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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / February 2004Warning: LONG STORY, but I need advice
Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee discount( I work one day doing administrative work for a pet store chain), Swheat Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive. I managed to move the litterbox to sit on top of my toilet and then switched to an aluminum pan. Imp took to it right away, but Missy refused to use it. After 2 days, I got nervous and put the litterbox out (which only assured them I am easily trained) I finally tried ordering a training device. If anyone comes across pottycat.com, or a cat product from Training Products, Ltd, DON'T BUY IT!!!! SURE, it's only $12.50, $20 with shipping. SURE, it guarantees that it will train your cat easily. SURE, it claims their product is perfect. Okay, I order it January 9th, and I just received it LAST WEEK. I called their "sales dept" and left several messages. I emailed them and got no response. It was only after an email threatening to report them for Internet Fraud, that I finally received it. But was I satisfied??.............HA!!!!!!!!!!!!! The "device" is so flimsy, a friggin' 4 month old kitten could have fallen through. When I finally receive the product, there's a label saying "Not recommended to cats over 10-12 lbs" That saying was NO WHERE on the website. Also, you're supposed to put the device in your toilet seat, lead the cat to the seat with the included packet of "enticing herbs" (catnip) and the SHUT the cat in the bathroom, and expect him to use the toilet. And if THAT doesn't work, remove all litterboxes and wait 12-15 hours until your cat HAS to go to the bathroom, then shut yourself and the cat in the bathroom, and encourage your cat to stay on the toilet, UNTIL THE CAT HAS RELIEVED HIMSELF!! What a bunch of $(*#%#&^#^##&^!!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!!! Okay, enough venting...... So to make a long story short, (TOO LATE!!! hehehehehe..) I'm back to square one. Lately I've gone to putting the aluminum pan IN the litterbox, forcing them to get used to the pan. So far, it's been working. Eventually, I hope I can move to the pan in the toilet. I SOOOOOOOO want these cats toilet trained. Saving $30 bucks a month! Not having to get out of the shower and step on cat litter on the bathroom floor! Not having to stand by the toilet for 20 minutes so I can flush the flushable litter! Not having to vacuum my bathroom every other day! *deep breathe* Has ANYONE managed to successfully toilet train their cat? My plan is to eventually replace the litter box, so they just go in the pan, and then put the pan in the toilet seat, and then make a hole and enlarge it so they get used to perching on the toilet seat. ANY advice would be useful. I'm on a tight budget, and I'd REALLY like to make this happen.. Kristi >Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I >jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > >Kristi I'll tell you what I do and it's far from $30 a month. I have the litter pan in the bathroom with a small rug (K-Mart) in front of it. I use Scoopaway which I scoop into saved veggie bags. When I take a shower, I put a bathmat over the little rug so I won't step on any litter which may be there. I shake the rug everymorning into the litter pan and every few days sweep any litter around the pan. When the litter starts to get a little low, after careful scooping, I dump that litter into another clean litter pan and add new litter.Then I poor some clorox into the bottom of the dirty pan, add hot water and wash it clean. Then I rinse well in the shower and let it dry. It is ready then for the next rotation. This takes a few minutes, but doesn't cost a lot. "A penny saved is a penny earned" What I use for my three are three covered litter trays - each has a hood which is high enough for a cat to stand up in and the littertrays are big enough for a cat to turn about in easily. Access is via a catflap at one end. Great for minimising spillage of litter out of the littertray when they are "digging to Australia" ;-) Cheers, helen s --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove dependency on fame & fortune h*$el*$$e**nd***$o$ts***i*$*$m**m$$o*n**s@$*$a$$o**l.c**$*$om$$ >When the litter starts to get a little low, after careful scooping, I >dump that litter into another clean litter pan and add new litter.Then [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >This takes a few minutes, but doesn't cost a lot. "A penny saved is >a penny earned"> I use sifting pans and rotate a clean one into the sequence each time I sift: I remove the sieve from the first one, dump the clumps into a plastic bag lined waste basket and pour the litter into the clean pan. The litter from the second goes into the first pan and so forth. The last (fifth) pan then gets all it parts thoroughly scrubbed in the slop sink with sudsy ammonia and a brush. I wash anti-kick rings from intermediate pans as needed. If one of the intermediate pans is extremely filthy, I substitute one of the clean spare pan sets and wash it. I have eight pan sets and a number of extra bottom pans and keep five in service. One thing I no longer do is throw a particularly disgusting set out the back door to dry out and perhaps be cleaned by the rain ... the dogs chew them up to the point where they won't fit together if they aren't destroyed. T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body) Gee's I thought I was organised, having five trays I always have three clean ones ready in the laundry two down, and wash them in rotation I have different coloured ones so I know which one I'm up to, green , yellow, red, grey, and blue but you sound more organised than me. I think you need a *still room*like at the hospitals { that is a pan room] congratulations on yourway of doing things anyway. Jean P. > >When the litter starts to get a little low, after careful