Looking for kitty owners who've sucessfully trained the kitties to use

[xultar]

a human toilet bowl.

Please give me your experiences!!! I'm thinking of trying it again because I have 3 bathrooms. Surely I can dedicate one to the kids.

[bettyellen]

1. hey Xultar, I'm 80% there with my girls and i owe everything to these

guys.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CatsT-Training/?yguid=94842694

in the meantime, no matter what method you try you need to:

1) make sure you have special treats the cats loves, and use them only as a reward from now on. they are in training.
2) move the litter box close to the toilet... and then start raising it higher w/ boxes or phonebooks. the goal is to get it right next to and as high as the toilet bowl.
3) switch to flushable litter. (feline pine, swheat scoop, world's best, and (so i've heard) yesterday's news too- note my cats wanted to eat the wheat scoop (it's wheat) and the world's best (corn) so i settled on feline pine- clumping shouldn't be an issue for long, anyway.
4) keep your cat on a very regular feeding sched, preferably 2X a day, and make note of when/ how often they are going (often 5-20 min after a feeding).

i am using the sitz bath method, because i started to use the bowl and then the roasting pan, and they were too unstable, and bumpy on the bottom.
right now the hole in the sitz bath is so big most everything is going straight into the toilet water (woo hooo!) if i had an extra toilet, i could really just live with how it is now- so much less smell!
i have two cats, so i'm trying not to push them so hard that they'll slip up, because i'm not sure i'd know who to "correct and redirect" if i found a mess. So far, no messes, although when i do an alteration, i make sure i'm around a lot to coax them through it. it helps if you can be around alot to reward them immediately after using the toilet. my cats make sure i know they're doing it..
sometimes it seems like they are faking it for a treat too.

supplies you may need:
(only a litter container- such at the sitz or roasting pan, something to make holes in it, and the litter is totally necesary)

a sitz bath (or even better, two) or disposable roasting pan or bowl that fits in toilet
sodering iron for sitz (to melt holes- and no, a knife will crack it, :))
hot glue gun (and possibly scrap plastic (from a milk jug works well, or plastic flower pots, to make a litter dam)
the treats (i use bonito- shaved tuna- from a japanese market)

the group has a lot of great files on different methods, but they (and i) highly recomend using a sitz bath, as it is most stable for all cats and they seem to freak out and rebel less with it. anyway, it's a great place to get alot of info and feedback on how to deal with weird kitty behaviour.
there are files with pics of many graduates there, it's very inspiring to see that lot's of people have made it through. i have learned alot from them.

let me know if you are joining. i'm bettyellen16 over there.
:hi:

[Vadem]

2. Xultar, I had the funniest experience while visiting my Mom....

a little history: she had three baby kittens dropped in her yard 10 years ago on Good Friday. They were only about two weeks old! We do not know the bastards who did this! However, since it was Good Friday, and the babies had to eat, she fed them around the clock until they were able to eat pablum. She, also, ordered a kit to teach your cat to use the toilet; it apparently had a cardboard form that you placed on the toilet seat and it had a place to put the kitty litter underneath. I never saw the contraption so forgive me if my description lacks clarity!

Well, anyway, she tried it for awhile when the kittens were little and did not think that she had succeeded. Well, they are now 10 years old! I was down to visit her last summer and she has a bathroom off the kitchen area. I kept hearing water running and went to the bathroom to see if, perhaps, someone had left the faucet turned on. What did I see? I saw Mom's big boy, Sneakers, 19 lbs, perched upon the sides of the toilet seat for balance and peeing into the toilet bowl! OMG, I cracked up and called my Mom over to see what he was doing! He was actually peeing into the toilet bowl! It was so funny! I laugh still, when I think about it!

So, YES! It is possible to teach your cat to pee in the toilet! I have witnessed it firsthand! They haven't learned how to push the handle to flush, yet, though!