taking a break for research

Potty training did not go well after the trip to the vet, Panda being sick, and a tiny kitten being introduced for a couple of days. Both Panda and Wally started making messes all over the apartment and that is not okay. So a new plan needs to be put in place. I'm going to take a break from potty training until August, when Snickers will be staying at my apartment for a few more days after she gets spayed. After that I will have done some more research and hopefully have some new ideas to try out and I'm crossing my fingers it will work. In the mean time I'm leaving the toilet lid up so that they can keep getting used to the hole that is the toilet and their litter box has been moved to the hallway outside the bathroom, and the closet that used to be the home of their litter box is full of stuff so that they can't use it.

Step 5 - Plan B

Step 5 - Day 8-10

Everything around the house was still a little crazy, Panda started feeling better about a day before a kitten stayed in my apartment for a couple of days. My mom wanted a new cat to catch mice this summer out at her house and someone at work had 4 kittens who needed homes, so Wednesday evening little Skittles moved in for a while. Panda and Wally were totally freaked out by having a kitten around and since she wasn't being potty trained and was way to small to use the litter bowl in the toilet I had to put the real litter box back in the bathroom, which Panda and Wally both preferred to use. Skittles was taken to my parent's house on Thursday so potty training continued on Friday.

There was hardly any litter in the bowl and I tried to clean it out as soon as I saw it and I knew it was time to move on to the next step.


Step 6 - Day 1

On Friday night/Saturday morning I put a little bit of water in the litter bowl. When I got home Saturday night neither of them had used the bathroom in the bowl and I found a mess in the closet where the litter box used to be. So thats not going to work.


Plan B - Step a - Day 1


I had a couple of cardboard boxes that I had gotten Skittle in so I cut off one short side of a box and cut a small hole in the top. I put the box over the toilet with a little litter around the hole. To my surprise Panda checked it all out and used the bathroom in the toilet right away. I was so excited, it was the first time I had to actually flush the toilet after my cat. Unfortunately she missed a little and I had to scrap some of the litter off of the box itself. I also blocked off the closet so that they couldn't go in there anymore. I never saw Wally used the bathroom but at least one of them went in the bathroom again, again missing the hole a little.

Step a - Day 2
I made the hole bigger, hopefully they won't miss it anymore.

Step 5 - Day 5-7

I think the process is still working, but with a couple of hiccups over the weekend. I found where they used the bathroom a couple of times in the closet where their litter box used to be, luckily there is a rug there so it was easy to clean up. Apparently they do not want their litter box dirty at all so now that there is only a small amount of litter in the bottom of the bowl I am cleaning the whole thing out and filling it with a little bit of clean litter whenever they use it, They haven't used the closet since so that must have been their main issue with the bathroom.

I'm going to try to keep things the way they are for a few days, poor Panda had a very traumatic time in the car on the way to the vet yesterday and she is still a stinky mess and hiding most of the time. Once she calms down I'm going to move into the no litter stage of this process for about a day and then it will be time to start adding water.

I was hopping to ask the vet about potty training them but apparently he had never seen it done before and asked how I was doing it. Thank you Internet for being much more helpful than the vet in this case.

Step 5 - Day 2-4

Days 2 and 3 were pretty much the same. Panda and Wally are both using the litter box in the toilet without any problems. The only thing is, I haven't actually seen either of them use the toilet since the first day, but I haven't found any accidents around and I keep having to clean out the litter so I know they are using it.

Day 4

This morning I was very surprised, Wally used the bathroom twice and kept all 4 feet out of the litter both times. I was so proud, I never had to teach him that, he did it all on his own. If it was just Wally we would be able to move into the next stage of this process very soon, but I need to know that Panda is doing it right too before we go any farther. I also don't want to change anything else too much until after Monday when they get their shots.

Step 5 - Day 1

1. Measure the toilet bowl at its widest point
2. Buy a metal mixing bowl the same width as the bowl
3. Fill bowl with about 2 inches of cat litter and sit it in the toilet bowl
4. Close the toilet seat over it

I changed this up a little bit, I couldn't find a cheep metal bowl but I did find a really thick plastic one at Walmart for $2. I got two of them in case the one I have bends and fall in, which is why they suggest using a metal one. I also took three pieces of wide packing tape and attached the bowl to the toilet with the edges of the tape folded over so I can remove it when humans need to use the toilet.

