Monday, June 28, 2010

Potty Training

We have embarked on a potty training experience with Bailey. I wanted to potty train her when I first got her, but I was so happy that she went in the litter box and covered her stuff that I completely abandoned the idea. I'm not sure why we started thinking about this again--but now there are all sorts of cool things to potty train your cat.
First we moved the litter box right next to the toilet.
Then we raised up the litter box a bit.
A few days later we raised it up to the level of the toilet. We also went out and bought flushable litter.
This is what the training kit looks like. It comes with catnip and an instruction book. I don't know why they suggest putting catnip in with the litter. Bailey already tried to eat the flushable litter (it is 100% wheat.) I don't know why I'd want her eating or playing in the litter. No thanks.
This is the litter pan on the toilet with the flushable litter. We completely took away her litter box yesterday and we've been anxiously awaiting her first pee pee in the potty. We actually added some of her old litter so she'd know what it was, then we added more, and more. We were really nervous. We put her in the litter box at least 6 times and I gave her a treat each time she sat there. This morning I finally heard her scratching at the litter. Bailey's first pee pee in the potty! She got treats and cat nip. I was so excited that I was singing a song about treats for pee pee in the potty.

The idea is to cut out a hole in the middle and progressively make it larger. We are supposed progress to the next size once each week. I think she'll be fine with that. We might even be able to do the first couple of holes a little faster. As the hole gets bigger the cat has to stand on the toilet seat and actually go in the toilet, not in the litter pan. We are keeping our fingers crossed and I'll be sure to post on our girl's progress.

2 comments:

Nicole said...

My dog is litter trained. She goes in a kitty litter box in our downstairs closet. If I take her outside, she'll go outside. If not, she'll just go in the litter box. At 8 pounds, she half the size of most cats anyway.

The only downside: She likes to eat her poop.

Good luck with your kitty toilet training. For some reason, I find that to be both amusing and fascinating. I hope it works!

Disobedient Tiger said...

eating poop is one thing, eating the litter that sticks to it, that is a whole nother level