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How To Toilet Train Your Cat

The idea of how to toilet train your cat has grown in popularity ever since the release of the movie "Meet The Parents" where the kitty, Jinx, used the toilet instead of a litter box. As funny and outrageous as the idea of a cat using a toilet is, toilet training a cat can be done if you have the desire and the patience to put forth the effort.

There are pros and cons to toilet training a cat. The negative side of this task is the amount of effort and time it may take you to get your cat fully toilet trained. Of course, once the cat is trained you can say goodbye to the smelly, disgusting litter box and that fact alone is enough to convince many cat owners to take on the task.

So once you make the decision to toilet train your cat, how do you do it?

There are toilet training kits available; however, you can train your cat to use the toilet without spending a lot of money on toilet training kits.

Besides the cat and the toilet, you will also need to have flushable kitty litter and aluminum foil cooking pans that will sit on the rim of the toilet while still hanging inside the bowl. The lowering of the toilet seat onto the pan should hold the pan in place.

To begin, replace the cats litter box with the same size aluminum foil cooking pan that will eventually go into the toilet.

Place the new litter box next to the toilet that you want the cat to use. This can be done gradually or all at once depending on your cat. Once the litter box is next to the toilet, you can start to gradually raise the litter box by placing something underneath. You can use a stack of newspapers or a cardboard box, etc. Just ensure that the litter box is not sitting on a slick surface as you don't want it to slide while the cat is attempting to use it. Continue this process until the bottom of the litter box is level with the top of the toilet seat. Again, the length of time it will take to get your cat to this point really depends on the cat and how comfortable they are with the changes.

If, during this process, you find the cat not utilizing the litter box you will know that you have moved too fast in their training and will need to slow it down.

Next, place the litter box tray into the toilet. Remember, the tray goes under the seat. The seat should hold it in place. The cat should now be jumping onto the toilet seat and using the litter box.

Once you feel your cat is used to this process, start reducing the amount of litter in the tray and make a small hole (approximately 1" diameter) in the bottom of the tray. Since you are reducing the amount of kitty litter you will have to clean the litter box more often so the cat will continue to utilize their litter box.

The cat may begin by sitting completely in the tray so you will want to make sure the tray is secure and sturdy enough to hold the cat's weight. You don't want your cat to fall into the toilet. As funny as that may look, you will lose ground in your training.

Gradually enlarge the hole in the bottom of the tray. Again, how often you enlarge the hole in the tray will depend on your cat but a good rule of thumb is about a half an inch a week. As the hole in the tray gets larger, the cat will start to move their paws out of the litter box and onto the toilet seat.

Eventually your cat will have all four paws on the toilet seat and will squat over the litter box to do his/her business. As the hole gets bigger and the amount of kitty litter decreases your cat will begin to get used to the sound of their waste hitting the water instead of the litter and you will also slowly recondition them of their need to scratch and cover up their waste.

Using treats to reward your cat for using the litter box lined toilet may help move the training along a little faster.

Once your cat keeps all four paws on the toilet seat and is used to their waste hitting the water instead of the litter you can take the tray away.

You have just successfully learned how to toilet train your cat.

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