Conclusion

Tips

• Confident, approval-seeking cats typically take more readily to toilet training than skittish cats.

• Wait until the cat is comfortable with each stage before advancing. If you rush it, the cat will get uncomfortable and may reject the entire process permanently.

• Don’t try to force the cat to do anything it doesn’t want to do — you shouldn’t have to pick it up and put it in the litter box, for example. If the cat’s not figuring it out, use a treat to tempt it into modeling the correct behavior, and if it resists (or behaves for the treat but not on its own) you’ve moved too quickly from one stage to the next. Go back a step or two and proceed more slowly.

• Indoor/outdoor cats are likely to hold it while inside and wait until they can go out, which can lead to urinary tract infections. If they don’t take to the training right away, give it up. (See warnings below.)

• It helps if you’re around to be available for training. If you’re at the office 12 hours a day, your cat will make its own solution for relieving itself.

• Flushing after the cat uses the toilet can help.

• Once the cat is successfully using the system, reward it with treats after each success to reinforce the behavior. This is particularly handy from stage 4 on.

A Word of Warning

There are a few big issues to keep in mind when deciding whether to try to toilet-train your cat:

» Don’t teach your cat to flush. Once it learns, it will find this an entertaining way to pass the time and your water bill will skyrocket.

» Don’t toilet-train if you live near a body of water where river or sea otters live. Cat feces can contain a protozoan called Toxoplasma gondii that is known to kill otters.

» This is the big one: If your cat isn’t taking to the toilet within a month’s time, quit trying (at least for a few months). Domestic cats are very prone to urinary tract infections, which can kill them if left untreated. Most often these occur when a cat is holding its urine, which it’s likely to do if stressed or uncomfortable with its toilet situation. Your cat may simply not be a good candidate for using the toilet, in which case it’s better to let the cat have its way.

Signs of urinary tract infection include (but are not limited to):

• urinating in inappropriate places

• crying in the litter box

• frequent urination in tiny amounts

• straining to urinate

• bloody urine

• excessive genital licking

If you observe any of these signs, see your vet immediately.

''This project first appeared in MAKE Volume 20, page 144.