The Furry Critter Network

Toilet Training


Although cat toilet training eliminates the mess of cat litter, pet parents considering toilet training their pet may want to reconsider. For the purpose of your cat’s natural instincts, using a litter pan permits your pet the ability to dig and cover. Overall, a cat using a toilet is above all, a novelty not necessarily evolutionary.

How to Toilet Train a Cat – Common Misconceptions

Myth: Felines are trainable, therefore, they’re particularly suitable for toilet training.

  • Fact: Even if a cat is trained to use a toilet, in reality, it’s not the best for their nature.

Myth: Training a feline consequently helps them adapt to defecating in a home environment.

  • Fact: Training your pet to use the toilet, in effect, goes against their instinct to dig, eliminate, and cover.

Myth: Products and kits expressly help train a feline to use a toilet.

  • Fact: Significantly, toilet training kits are not as useful as changing the litter pan daily. On the positive side, with a second litter pan for your pet, they can frequently use it as an alternative.

Myth: Toilet training, in the long run, eliminates most of the disadvantages of litter boxes.

  • Fact: A change in the volume or the frequency of your pet’s urine is essential to note. For this reason, an immediate visit to the Veterinarian is appropriate. For this reason, taking a litter pan away doesn’t necessarily permit pet parents the opportunity to monitor change in their pet’s urinary and digestive systems.

Myth: All things considered, training a feline to use the toilet is easier than you may think.

  • Fact: Toxoplasmosis, a parasite shed in poop, particularly winds up in water sources when flushed, essentially killing seals, otters, and other water-dwelling wildlife.

Myth: You can boast your pet is trained to specifically use the toilet.

  • Fact: Toilet training is not about the pet parent’s needs rather it’s about what’s best for the cat. Plus, if a cat experiences stress from being pressured to do something, they can potentially react negatively. Ultimately, defecating wherever they want.

Myth: No more kitty litter will be left lingering around the house.

  • Fact: In any event, the inability to bury their waste could lead to additional stress, which could result in anxiety-related issues.

Myth: Overall, most pets are surprisingly trainable and receptive to toilet training.

  • Fact: Although cat toilet training sounds more like a convenient novelty, on balance, it’s more or less, not beneficial for your cat.

Pet parents may need to consider maintaining the litter pan daily and having several boxes. For the most part, doing so increases the potential for litter pan training. In the final analysis, however, training a cat to use the toilet is just not necessarily the best use of time or energy.

Although a feline using a toilet is truly exceptional and rare, it shouldn’t be encouraged. While teaching your pet to use the toilet may be a thing, on the whole, Veterinarians do not recommend it for many credible reasons. To sum up, cat toilet training is not beneficial to a cat’s natural process.

Toilet Training Cat FAQs

Question: Can all felines adapt to toilet training?

  • Answer:  While some cats are trainable, toilet training forces a cat to use the toilet rather than training them. Additionally, using unnatural positions could be difficult for some cats.

Question: Do toilet training kits work on every cat?

  • Answer: Ordinarily, most high-tech cat toilet training kits are made to meet the desires of humans, not the needs of cats. Ultimately, there is no guarantee toilet kits are successful.  

Question: Should I be concerned if there’s a change in my cat peeing?

  • Answer:  In brief, domestic cats are susceptible to urinary tract infections. UTI’s are a result of a cat holding their urine when they are stressed. When cats urinate inappropriately, have frequent urination in tiny amounts, strains during urination, promptly visit your Veterinarian.

Question: How does cat toilet training impact aging cats?

  • Answer:  As shown above, cat toilet training is not the best concept altogether.  Considering the needs of arthritic or elderly cats, cat toilet training is obviously wrong.

Cat Toilet Training Tips

To be noted, special needs pets may not be suitable for toilet training. In the first place, it’s up to a pet parent to ultimately consider if toilet training is a good idea for your feline.

  • At Least Six Months and Uses the Litter: To repeat, if your cat can use the litter box and is at least six months old, on the positive side, she can be toilet trained.
  • Confident and Outgoing Pet: That is to say, chances for training a cat are highest among pets who are interested, motivated, and ultimately, pet parents who are very patient.
  • Cats Predisposed to Training: Abyssinian, American Shorthair, or Domestic Shorthair, Bengal, Savannah, and Siamese are for the most part, five of the top particularly trainable cats.
  • Start Moving the Litter Box: Move the litter pan as close as possible to the toilet. If the litter is in another room, it may take several weeks of moving it ever so slowly to the bathroom.
  • Open Toilet Lid and Leave Seat Down: In detail, this lets a cat climb onto the seat.
  • Allow For Adjustments: Litter box training requires patience. Wait until the feline is comfortable with each location of the litter before moving the litter pan again.
  • Reinforce Good Behavior: Each time the cat uses the new location of the litter pan, reward your pet with a treat.
  • Move Litter Pan On Top of Toilet: As your pet adapts, using the litter pan in each new location, eventually, you can move the pan onto the toilet. At which point, you can remove the litter entirely. Obviously, pet parents should consider toilet training kits as they provide a more suitable fixture for a feline to squat on a toilet.
  • Prepare for setbacks: Lastly, never scold a cat if it makes a mistake.

Petfinder


Back To Feline Article Menu

Featured Rescues

"Don't Shop ... Please Adopt"

laptop pro

ASPCA

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®) was the first humane society to be established in North America and is, today, one of the largest in the world.

Our organization was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans and must be protected under the law. Headquartered in New York City, the ASPCA maintains a strong local presence, and with programs that extend our anti-cruelty mission across the country, we are recognized as a national animal welfare organization. We are a privately funded 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, and are proud to boast more than 2 million supporters across the country.

The ASPCA’s mission, as stated by founder Henry Bergh in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.”



laptop pro

Petfinder

If you can’t find the pet you’re looking for on Petfinder, don’t give up. Some shelters maintain waiting lists for specific breeds, so don’t be afraid to ask! There are also breed-specific rescues for just about every breed, and most of them post their pets on Petfinder. (Petfinder can even e-mail you when a pet that fits your criteria is posted — just click “Save this Search” at the top of your search results page.)



laptop pro

Rescue Me

Jeff Gold, Founder, Rescue Me! Animal Rescue Network

Jeff Gold lives in Watkinsville, Georgia on the same property as Rescue Me's Animal Rehabilitation Center, with 18 rescue animals. Shown with him in the photo to the left are Maggie, Izzie and Cortez. In 2003, after learning there was nobody doing boxer rescue work in Georgia, Gold founded Boxertown, an organization which helped find homes for over 500 boxers during its first two years. Based upon this success, Gold came up with the vision for Rescue Me! ― a network which helps all breeds of dogs, cats and other animals find good homes, anywhere in the world. RescueShelter.com is also a free service of Rescue Me! and provides the world's largest and most up-to-date directory of animal rescue organizations for all breeds of dogs, cats and other animals, including a comprehensive directory of wildlife rehabilitators in over 150 countries.



Top