Has anyone trained their cat to use a toilet?

deeds

I'm just about to start training my kitteh to use the toilet, looking on youtube it doesn't look like its THAT much of an ordeal, I've got the CitiKitty training kit & flushable litter, shes had a sit in it (yeah, SIT ) but that's all, just wondering if anyone else has trained their kitty to use the toilet?
I hate the whole cat litter thing & would prefer she just went outside, but that's not going to happen any time soon so hopefully this work out.. Fingers crossed.

rising_from_the_ashes

Sorry but why on earth would you want to do this?

A cat is a cat - it should be allowed to toilet in the closest possible way to what it would do in its natural environment.

Using a litter tray is often the easiest (and sometimes only way) of picking up health issues

deeds

Crapping in a plastic box is as far removed from its natural environment as is a toilet. Ideally I'd prefer she went outside (as my other cats have) but at this point in time that's not possible.
If you're so concerned about keeping a cats 'natural environment' I'll assume you don't feed yours & they hunt their own food?
No? Thought not.

I wrote a post asking if anyone else had tried this, not to be slated.

lostinrates

It's very easy to do, but I agree its a poor idea.

When we did it ( our cats have quite a few tricks) given a choice our cats chose litter every single time.

Its more natural to use litter ( or soil) because with the loo you are denying them the instinct to scratch and cover, (which potentially could have physiological impact though stress and/or result in the development of stereotypical behaviours.) Having read more about this and spoke to friends/previous colleagues who specialised in feline science I decided it was indeed something I was not happy to continue.

Why I prefer my cats to go in a box rather than out side is that despite having no immediate neighbours, what happens in the box is one of the best ways to get to know your cat's health. When something changes in the box its often your first clue in to a health problem, either a short blip or a serious problem.

For the sake of a couple of minutes a day, with the excellent litters produced today, the mental and physical health of my cats is really not worth quibbling about.


But yes, loo training is one of the easier things to train them to do.

rising_from_the_ashes

deeds wrote: »

Crapping in a plastic box is as far removed from its natural environment as is a toilet. Ideally I'd prefer she went outside (as my other cats have) but at this point in time that's not possible.

If you're so concerned about keeping a cats 'natural environment' I'll assume you don't feed yours & they hunt their own food?
No? Thought not.

Allowing them to dig to defacate and to then scratch and cover it up is very much natural behaviour that they can do in a litter box filled with soft, sand like litter - you would be denying that if they used a human toilet

Mine is a prolific hunter and is given the opportunity to catch & eat his own food every day - and he does, thank you

donnac2558

Jackson Galaxy My Cat From Hell, calls it stupid. I agree.

fairy_lights

I can't imagine my cat ever wanting to use a human toilet...it's his main source of drinking water, much to the disgust of the humans around him, so he would be horrified at the idea of pooping in it.

quidsy

My cat refused to use a litter tray after the first day he was let out. We kept one down for 18 months before getting rid of it & in all that time he refused to use it but if he was stuck would go in the bath right near the plug hole & only wee. Twice he has had stomach bug & forced to go indoors & again only in the bath. It's very odd but helpful none the less. OH once caught him squatting over a drain outside!

So they are capable of going places other than litter tray so good luck with it.

cavework

One of my cats used to pee in the plug hole of the bath?
Hope this helps
:-)
Then again , years ago, one of my rescue cats pooped in my now ex husbands crash helmet
I loved that cat!

deeds

My old cat would rather pee in the bath too when it was too cold (in her opinion) to go out in the middle of the night. She wouldn't entertain a litter tray at all.

With regard to spotting health issues, one would just as easy spot them in a toilet, perhaps even easier than in a litter tray - it's not like she's going to flush is it? I have read about cats getting blockages from litter & tbh it scares the hell out of me.
Anyhoo, ultimately, it will be up to her, I'll keep her normal litter tray too & she can choose her own toilet. Obviously I won't be forcing her to use the toilet if she doesn't choose to. She very much rules the roost, I'm just her human slave

lostinrates

One of the most frequent things to look out for is how much they drink and urinate, both 'normally' and if there are any changes. I'd find it pretty hard to guesstimate how many widdles there were in a loo.

With two cats sharing trays I know there is more/ less but not 'who' without monitoring the cats more closely or looking for other signs of health.

Most people who loo train will say at some point if you are going to do it you will need to take the tray away. I applaud you if you don't and you give your cat a choice. All individuals can show irregular preferences, this is very different to enforcing the choice.