scooping, I > >dump that litter into another clean litter pan and add new litter.Then [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body) That sucks about the company that you got that stuff from. They do sound like a rip-off. I've never toilet trained a cat, but have heard the steps are quite similar to what your plan is. I've heard that after they are used to using the pan, another step you can do is to put telephone books under the pan to slowly raise it up to the level of the toilet before putting it on the toilet. I don't know if that will help. Maybe also gradually decrease the litter in it so that they get used to scratching less. Also, you could put a carpeted toilet seat (don't laugh!) on your toilet, it would give them something to hang onto while pooping and also something to scratch after. You may have to make the toilet seat yourself. Or maybe put carpet on top and down the front of the tank? I dunno. Well, that's all the ideas I have today... Good luck! -- Britta Check out pictures of Vino at: http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album > Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I > jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 > bucks a month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee discount( > I work one day doing administrative work for a pet store chain), > Swheat Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive. [snip terribly sad story] Why not use shredded newspaper? It's free, biodegradabubble, very absorbent, convenient, and even provides entertainment while you are standing there ripping long thin curly strips off and dropping them in the pan. I've never found a cat yet who didn't approve of using it. >> Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I >> jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >in the pan. >I've never found a cat yet who didn't approve of using it. The main problem with shredded newspaper, from my (admittedly limited) experience, is that it doesn't help much with odor control. You end up with much more cat-pee stench than with clay-based litter. I haven't tried wheat-based litter, so I don't know how good it is at odor control.  SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria Just a short (for once) comment: we tried wheat-based litter once: they ate it! "Food"(?) in litterbox = confusion in the ranks. : -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- : Hash: SHA1 [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] : =iOAn : -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > Just a short (for once) comment: we tried wheat-based litter once: they ate > it! "Food"(?) in litterbox = confusion in the ranks. ROFL!!! -- Britta Check out pictures of Vino at: http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album In news:gbji309ukbkv5dn1g0588sbkr42b95qd3k@4ax.com, John F. Eldredge <john@jfeldredge.com> radiated into the WorldWideWait: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > litter. I haven't tried wheat-based litter, so I don't know how > good it is at odor control. Um, the idea is to change it daily not monthly... > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > I haven't tried wheat-based litter, so I don't know how good it is > at odor control. I have a friend who swears by the kind made from corcobs, but it's rather pricey, IIRC. > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: PGPfreeware 7.0.3 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better > than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria >Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I >jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a >month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee discount( I work one >day doing administrative work for a pet store chain), Swheat >Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive. You need cheaper litter. I manage five pans for 12 cats on about $15 a month. Walmart's house brand of clumping litter is not very expensive, has relatively low dust, and with a couple of doses of baking soda and topping off with clean litter, can be stretched out to a couple of months or more. T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body) > You need cheaper litter... > Walmart's house brand of clumping litter is not very expensive Yeah, but then you have to shop at Mall-wart. Ugh!! Joyce > > You need cheaper litter... > > Walmart's house brand of clumping litter is not very expensive > >Yeah, but then you have to shop at Mall-wart. Ugh!! Four PM on Thursdays isn't too bad. I know some people who go in the wee hours of the morning - they say it's OK, except for the usual can't find stuff because they moved it ... again. T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body) >> Yeah, but then you have to shop at Mall-wart. Ugh!! > > Four PM on Thursdays isn't too bad. I know some people who go > in the wee hours of the morning - they say it's OK Oh, that's not what I meant. I just can't stand that corporation. Everything they stand for is offensive to me. They're union-busters, they drive local stores out of business, they underpay their workers (they even tried to force employees to work extra hours for no pay, but a lawsuit put an end to that). They nose into their employees' private business and have been known to fire people because they felt the employees' personal choices (non-work-related) "didn't reflect company values". They give big bucks to right wing organizations. Plus, as a workplace, they have a weird cultish atmosphere, a bit Stepford-like. I've never shopped there in my life, and never plan to! Joyce > Plus, as a workplace, they have a weird cultish atmosphere, a bit > Stepford-like. Oh, I know what you mean! One day, when I was still working for Minolta in Vancouver fixing photocopiers, I had to fix one at Walmart. It was first thing in the am and I got there just before the store opened. I went and waited by the door and looked in to see all the employees standing