No, not training your cat to use the litter box, but training him to use the actual toilet. Could this be possible?? We saw the cat in ‘Meet the Parents’ use it, but that’s just the movies, right? Well if you believe this guy it certainly is possible.
The idea of getting rid of the litter box got my wife and me thinking we should give it a try. So, we bought the book and set out to train Micio how to use the toilet. :)
Micio was actually pretty good in the first few stages. We moved his litter box right into the guest bathroom and he had no problems finding it. Then we moved it up onto a stack of phonebooks so that it was level with the toilet, just like the book says to; no problems. Then we took the next step of using a metal bowl filled with litter in the actual toilet; still no problems.
(A little side note: we bought this ‘system’ for toilet training. Perhaps it works for some, but micio wasn’t having any of it. It was flimsy and totally insufficient to support his weight. We tossed it in favor of the nice sturdy mixing bowl.)
Now we’re supposed to teach him ‘proper stance’ on the toilet seat. We would catch him using the toilet and needed to put his legs on the seat so he was properly perched, instead of standing in the bowl. This took a little more time than the previous steps, but he eventually got it. So now were about 2 weeks in and we’re supposed to begin removing littler from the bowl.
We slowly reduced the level of the litter until there was nothing. He didn’t like this much, and it is actually not that pleasant because you have to deal with ‘raw’ cat ‘excretions’. :)
Still he eventually got used to this… though there was definitely a level of agitation as we continued to modify his bathroom environment. The very last step is adding water to the bowl. For him, this was the last straw. Instead of trying to use the toilet, now with water in it, he decided the bathroom sink was more to his liking. This was mentioned in the book, and the suggested solution was to go back to putting a little litter in the bowl. We didn’t see how this would solve the problem and decided this was OUR last straw. :) Over the course of the previous month and a half or so we had grown tired of the ‘training’ and even began to want the liter box back ourselves. So, we gave it back to him, and he was HAPPY. That’s when we upgraded to ’the best ragdoll litter box, period’.
That’s our story… It may be possible, but neither Micio nor I possessed the mental fortitude to see it through to the end. :)
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Hello Jason,
We bought the same toilet training kit that you purchased for Michu. We followed the directions the same way you described. We took it very very slow. So I would guess it took about 4-5 months. We would let him get very comfortable before moving to the next step. He was about five months old and eight pounds at the time. I think if we tried that when he weighed 18pounds, he would have broken the training kit. lol. I can't say that we did anything different than what you described. I do know, from talking to others, that some cats will take to it and others won't. Don't know why..? Here is a link to Michu on youtube using the toilet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgm2smMuWJk
My husband was so proud of his accomplishment with Michu that he posted it on youtube.
Forgot to add.. He could easily flush the toilet, but we didn't teach him. We were concerned he would play in the water by flushing it over and over. Our water bill would have skyrocketed. lol. He loves water, I think that's common with Maine Coons.
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