After setting everything up I hid the litter box so that they couldn't use it instead of the new set up. I then lead them both into the bathroom and made them look in the toilet so they would know that their litter had been moved. Poor Wally looked so confused so I got some of their old litter that smelled like them and put some more in the new bowl.

About an hour later I saw Wally sniffing around near my bedroom door, which is where I was hiding the litter box. When he saw me he meowed so pathetically that I figured out that he must really need to go. I then walked with him back into the bathroom and coaxed him into jumping up onto the toilet and after some fussing he finally dug a hole and did his business. The impressive part was that he actually kept all 4 feet on the toilet seat while he pooped. I praised him like crazy which he totally loved and after covering everything up he left the room. I cleaned up after him right away and tried to get Panda to go to the bathroom, she didn't want anything to do with any of it.

A few hours later Wally meowed at me again, so we went back into the bathroom and he did it all again and urinated, but he had his two back feet in the litter, we will have to work on that. I'm so proud. I hope Panda was the one that used the new litter box during the night, but I'm not sure, I just need to keep an eye on her until I know she has all of this figured out.

Step 4 - Day 1/2

Step 4

-put the litter box on the toilet-

Day 1

Saturday morning I put the litter box on the toilet seat, it made it really high and they have to really jump to get onto it but they don't seem to mind. I was gone over night on Saturday so they had all night to get used to it.


Day 2

the litter box was still on the toilet all day Sunday. I came home last night and although they had made a huge mess with the litter all over the floor they were still using the litter box.

Tonight is when the real fun begins.

Step 3 - Day 5/6

Step 3 - Day 5

Part 3 continued

Nothing new or interesting happened yesterday, I wanted the kittens (who are turing 3 and 2 years old this month) to get used to jumping up onto something to use the bathroom, so I left the little tower of things alone for longer than I have before. However I did change things up a bit last night.


Step 3 - Day 6



Part 4

I put a laundry basket under the litter box late last night. This has now made the litter box about the same height as the toilet. It isn't exactly the same height but I think it is close enough to count.

I can't wait until the litter part is over, I have little grains of sand all over my bathroom floor and I sweep them up about three times a day, gross.

Funny thing about the laundry basket, about a week ago I was sitting on the floor playing with Panda when I grabbed the basket and put it over her, a game I used to play with my dog when I was a kid. I expected her to freak out and try to get out of the upside down laundry basket, but instead she sniffed around and then got comfortable. I let her out but a few minutes later she started sniffing the basket from the outside and then giving me her look that says she wants something, I get that look a lot from her. So I put the basket back over her and I'm pretty sure she would have fallen asleep if I have just left her alone. I have the weirdest cats, I swear. Well last night when she noticed that it was 'her' laundry basket under the litter box she almost acted like she wanted in it and I kind of felt bad for taking away her toy.

Step 3 - Day 3/4

Step 3 - Day 3

part 2 still

I didn't change anything yesterday, and neither of the cats really seem to care that their litter box is now in the bathroom or that it is up on a tiny platform. So instead I took a cute picture of Wally in his bed.




Step 3 - Day 4

Part 3

I put the box to a DDR dance pad on top of the two plastic tubs lifting it up about another 2 1/2 - 3 inches. They weren't happy about it. They now have to actually jump to get into the litter box but it is sturdy enough that it shouldn't fall. They are still using it so at least they aren't mad.

Step 3 - Day 2

Part 2

Today I lifted the litter box up some more, I put 2 smaller plastic storage boxes under it so now it's about 3 inches off the floor. Neither of the cats seem to care at this point.

I think they are used to me doing crazy things so they just kind of go with it, like when I was taking too long to feed them when I got home Panda rang the bell in the kitchen (a trick I tried to teach them last year that kind of worked) to get me to hurry up.

Step 3 - Day 1

Step 3

-raise litter box about 2 inches per day-

part 1
about an inch

I put a pizza box under the litter box to lift it up about an inch. I don't think they even noticed. Both of them are still jumping up onto the toilet seat to check it out, what I can't really understand why they do it after they use the bathroom, eventually they will do that before they go.

