Toilet Training Our Cats
Monday, May 8th, 2006
Ok, so the hiatus is officially over and I wrestled with the idea of not numbering those days since they don't count, but I don't want anyone thinking this took a shorter amount of time than it did, also technically those days counted because it was during that time the cats got really comfortable and used to using the pine litter.
Nothing at all happened Day 20 - Day 49 there was NO progress and nothing new was initiated or introduced.
Day 49, Monday, May 8th, 2006, today the litter has been moved into the bathroom. I've cleaned up my room and all traces that the litter was ever there and moved the table into Adam's room (so I can work on art in there), and removed the curtains that may have still smelled a bit of the litter. The litter box is beside the toilet now, though with it's size it may be difficult to raise to the height of the toilet seat. We soon shall see. I'm still waiting on the moment of relief when one of the cats uses the litter box in it's new location.
~
Day 50 - Tuesday, May 9th, 2006
Hooray!!! I had waited all day yesterday for those cats to use the box in it's new location and was starting to get really concerned about impending doom when they hadn't used it by bedtime and Skadi was pacing around nervously. I got up to go to the bathroom around 4:30AM, and they still hadn't gone, when I got back in bed I heard scratching in the pellets and got back up to see Skadi exiting the box having done both! She set the bar for the boys and they followed her lead. Phew! I think we've all been relieved now.
~
Day 52 - Thursday, May 11th, 2006 Today we changed to a smaller litter box. The cats seem to be getting really accustomed to changes now and didn't have any trouble with this switch.
~
Day 53 - Friday, May 12th, 2006 Today we raised the smaller box by using the previous box upside down. The cats were a little confused at first but use the tub ledge to hop in: No trouble at all.
Edit The next day we did have Accident #3, though it was minor; one of the cats positioned themselves too far to the back of the box and poo'd right over the back edge. In their defence, the box is smaller than they're used to and already had some poo in it. Enzyme spray to the rescue.
~
|
Friday, May 19th, 2006
Day 57, Tuesday, May 16th, 2006, The litter box was moved to the top of the toilet and stayed there for a week, the only problem was remembering to put it back up there after using the bathroom.
Day 64, Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006, After one week of the litter box on top of the toilet and no problems we made the change from the box to the altered mixing bowl. It was a nervous event, but after much sniffing around Loki decided he'd pave the way. Shortly after Loki made the first use, Buster followed suit and things actually went smoothly for a few days, no problems!
  
~
|
Wednesday, May 31st, 2006
Day 66, Thursday, May 25th, 2006, Problems. When I entered the bathroom that morning I noticed Loki get on and off the seat then start scratching at a towel on the floor and start getting into position, I yelled at him and got him back on the toilet, he just kept getting down and searching though. I made sure the litter was clean, and even put fresh litter in, but he kept checking the toilet then positioning himself elsewhere - like the bath-tub! He tried to go about three times in the tub. Each time I scolded and showed him back to the bowl where he got praised. I ended up bringing a chair into the bathroom to keep watch.
During this time Skadi and Buster were milling around, so while we were waiting on Loki (who wanted to sit in the tub and howl instead), Skadi and Buster both took turns doing their business. After over 15 minutes of this Loki finally got into a position he liked on the toilet and peed. I was thrilled and relieved. However it was short-lived. 30 minutes later I went to pick up the "foot towel" in front of the tub and out fell a bunch of Loki's poo. This would be Accident #4, only this one was more deliberate. Oddly, after that day Loki has had no qualms about using the bowl, it was like he had one "off" day in the 9 days the bowl has been in the toilet. I've read similar things from other owners, so that makes me feel much better. At least he seems to be doing much better with it now after a whole week.
Also they all seem to be placing their feet properly on the seat now which is VERY nice!
~
Day 76, Sunday, June 4th, 2006, Accident #5. I woke up that morning and went in the bathroom to sweep litter off the toilet seat, and scoop out the one poo that was in the litter bowl. The level of litter had been getting progressively lower also. I finished and left the bathroom, and about 20 minutes later heard a noise and went to see what was knocked over. Loki was coming out of the bathroom, I saw another poo in the litter bowl, and one more on the floor behind the toilet... Loki had knocked the plunger over in his hastey retreat. Enzyme spray to the rescue again. It wasn't so much his fault this time since there was a poo in the bowl and not enough litter for him to go in there also.
Day 77, Monday, June 5th, 2006, Accident #6. Since this one was found in the tub, we have to assume it was also Loki. Again he has an excuse for poo'ing where he shouldn't. This time my roomie got up in the night to use the bathroom and ended up putting the lid down on the toilet. So today I got the screw driver out and removed the lid. Problem solved!
~
|
Monday, June 12th, 2006
Day 82, Saturday, June 10th, 2006, Accident #7. Overnight one cat had used the bowl and left a poo in it, then another cat had to go, but since the bowl was full he left his poo on the floor beside the tub.
By now this journal of events may look like it's all doom and gloom because I only update about the accidents, but really, you have to think of all the good days we've had inbetween these accidents. I just don't update about the non-event days. Also the litter level has greatly decreased and it's making Loki extremely uncomfortable.
Luckily, ever since Loki was a new little kitten, he has announced loudly when he's going to poop. It's become louder now that he's uncomfortable with the small ammount of used litter in the bowl. In fact now he comes right out into the living room where we are and wails. I have now moved a chair into the bathroom. Their feeding schedule has been changed to the bowls being filled up each morning, no more, no less. And usually Loki seems to go in the morning, but it seems hard to keep track of the cats' ever changing bowel schedules.
So yesterday morning, after Loki yowled at us in the living room, I sat in my chair in the bathroom and just watched him, stopping him from using the tub each time that he tried. And Adam kept him from running out of the bathroom everytime I got him out of the tub. It was a long morning, but finally Loki had eliminated both #1 and #2, so we praised him up and let him free.
This morning was the same story, only Loki made an attempt in the tub while I was trying to close the windows, and Adam caught him and scolded, but as he did, Loki bolted from the room and laid down, out of reach, under my bed. I eventually fished him out, brought him back, and closed the door. Adam, Loki, and I sat in the bathroom for awhile and finally Loki let out some sad little cries and got on the toilet and poo'd. We praised him like crazy and let him roam free.
Today I've re-read that website I originally posted that I'm using to train our guys,
http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html
(Do read it, if you're planning to toilet train your cats - it's the best How To I've read),
sort of gave myself a refresher. I think I just need to replace the litter very frequently for these guys, and this week I plan to do so and hopefully switch to water by next weekend. Also, we've set an alarm to go off at 3am for the last two nights, and Adam gets up to check, and sure enough he's removed a poop at 3am each night, and another one as soon as he wakes up for school around 7am. This seems to have taken care of the floor accidents.
It's good to keep in mind that accidents are going to happen, it's part of the process. Also I tend to be a bit shocked at how many days I've taken in comparison to all of these other systems, but really, I think if we had only been training ONE cat we would be done by now, but we have three and they are catching on very well. So we must remain patient.
Best of luck everyone, and I'll be keeping you posted!
~
|
|
|
