Train a Cat to Use a Toilet

Cats are adorable creatures - all cat lovers will agree with that. They make excellent human companions and, like dogs, are also considered by many as man's best friend. Cute, cuddly, and companionable, these domesticated felines can easily melt anybody's heart. They can entertain you with their sweet little tricks and make you laugh out loud with their crazy antics. Yes, cats are absolutely charming, but not all the time. You have to admit, endearing as they are, cats also do things that can annoy you out of your wits such as scratching you wood furniture, biting your curtain tassels, and, at worst, pooping on your brand new carpet.

The good news is that cats are smart and curious animals. For this reason, they can be trained to do several things that could make your life easier. Just one of the things you can teach your little feline friend to do is to use the toilet. If you want your cat to be like Jack Byrnes' Himalayan cat in "Meet the Parents" then you should start thinking about training your kitty to use the toilet now. As opposed to what some people think, potty training cats is not hard to do. All you need is plenty of patience and a strong determination. And oh, you will also need a litter box and a roll of wax paper.

If your cat already knows how to use the litter box, then that makes the task of getting them to use the toilet 50% easier. Since cats are clean creatures by nature, chances are that they will find pooping in the toilet more desirable than what they were initially accustomed to. The trick in potty training a cat is to do it gradually. Depending on your cat's personality, the process of toilet training can take several days to a few weeks. There's no point in hastening the training because cats take time to learn and get used to the new pooping system.

Start the potty training by moving your cat's litter box near a toilet. After you do this, make sure your cat knows where to find its litter box. Let your cat become familiar with the new location of its litter box. After you have done this, the next thing to do is to move the litter box inch by inch towards the toilet bowl for the subsequent days until it ends up right next to the bowl. While inching the litter box towards the toilet bowl, you should also reduce the amount of litter used bit by bit.

The next goal is to get the cat to sit on the toilet bowl. You can do this by progressively adding a book under a litter box until it's already elevated to the same height as the toilet bowl. When you've already done this, raise the toilet seat and tape a sheet of wax paper over it. The wax paper should be big enough to cover the hole. Then, lower the seat and gradually move the litter box an inch towards the seat over the following days. Do this until the litter box is right over the toilet seat. Don't forget to reduce the amount of litter every time you move the litter box towards the seat until there's already none left. When you've done this, discard the box and cut an inch-wide hole in the middle of the wax paper. In the succeeding days, gradually widen the wax paper's hole until it becomes as big as that of the toilet seat. By the time you are done with this last step, congratulations, you now have a toilet-trained cat.