toilet training issues

[alex evans]

hello! i'm currently training our adopted ~2 year old cat Taco how to use the toilet instead of a litter pan (we live in NYC, and do not want to deal with a litter box in our apartment). we're using the litter kwitter, which a friend of mine used on her cat (which she had from a kitten, slightly different experience) to great effect! we've been doing this for approx 6 months (we adopted him around 1-11.5 years old).

if you're unfamiliar (http://www.litterkwitter.com/en/index.php), the theory is that you move through a series of concentric rings, each giving less and less surface area 'within' the toilet, until they get used to balancing on the outer ring of the toilet. this is my first cat (we're dog people, but Taco is the best), and he is also a boy, which i only note as it's a difference when comparing notes with my friend (the one whom had success; her cat Fuzz is a girl). when he urinates, he does this sort of...squat? it's hard to describe, but he has a very long stance that he uses that is not conducive to learning to pee on a toilet seat! when we tried to move down to the second to last step, not only had he started holding his poops in for days (until eventually pooping on the floor right next to the toilet, poor boy is trying to be good), but we couldn't figure out where he was peeing (he has never peed anywhere except his litter, he's really well behaved in that way)...until i found out on accident he was actually peeing in the sink!! i've since blocked his access to the sink, but honestly who knows, there's 2 other sinks in the house he could be using...

we work all day so aren't around much to modify behavior (his schedule of pooping/peeing tends to be when we're at work/asleep), and on top of that, any time i've managed to run into him on there and have tried to correct his stance, he just meows loudly, jumps off and leaves until i do too. has anyone else used the litter kwitter or something similar to positive effect? are there any tips you'd have on how to work through some of his issues? we give him treats when we see him using it, and also give treats/rewarding voice when i peek in and see the toilet's been used (trying to associate stuff in toilet + flush noise = treats; he totally gets it and immediately runs to where we hand out treats). thanks!

(ps, i know there's a lot of opinions about whether or not to toilet train your cats—we're committed to toilet training, so i'd appreciate if people wouldn't focus on that argument).

 

[abby2932]

The only correction during the toilet training process that you can make is to go back to the stage where he was comfortable using the toilet for both #1 & #2 consistently with no accidets. You need to retrain him that the toilet is the place that he WANTS to go. If that means to go all the way back to red, then that's what you have to do. Toilet training is completely at the cat's pace, not the human's, as frustrating as that may be.

I do want to mention some things though. I know you're very committed to wanting to train your cat to use the toilet but I truly believe it is not for EVERY cat.

I had tried the LK about 3 years ago wit my 2 cats for a period of 9 months. My 5 year old (at the time) male was a superstar. He never had an accident, never got stressed. Just did his business in the toilet and graduated the whole program. My 1 year old girl was not into it at all. I had to keep putting her on the toilet to make her potty and if I wasn't home she ALWAYS pooped on the floor (she did always pee in the toilet though). At the end of the day I gave her the litterbox back because I could tell she was not happy.

Please only continue the LK training if you are willing to be extremely patient and not take any frustrations out on your cat. Also, please remember that holding in pee or poop CAN cause medical issues so if your cat is holding it in all the time, go back a step (or a few) to give him a little break before continuing.

 

[alex evans]

thanks for the reply abby! we backtracked out of the green ring pretty quickly (i think we gave him a week to get used to it) back to the orange one, and that's what's so weird—he's totally fine! he's fine with ring 1, he's fine with ring 2, but i don't think he understands how to pee using only the toilet's ring to stand on (he still uses the actual ring inserts to stand on). honestly if we have to stay with this ring FOREVER that's still better than a litter box, but i wasn't sure if anyone else had run into this kind of behavior! it's actually really impressive how quickly he took to the toilet in the first place so i'm less worried about that aspect of it...if there's anything we can do to make these transitions smoother, i'm all ears!

 

[abby2932]

Do you have the MiltiKat kit? It is an extension of the Litter kwitter to turn it from a 3 ring process to a 5 ring process. 


