Teaching a cat how to use the toilet can result in various benefits and advantages. First, it can lead to a cleaner house for you because there will be no more cat urine or feces lying in certain spots of your house. Second, it can eliminate any bad smell or odor caused by cat urine and feces. And third, it can save you precious time from cleaning cat feces and urine. The only downside is that training your cat to use the toilet can be a challenging journey. But once you have done it, you can reap the fruits of your patience and labor. Let us discuss how you can train your cat to use the toilet.

Getting Your Cat Ready

The first thing to do when training your cat to use the toilet is to make the necessary preparations. First of all, you must prepare the bathroom containing the toilet you designate for your cat’s use. If you have more than one bathroom in your house, then you should choose which of it will be your cat’s bathroom. But if you only have one, then this is not your problem.

Preferably, you should choose the bathroom where your cat is closest to or where your cat has easier access in. For example, if your cat stays on the first floor of your house, then don’t choose a bathroom on the second floor.

Second, you should gather the necessary materials needed to toilet train your cat. What you will do is to first teach your cat to use a training seat after his litter box and then finally, you will be teaching him how to use the toilet.

Fortunately for you, there are training seats available for sale in pet shops and online stores. If you want to save some cash from that, you can just make your own training seat using an aluminum roasting pan, kitchen plastic wrap or plastic liner, and duct tape.

To make your DIY training tray, place the aluminum roasting pan over the rim of the toilet, and then secure that using duct tape. If the tray does not fully cover the toilet bowl, fill any gap using plastic wrap. You can also invest in a cat litter pan.

Getting Started w/ Toilet Training

Now with all the materials secured, you are now ready to train your cat into using the toilet. You will have to start with her cat litter box, which is the usual place where she pees and poops. Raise the cat litter box in little increments each week. You can use old magazines, newspapers, or cardboard to elevate it by 3 inches every day. Your goal here is to teach your cat to jump onto its place for peeing and pooping. It will then be able to eventually jump onto your toilet for relief.

After that, you will now move your cat’s litter box from its usual place in your home into the top of your toilet seat. Leave it there for a few days or until your cat becomes fully comfortable into relieving itself on the toilet.

Once that happens, replace the litter box with the training seat you purchased or made. However, you should still pour some cat litter into the training seat because your cat will still look for that. Give your cat some time, perhaps a few days, to get used to peeing and pooping in the training seat. Gradually decrease the amount of litter you pour into the training seat. Once he gets comfortable into using that, it is time to completely remove the training seat so that your cat will be able to completely relieve itself on the toilet.

And with that, you are successfully able to train your cat into using the toilet. No more need for you to worry about the cat litter box or your cat pooping or peeing in different spots in your home. Perhaps you should celebrate by giving yourself a treat and rewarding your cat for its good behavior.

Important Reminders

However, before completely finishing this topic, there are still some important reminders that you should keep in mind when it comes to training your cat into using the toilet.

• First, consider if toilet training is the right one for your cat. If you have a young kitten, maybe less than 6 months of age, then toilet training them is not the best thing to do. Toilet training is more suitable for older cats who are already comfortable in relieving themselves in the litter box.
• Second, many veterinarians actually do not recommend toilet training cats. The natural instinct for cats is to bury and dig their poop and pee. Forcing them to use a toilet can be stressful for them and may lead to behavioral and health issues.
• And third, toilet training will not go perfectly all the time. Your cat may be resistant in the process and may poop or pee elsewhere other than its litter box. Hence, do consider your cat’s behavior if the toilet really is the best place for it to eliminate.