Toilet Train Your Cat
Toilet Train Your Cat? You’re Kidding, Right?
Katie Cline, President of Brothers Cat Products, offers something you might not believe —The “Scoop No More!™ Cat Toilet Training System. I thought this looked like something you’d buy from the shopping channel after too many Martinis. However, I was wrong. (See how to win one at the end of this article.)
Ms. Cline’s company provided her product, an instructional DVD, in the Cat Writers’ Association Conference I attended six months ago. (No jokes, please. This is serious!)
The DVD jacket copy put me off. “Train Your Cat To Use A Human Toilet.” (What other kind is there?)
Okay, I put the DVD in the player one Saturday night, having nothing better to do than peek into the glamorous world of kitty toilet training. Our hosts, a pretty and slim woman accompanied by a burly young handyman. I wondered, “Why a handyman?” Turns out that the perky female trainer tells you the steps. The handyman demonstrates how to attach your litter box to a toilet and then modify it until the litter box disappears. This process is less David Copperfield than duct tape and dremel tool.
The video convinced me that this trainer, using a soft toilet seat, four months, and a dedication could toilet train a cat. Our DVD trainer emphasized the positive and explained how to cope with setbacks, and solved practical problems, such as your cat facing bottom out instead of bottom over the toilet. (A watchful eye and Bonita flakes apparently do wonders.)
For multiple cat households, turns out that an auto flusher, like the toilets at the airport have, is useful. Cats don’t like using an unflushed toilet either. The camera shows a close-up of the cat leaping down after a successful toilet use. The auto flusher kicks in. Wow, the noise was like the sinking of the Titanic. Terrifying. Pass the Bonita flakes, please.
Best was the DVD trainer’s simple approach to problems and the emphasis on the cat’s need for tidiness that comes from a sense of smell much more powerful than our own.
Like videos about slimming abs, anything is possible with the camera and enough retakes. Can normal people with normal lives accomplish this? I picked up the cat phone and called my friend Mieshelle who spends her life consulting with people about cat problems. Mieshelle, a veterinary referred feline behaviorist who does consultations all across the U.S., is my gold standard for “would this really work.”
Mieshelle says, “There is a lot to think about when toilet training. If most cats had to choose between the toilet and the litter box, they would choose the litter box… But I do think they learn rather quickly that the water hides their scent from predators.”
Mieshelle says her clinic (http://www.thecatbehaviorclinic.com) also has clients whose cats toilet trained themselves just by watching the owner.
10. No more litter waste in plastic bags piling up in land fills
9. Many cats dislike the feeling of litter on their paws and sometimes stop using the box.
8. Urine and stool odors are much reduced.
7. No more scooping the litter box!
6. Maintains a cleaner home.
5. Save $200.00/year on cat litter
4. Cats perch high on the toilet seat, helping them feel more secure in a multi-cat household (or household with dogs).
3. No more litter box “snacks” for your clever canine.
2. You can even “clicker train” your cat to flush when he’s finished doing his business.
1. Cats don’t care which way the toilet paper roll is facing.
10. If you have only one toilet and several cats, then toilet availability could be an issue. (Not to mention the people? Hey dude, get in line behind your cat.)
9. Elderly, overweight cats, or cats without jumping ability may have problems getting onto the toilet.
8. Some cats do not like the “splash” when their poop hits the water.
7. Some cats like to have separate areas for urinating and defecating.
6. Owners tend to rush toilet training steps. You must let your cat move at it’s own pace.
5. Tiny kittens should use a toddler toilet that is lower to the ground with no water. Later, consider a kitten life vest when he graduates to the adult potty. (Just kidding.)
4. When vacationing, many owners put out litter boxes, in addition to letting their cats use the toilet. This can undo all the progress you’ve made .
3. Some cats prefer a litter box no matter what you do. ,
2. Marital friction
1. Lid up, seat down, always! You must train human household members, usually trickier than training your cats.
1. Have a night light in the toilet area. It’s a myth that cats can see in total darkness. They can see six times better than humans can in low light.
2. Remove your fluffy bathroom rug! A cat may choose to eliminate on this in the beginnings of toilet training and this can quickly become a habit.
3. Don’t hover. Let his bathroom time be private.
4. Never reprimand a cat for having an accident.
5. If your cat does have an accident, do not angrily sit him on the toilet. He will only associate the toilet as a negative place and avoid it in the future.
6. Do not feed your cat near the toilet area.
7. Keep in mind that showers, blow dryers, steamy bathrooms and wet floors cause kitty to look elsewhere to relieve himself.
The Top Ten Lists are adapted from an interview with THE CAT BEHAVIOR CLINIC’S Mieshelle Nagelschneider. An associate of the IAABC, Mieshelle is a veterinary-referred feline behaviorist and columnist for Pet Magazine. Located in Portland, Oregon, Mieshelle does in-home and phone consultations all across the U.S. Visit the clinic website at http://www.thecatbehaviorclinic.com to schedule a consultation.
