Toilet Training Our Cats
Thursday, March 30th, 2006
So far there hasn't been too much to update because things have to be taken very slowly. Let's see what all there is to report:
I left off from Day 2
when I had reduced the cats to just one litter box. I left it that way for awhile for them to get comfortable with that change. On Day 6, Sunday, March 26th I got some help from Dad; he cut the small pieces of panelling, drilled the holes in the metal mixing bowl, and pop-riveted the panelling handles to the bowl. I put a small amount of litter in the bowl and put it near their box for the cats to get used to; they tend to get nervous around unfamiliar objects.
Day 7 - Monday, March 27th, 2006
After testing the bowl and assuring it's fit inside the toilet, I worked on the cats' confidence on the seat again, with treats and praise. Skadi was so comfortable up there I thought she'd have a nap and had to physically remove her so Loki could try. Buster got up this time, but was too nervous to stay for long.
I left the bowl there in the toilet, figuring it couldn't hurt. I had also recently found a flushable and safe litter at the PetSmart that recently opened in Kingston, it was relatively cheap and had good reviews. I bought it as well as an enzyme spray for "accidents." I mixed in a bunch of this new pine litter into the old clumping stuff. Skadi didn't like it one bit. None of them really knew what to make of it.
(For product details: Exquisicat Pine Litter and Simple Solution Cat Stain & Odor Remover)
Skadi pawed at it a bit and then started pacing around. She absolutely refused to get in the box and freaked out when we tried to place her inside. It wasn't until we were brushing our teeth that night that we saw her beside the toilet looking at the bowl that was inside of it. As she stood on her hind legs and scratched at the litter, I got hopeful, then she flung a few grains onto the floor and immediately poo'd right there on the floor before we could do anything.
Accident #1
That enzyme spray really works!
I took the clumping litter from the bowl and emptied it on top of the pine litter that was in the box. Everyone seemed quite satisfied with this compromise.
I left it that way for a while, and after a few days added one small scoop of the pine litter a day.
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Sunday, April 2nd, 2006
Gradually adding the pine litter was working well enough. The problem though, was cleaning the litter; the more pine litter that was added, the less the clumping litter would clump. Also, the scoop used to clean the litter tended to fill right up and clog with the pine pellets, so removing poo's from the box became a very careful and painstaking process. I'd either have to try and get them with the very corner of the scoop and try to not get any litter in it, or I'd have to shake it for a long period of time to sift as much of the pellets out as possible. But I had an idea.
Day 12 - Saturday, April 1st, 2006 Adam got me a spaghetti spoon/fork thinger. It doesn't work flawlessly but it's a huge improvement over the proper litter scoops.
With this I can clean the litter much easier, since the pine pellets absorb the pee and break down into sawdust, I just needed something to pick up the poo's. The tines in this allow the pine pellets to shake through so I'm only disposing of poo's. The hole in the center allows waste to drop through sometimes if it's small enough. I may end up putting tape over half of the hole in the center if it becomes too much of a problem. Things are going smoothly.
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Tuesday, April 4th, 2006
Today, Day 15 I finally got to switch COMPLETELY over to the pine litter. After adding a bit of it daily I had over half the box filled with pine litter and the cats comfortable enough with it. I spent the morning using those proper litter scoops to sift out as many of the clean, unused pellets as possible, letting the remains of the clumping litter, and the sawdust fall away. I disposed of the last of the mixed litters and thoroughly washed out the litter box. I filled the bottom with new pine litter, then took the unused pellets I had removed with the scoops and dumped them in on top since the cats would be more familiar with them and they were already slightly softened.
I worried though since the first time they were introduced to this litter none of them took well to it. I sat back and immediately Buster decided to check it out. He stepped into the box and the pellets made weird grinding noises under his feet. Then, to my surprise, he perched on top of the corner of the box and pee'd! I was so thrilled! Not only did I actually catch him using the litter (and both my cats have evidently followed his lead), but if he's comfortable perching like that it should mean good things for the future on the toilet seat!
