Quick Start Tips and Tricks Diary Stories

My Adventures in Toilet Training My Cats
Or
No More Litter!

Continued...

January 3, 1998 - Ok, we're now back on track and even moving forward!! For Pizza, I moved the litter box up and up til it was the height of the toilet. Then I took it away and put the sitz (no holes) into the toilet and put in a bunch of litter. NO PROBLEMO! Jake and Pizza both used the sitz with zero accidents for weeks. I kept trying to catch Pizza in the act so I could check on feet positions. Never ever did. Still haven't. So I decided to just forge ahead. Small hole first (about an inch across). No problem. Bigger hole next (about two inches). Jake started pooping on the floor beside the toilet again. Sigh. But, it's really a whole lot easier to pick up the poop with some toilet paper and throw it into the toilet, than it is to constantly be sweeping up litter. So I forged ahead. This week, a huge hole - four inches with just a sprinkle of litter around the edge. It's wonderful. Last night I woke up to the sound of someone peeing right into the toilet. Ole Jake didn't even dirty up the little bit of litter - just shot through the hole. YAHOO!! I still haven't caught Pizza in the act but she's doing fine anyway. We could all live together happily at this stage forever. I think I might poke holes around the rim so that when they do miss the big hole, there will be drainage. It's not total victory but it's sooooo damn close! 

March 7 - Not a whole lot new. Jake finally balked at the big hole and I dropped back to the sitz with the smaller hole for a couple of weeks. Now we're back to the big hole and things are ok. Jake still poops on the floor but pees in the toilet and Pizza performs sans a single accident. (As a bonus, the hole is big enough so that I can use the toilet without removing the sitz, which is nice.) 

May 10 - Things are still where they were, but I'm getting cranky e-mail about my not having a new entry recently so here you go. We still have the big hole with the ledge for Jake's litter. I found out recently that he really really really likes any meat made for babies. You know those little jars of baby food? If it's meat he loves it. So we have a new routine. Every night when I go in to brush my teeth, he comes in behind me and proceeds with this peeing ritual. He hops up on the toilet seat and pokes his nose down to make sure there is litter on the ledge. Then he digs around it a bit, settles himself with his usual two front feet on the seat, one back foot on the seat and one back foot on the ledge. I then interrupt my teeth brushing and move his back leg to the seat. Most of the time this is successful. Sometimes he gets out of routine, stops peeing and hops down, totally giving up. When he is successful, he gets lots of 'good boys' and then a small spoon (1/4th teaspoon) of baby food meat.

I'm not sure we're making any progress at all. We do this every night with no change. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's getting a treat because I'm brushing my teeth. But, hey... it's now such a tradition, who could stop? Pizza, on the other hand, just poops and pees into the toilet with no fanfare and no fuss. She's brilliant. 

October - On October 8, 1998, I declared victory! Thanks to the dear folks on my mailing list, I got the winning clue. I tossed out the sitz and got an aluminum roasting pan that fit my toilet perfectly. (see the quick start page for photos and details) I poked a bunch of holes in it and sprinkled in the tiniest bit of litter. Jake and Pizza used it with no sweat. I started a hole in the middle. No problem. I made the hole bigger every day until it is now big enough for me to use the toilet without taking it out and Jake and Pizza use it with no problem. Jake still has to have a place to put his one foot so there is a little ledge in front. But, that's it. No litter. No box. VICTORY!!!!

 

 

Quick Start Tips and Tricks Diary Stories