Step 2 - Day 1

Step 2 - Day 1 night

Step two:
-Move the litter box into the bathroom-

I cleaned up all the kitty mess in the living room, I swear litter gets everywhere, and moved the litter box into the bathroom. Panda wasn't happy, she kept sniffing around the closet where their box used to be and I kept a close eye on her and even carried her into the bathroom to show here where the box was. She used it but it almost seemed grudgingly. Wally is okay with it, sometimes he is so easy to get along with.

Step 2 - Day 2


Both cats seem to be used to the litter box sitting in the bathroom and both of them checked out the toilet this morning. I'm still having trouble remembering to leave the lid up.

Step 1 - Day 4

Step 1 - Day 4

I didn't get home until late last night so I haven't been able to clean up the whole kitty litter area yet so we are still on Step 1.

Yesterday morning Panda avoided the toilet as much as possible but Wally jumped up on it to check it out. Maybe he will be better at this than his sister, who knows.

I'm going to be the hardest one to train at this point, I keep closing the lid which I can't do once they actually start needing it on a regular basis.

Step 1 -Day 5 morning

Wally drank out of the toilet this morning. They both jumped up onto it to check it out but then Wally started using it as a water bowl, so gross but sadly not the first time he has done this.

-Back Story-
Back in 2008 I graduated from college, moved back home with my parents, and adopted a tiny little kitten we named Wally. That summer Baby Wally played outside with our other cat Zippy and grew up with the two puppies Pepper and Ginger who had been adopted on Easter earlier that spring.

That winter Wally was neutered and stayed inside for a couple of weeks and eventually it became permanent after he proved to be a very sweet and well behaved inside cat. He was fed in the laundry room where we could keep his food away from the puppies but he shared a water bowl with them in the kitchen.

That spring Pepper and Ginger got hit by a car out in the road and both of them had broken pelvises and Ginger had a broken leg. They were kept in their crates to recover and their food and water bowls were moved into the crates with them so they could eat and drink without moving very much. However, over our worry about the puppies we forgot that we had also taken away Wally's source of water.

About a week later I was talking to my mom in her room and heard a strange sound coming from the bathroom, something climbing around on stuff and splashing water. We walked into the bathroom to find Wally perched on the toilet seat, his head down in the toilet itself and drinking away. After much laughter we then found a water bowl for him and kept it with his food from then on.

Step 1 - Day 3

All is going well so far, but nothing is really happening at all except for getting used to something new so I guess it isn't that interesting yet. Neither of them jumped onto the toilet seat today, Panda looked into it but jumped straight up onto the bathroom counter instead of onto the toilet and then onto the counter and Wally never even went into the bathroom this morning.

I have been doing some major spring cleaning the last couple of days so this first step is taking a little longer than necessary. Tomorrow I plan on cleaning up all the kitty litter mess over by their litter box and then begin step two, move the litter box into the bathroom next to the toilet.

I realize that this seems completely crazy and it might not work, but now I have to do it just to prove I can (Stephen), not to mention how much cleaner this place will be without kitty litter on the floor.

Step 1 - Day 2

Step one, leaving the toilet lid up, is going well. This morning Wally tried to jump onto the toilet lid like he always does but then he half fell in, he stood there, his front paws dangling in the seat, his back feet still on the ground, looking down at the water for a good minute trying so hard to figure out what was going on. He had a little trouble jumping up onto the seat at first but soon he was walking around it and playing with the water.

Panda also discovered the change but she jumped straight up onto it without any trouble and then, like Wally, pawed at the water for a little while and walked around the seat. I'm going to continue step one until Thursday morning so that my friends who are coming over tomorrow don't have to deal with the kitty litter box in the bathroom, at least not this week.

Step 1 - Day 1

So this always happens, I get bored so I decide to try something new. I once decided to train my cats to ring a bell when they want food, Panda still does it sometimes, especially when she is trying to show off while I am dog sitting, but Wally never even tried. Now I'm going to try to toilet train both of them, I'm pretty sure Panda is clever enough to figure it out, Wally on the other hand is kind of lazy and a brat so I'm not sure if he will even try. If nothing else this will be a fun experiment.

Where to start:
I found this website to give me some ideas
http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html

Step one:
-Lid up, Seat down, Door open-

This will be a big step, the last time the lid was left open on the toilet seat Wally fell in. They both sit on the toilet lid when I'm getting reading in the morning and they kind of dive bomb onto it and slide off the other side half the time. So first step, let them get used to the lid being up on the seat. I'm already used to leaving the door open during the day so hopefully that wont be a problem.