning to use the toilet is actually quite common, much to my surprise. However, I never even considered training a cat to use the toilet myself. It wasn’t until my boyfriend had sent me a link to this web-site about training cats that I realized that it really didn’t seem that hard. She had outlined the process quite well (she also has Bengal cats) . I was very tempted to try it if I ever got a cat, mostly for the sheer amusement… to see if it’d actually work. Imagine a life without kitty litter. How so convenient for apartment/studio living.

So, here is a journal of the Toilet Training extravaganza! I will try to document the progress on a daily basis and provide pictures. We’ll see if Starbucks can learn how to use the toilet. I was concerned that he was way too tiny to learn to balance on the toilet seat…but Kelli thinks he’ll be fine. At 12 weeks, he is perfectly litter trained and thus a fine, young candidate for the process. I will be following the method outlined by the Douglas Island Veternary Service, Toilet Training for Cats Made Easy. If he actually learns to do this, it’s going to be SO funny. I wonder though, if I leave him at a cat sitter’s, will he use their toilet or will he only use the toilet he was taught to use? Will he be able to use litter sometimes, and then the toilet other times?