If he's using the Amber disk faithfully and NEVER having accidents then you can buy the kit and use the "intermediate green" disk. It's a bit larger than Amber but smaller than the regular green. I don't know why those two rings are sold separately, they should absolutely come with the system

My cats got all the way to the last green disk with no litter when my girl started pooping on the floor next to the toilet. If I stood in there and did the "potty dance" with her, I could make her go in the toilet but the she learned to poop after I go to work. Instead of going back a step, I just took the whole LK off the toilet in hopes that she would just learn to use it. My boy cat used the toilet perfectly. He peed in the toilet a few times a day and pooped once a day. My girl peed in the toilet a few times a day as well but got into the habit of pooping on the floor every day. I got tired of cleaning it up, so I just gave the box back. Then, of course, neither cat uses the toilet anymore.

I've pondered starting the training over now that she's older (she was only 8 months when I first started) but I don't know if I want to go through that again. My male cat is such an angel with the training because he is so eager to please, will do anything for a treat, and he is not a litter digger. My female has to dig to China before using the bathroom, needs to cover her business and is not really food motivated. 

I always got sad when reading posts from the "Litter Kwitter Forum" because soooo many people get so frustrated when their cats won't cooperate or have accidents that they spoke of not liking their cat anymore or wanting to get rid of their cat because they're untrainable. It broke my heart because it is so unnatural for them to use a human toilet seat. I feel like if someone has the patience of an absolute saint AND if the kitty will go through training with very minimal stress so there is no medical concerns, then fine, toilet train them. But if the cat is not wanting to do it after a certain amount of time, then just love your cat for being a normal cat that uses a normal litterbox, you know?

 

[ellzor]

Hi all! I see this thread has not been active for a while but I'm hoping I will get some help anyway.

My cat manages the first (red) step without any problems, and we've been using that step for about a month. However, when I change to the amber step she pees in my bed. I've shown her the new step by putting her on the toilet, and she smells the hole and seems calm, and I've put a stool by the toilet for her to climb on so she doesn't get surprised by the whole when jumping up.

However, she only pees or poops during the night so I cannot be there to help her the first time. We've gone through this procedure twice, with one month on the red step before moving to the amber one. But she still ends up peeing in my bed as soon as I change to the amber step.

Is there anything I can do to make her more comfortable using this step or should I simple accept that this isn't for her?

 

[Molly&Marvin]

Hi ellzor! I have two 11 month kittens I've been stuck on the green stage for a few months so I understand your frustration.
Patience is key, cats dont tend to pee where they sleep so if you're cat is peeing on your bed it's a clear sign that she is uncomfortable or stressed!
Lots of playtime and snuggles to help her destress may help, also do not reprimand her if she has an accident just ignore her so she gets a clear message you're unhappy.
You could also try putting a little more litter in the amber step. I would also suggest, if you have a few days, monitor her very closely. Mine tend to only pee twice throughout the day so if you can get her to go before bed you can estimate within a 12 hour range shell have to go again. I hope this helps a little bit, dont give up!
And if you end up finishing potty training before I do maybe you could give me a few tips

Hi all! I see this thread has not been active for a while but I'm hoping I will get some help anyway.

My cat manages the first (red) step without any problems, and we've been using that step for about a month. However, when I change to the amber step she pees in my bed. I've shown her the new step by putting her on the toilet, and she smells the hole and seems calm, and I've put a stool by the toilet for her to climb on so she doesn't get surprised by the whole when jumping up.

However, she only pees or poops during the night so I cannot be there to help her the first time. We've gone through this procedure twice, with one month on the red step before moving to the amber one. But she still ends up peeing in my bed as soon as I change to the amber step.

Is there anything I can do to make her more comfortable using this step or should I simple accept that this isn't for her?

Hi all! I see this thread has not been active for a while but I'm hoping I will get some help anyway.

My cat manages the first (red) step without any problems, and we've been using that step for about a month. However, when I change to the amber step she pees in my bed. I've shown her the new step by putting her on the toilet, and she smells the hole and seems calm, and I've put a stool by the toilet for her to climb on so she doesn't get surprised by the whole when jumping up.

However, she only pees or poops during the night so I cannot be there to help her the first time. We've gone through this procedure twice, with one month on the red step before moving to the amber one. But she still ends up peeing in my bed as soon as I change to the amber step.

Is there anything I can do to make her more comfortable using this step or should I simple accept that this isn't for her?

 

[Molly&Marvin]

Try the litter kwitter! It could help you redirect where she goes to the potty and help you pay more attention to her bathroom routine!