If you are not someone who has had pets for a while, that sounds either weird or difficult doesn't it? It can be done-although it will require a lot of commitment from you as the owner. The biggest thing you are likely to need is patience - and lots of it. Feline toilet training is not unlike toilet training a child. Before you start any of this, you have to make sure that you know how to toilet train a feline in a litter box and that you have taken your cat through the process.You can then go ahead to take your cat through feline toilet training.This training can be modified appropriately depending on whether your intention is feline outdoor toilet training or indoor toilet training.
Step by step training your cat to use a toilet
The first thing to do is to move the litter box into the bathroom. If the litter box is a long way from the bathroom, move it closer step by step over a number of days. Once there, move the box to the side of the water closet (WC). Raise the box gradually over a number of days, until it is the same height as the WC. Ensure that the structure is rigid so that it will not fall over when your cat jumps on it.
Then, try putting a toilet training seat on your normal toilet and place a small amount of cat litter inside the training seat. Once your cats gets used to this, cut a small hole in the middle of the training seat and gradually make the hole bigger until eventually it is total open. When you have done this, your cat should now be used to using the toilet and you will not need the training seat any longer.
One thing you will need to remember, however, is that your cat won't be able to flush the toilet after use - so you will have to do it for them. Where possible i.e. you have more than one bathroom in your home, designate a particular toilet to carry out your feline toilet training. It may be a good idea to put a sign on the door stating 'feline toilet training in progress' - particularly if you have children or elderly relatives living with you, as they can be forgetful from time to time and use the designated toilet and place the lid down after use. You do not want to confuse your cat now do you?
Some experts, however, believe that feline toilet training is not natural and maybe even harmful. This is because cats naturally contract a parasite called toxoplasma, which can be caught by cats who 'do their business' outdoors. Indeed they believe that cats that have successfully undergone feline toilet training should not be allowed outdoors where the cat can pick up this parasite, return inside and transfer it into your sewage system.
Having said this, however, there are a number of advantages to feline toilet training.
Firstly, your home will smell much fresher and cleaner as you will have no smell from litter boxes inside the house. Secondly, it is environmentally friendly as you will not need to dispose of the used litter trays in dump it/landfill sites. Thirdly, you will save a small fortune by not having to buy any more litter.
So although you will not need a huge number of supplies or appliances to achieve successful feline toilet training, what you will need in abundance is patience, patience - and more patience. However, there are also many times your cat would show unhappiness or unwillingness to use the toilet when poo or poop.
Andy Baskin
