When the temps hit below 20 degrees fahrenheit we stopped putting the cats out on our unheated back porch at night and moved their litter box into our bathroom at night.
To avoid getting clay litter dust all over I switched them to litter made out of recycled newspaper (which regretfully doesn’t clump and doesn’t cover scents well). With 2 cats I’ve been changing that litter and washing out the pan 3 to 4 times a day.
That got to be rather tedious and expensive fast.
I recently discovered a clumping low dust litter made out wheat that seems to absorb smells way better than the recycled newspaper
but I can’t help but think maybe the girls could by pass the litter thing completely by learning to use the toilet.
My Mom’s cousin and his family (she lived with them at the time) lived in a 5th-story apartment back in the day, and “Jamesy” desperately wanted a cat. He finally won out, but soon tired of taking the cat outside to do his business (and sometimes just to amuse the cat). 5 flights down, 5 flights up, each time.
My Mom says the cat was taught in about a week, though it required everyone in the house to remember to leave the seat up.
I have read that one accomplishes this in steps, by moving the litter box higher next to the toilet, eventually onto, then under, the toilet seat, finally removing the box altogether. Takes several weeks according to the method.
Perhaps Jamesey’s cat was especially bright.
Although my brother says cats come in two types: dumb and extra dumb.
I have some of each.
I know some people have managed to train their iguanas to use the toilet, but it would be easier, I think, for an iguana to straddle the seat than a cat. With a cat, I’d be concerned with them sliding in. For an old, arthritic cat you’d have to come up with too complex a solution to allow it to get up that far (and still worry that it not slip in).
Perhaps unsuccessful toilet-training gambits in pre-history are what has lead to modern-day cats’ aversion to getting wet …
I know some people have managed to train their iguanas to use the toilet, but it would be easier, I think, for an iguana to straddle the seat than a cat.
Oh wow, really? The iguana my dad used to care for (he runs a pet care business, mostly dogs and cats but he occasionally gets wierd requests like iguanas, pufferfish, and trees) refused to go to the bathroom unless it was immersed in water.
I guess it depends on the type of iguana (?). The one I saw was on a tv show. The owners said it had picked up the trick all by itself. This thing was a green iguana, about three feet long, not counting the tail. As was mentioned above, the family just had to remember to leave the seat down but the lid up.
I knew a couple who toilet-trained their cat. As Em said, first the litter box near the toilet, then on the toilet, but then they had a litter-box insert that went into the toilet bowl. It was hard, clear plastic and held maybe a cup or two of litter. I don’t think it took them more than a week or two; that was with a young kitten, we’re talking maybe 3 months old at the most, very tiny.
We tried this with a kit- there is a litter box that fits under the seat and you put something yummy-smelling (at least to a cat) in the litter. Over the weeks you remove more of the center until it’s all gone. One of our cats went for it, the other went for the bathtub. We were trying to eliminate the litter box because of dogs snacking out of it- now we just have a baby gate in a room we don’t use often. Poor old girls were getting ambushed in the box…
Ah yes..what we jokingly call the crunchie-munchies here. I have the same problem when my daughter brings her dogs over. I now keep a board near the litter box to cover up the “snack bar” when they show up. I don’t have to worry about Pyscho Kitty getting “ambushed in the box” though. When the dogs, or any other animal comes in this house, PK heads for the top of a secretary in my ofice. She will wait up there until the theat has passed, or I close the office door.
She did get caught off guard one time and spent the day on top of a shelving unit in my shop. When the dogs went home she came down and headed right for the litter box. She was in there for a loooong time… only coming out at one point to inform me that she was going to need more litter. She stood outside the box scratching at the tile floor while giving me a look that plainly said “You either get some more litter in here now or say goodbye to the stuff in the laundry basket!!”
Anyway…I has a cousin who toilet trained her cat, and the process was similar to what EM and Chas described. I beleive there is a gadget available at Petco which is supposed to help with the tranistion.
Try new Kitty Krunchies, the tasty, healthy snack that dogs love.
Crunchy on the outside; creamy and chewy on the inside
It’s Organic
It’s Natural
It has everything doggie wants – nasty odor, fecal flavor, palate satisfying crunch, attention from owner when caught muzzle-down in the kitty box, delectable strains of e. coli.
Boy, it’s hard to decide what to do. There’s the whistle-full-of-black-cigarette-crud thread, the nearly-fried-paraglider thread, and then this one. So many nausea-inducing thoughts, so little time !