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Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 - Hiatus
Well, toilet-training has actually been on hold for a bit. I'll back-track here and explain:
Being able to flush the poop is wonderful, absolutely amazing. However during the first bit there I hadn't cleaned the litter in two days, and on Day 18, Friday, April 7th, 2006 We had Accident #2. The box was a bit too full for one of the kitties and someone pee'd right beside the box, on that old sheet I had tacked under the table. Well, it was time everything had a good wash anyway, so I took down everything including the curtains and had them washed and I cleaned the room thoroughly. Before replacing anything though I rearranged the room some, moved their table, and set it up as an art desk for now. I didn't go to all of the effort tacking the sheet back up again either, I just folded it underneath the box - because with this new litter there's no more cement-like dust to worry about! I love this litter.
So on Day 19 it was decided that we take a break from training them and leave things as they are to get used to them. This was decided because Adam's mom will be coming to visit us soon, and staying a few days, and she is very allergic to cats, and their litter bothers her the most. So I decided, instead of moving the litter into the bathroom now, then removing it for her visit, then replacing it again and confusing the cats; we'll just leave things be until after her visit.
Only two more things to mention here then you'll have to wait until early May for an update. First, I have to mention how Adam and I went to stay at my parents' for two days and one night. We've never left the cats that long and I'm a total worrier even though I know they're cats and can get along fine. So, along with the extra food and water, I set up a second litter box, having kept in mind that accident from when their litter hadn't been cleaned. We came home the next night and everything was perfectly fine.
The second thing I thought I'd mention/explain, is how this litter works, for anyone thinking of going this route. I think I've mentioned how the pine pellets absorb the pee and turn into sawdust, and the poo's are just removed with a spaghetti fork/spoon. Eventually you're left with a lot of sawdust mixed with pellets in the box. Now here money is very tight, so what I actually do is take the litter scoop and sift the litter. The sawdust is basically just pee, though it smells like pine, so it needs to be removed, but the remaining pellets that haven't broken down are still good. This has to be done about once a week (for three cats mind you). I make sure the litter is cleaned before I do this:
I get two empty containers, and take a scoopful from the box with the litter scoop, and hold it over the one container and shake it until the sawdust falls through and all I'm left with is pellets, then I dump the pellets into the other container. I continue this until the box is empty. I take the container of sawdust out to my parents' compost heap to dispose of it, and dump the pellets back into the box.
The process is a little tedious and usually takes over 30 minutes, so it's not for some people. Though I have to assume if you don't have patience/time to sift once a week, you likely don't want to be attempting to toilet-train your cats. For me though, this is the best litter I've ever used. I've noticed things while cleaning the apartment; most obviously the lack of little grains of clumping litter EVERYWHERE. I mean before this pine litter there would be grains in every room, on the couch cover, all over their cat house and scratching posts, my room was an absolute mess and I hated walking in there without a broom in front of me. All of that is gone now. Occasionally my room has a bit of sawdust tracked on the floor, but that's usually when it's time to sift the litter.
The other thing I've noticed while cleaning is how much less dust there is in here. When we first moved (December 29th) I thought this apartment had a wicked dust problem. There was about a month's worth of dust every week on everything. It's still pretty dusty here, but the amount has definitely decreased. Everything feels cleaner. I'm so thrilled with this litter, that even if the toilet-training doesn't work out I'm still happy we found and switched to this litter.
Did I mention that it comes in a bigger bag than our previous clumping litter and is STILL cheaper? And trust me, being able to just flush the poo away instead of bagging it and filling up the garbage, it's very nice. My parents had been taking our dirty litter before we switched because of how quickly it filled our garbage bags, and quite seriously, without litter in our garbage we only have to take it out once every four weeks instead of once a week.
Yes, I'm much happier with this. Take care folks and good luck! Page 3 starts in early May!
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