around in a circle, chanting something or other and waving their hands over their heads. Totally creeped me out, let me tell you! -- Britta Check out pictures of Vino at: http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album Oh, Joyce, I think you should go shopping there just once if for nothing else but to experience - when you walk in the front - the zombie-like "Greeters" - glassy-eyed smiles and all! I didn't even realize they were in CA (Tarjhey' is so much more fun, confused help and managers, cool up-to-the-minute merchandise, and not to mention that's where I go to catch up on the latest buzzwords and Gen-Y and hip-hop trash-talk among the personnel). Real people there. I bet Californians love Target as much as we south Floridians do, but I can believe, since a nephew lives in Fresno, that Walmart could have a stronghold down there. He and several laid-off tech friends from Silicon Valley fled to Fresno where they are at least making a living in other type jobs....and the living is cheaper. Sadly, they are still waiting and hoping for Ahnold to save them and bring back the old days. : > Plus, as a workplace, they have a weird cultish atmosphere, a bit : > Stepford-like. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] : Check out pictures of Vino at: : http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album > Oh, Joyce, I think you should go shopping there just once if for nothing > else but to experience - when you walk in the front - the zombie-like > "Greeters" - glassy-eyed smiles and all! Eek! That would probably give me nightmares! > I bet Californians love Target as much as we south > Floridians do, but I can believe, since a nephew lives in Fresno, that > Walmart could have a stronghold down there. We have both in the Bay Area, but neither is very close to Oakland, where I live. When I lived closer to San Jose, I used to shop at Tarzhay, but it's too far now. I don't know what Fresno's like. > He and several laid-off tech friends from Silicon Valley fled to > Fresno where they are at least making a living in other type jobs.... Waah!!! That's so depressing to me. I still haven't found a tech job. > still waiting and hoping for Ahnold to save them and bring back > the old days. Unfortunately, the tech boom didn't have a lot to do with who happened to be in office, and Ahnold won't bring it back any more than Gray Davis (the former governor of California) did. But maybe it will get a *little* better... Joyce I am *boggled* at the concept of "greeters" in a store. You don't get those here, well, not my bit of "here" anyway. If anything it seems that the stores I shop in are always chronically understaffed, they certainly wouldn't pay anyone just to stand there and say "hello" to people. Then again, perhaps our shopping culture is a bit different. Yowie Wal-Mart is the only store I know of that has greeters. I think it's silly myself. It isn't as though they could actually help you. I've been forced to shop there occasionally, because it's the only place in town I've found where I can get replacement filters for my kitchen tap. Well, I did find them at Office Depot, of all places, but at Office Depot it was $25 for one. At Wal-Mart it's $30 for two. So I buy them there. Fortunately, they last a long time, so I don't go often. The first time I went, I had been told they had the filters. The place is so big you can't find anything. I asked an employee if there was a map of the place, and she just laughed. Lots of supermarkets have them, or at least they used to, so I didn't think it was an unreasonable question. I had to ask directions three times before I got to the filters. I prefer Target or K-Mart, but don't go to either often. I do most of my non-grocery shopping on line. Joy -- Joy Life is what happens to you while you are planning to do something else. > I am *boggled* at the concept of "greeters" in a store. You don't get those > here, well, not my bit of "here" anyway. If anything it seems that the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Yowie No, no, Yowie, "greeters" is *not* the rule here in USA stores. We are talking about how wierd and unusual shopping at a big chain called WalMart is: "greeters" is part of the surrealism there; they don't know where anything is and rarely are able to help anyone find anything themselves, i.e. it *is* silly to those of us who live in large urban areas like I do. But in more rural places where the large chains ignore setting up shop, WalMart is usually somewhere around, providing merchandise as a sole provider (well, not if they choose to drive 2 hours to the BigCity, like where some of our rpca friends live, out in the country). It's all in what you're used to. : Wal-Mart is the only store I know of that has greeters. I think it's : silly myself. It isn't as though they could actually help you. I've [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] : > : > Yowie >But in more rural places where the large chains ignore setting up shop, >WalMart is usually somewhere around, providing merchandise as a sole >provider (well, not if they choose to drive 2 hours to the BigCity, like >where some of our rpca friends live, out in the country). It's all in what >you're used to. And, that's one of the reasons so many dislike WalMart. They have a history of coming into a town, sometimes with tax breaks from the local governments because of promises of how many jobs and sale tax they'll generate. Once they're established they undercut the prices of the local stores, eventually driving some out of business. The worst thing, IMHO, is that sometimes they'll have a store in several small towns in an area, drive out all the competition, then close several and just have one centrally located store that people have to come to from the surrounding wmall towns that once had their own store. Like others have already said, I don't to shop WalMart much. That said, sometimes it's awful convenient to go to one of their so-called super-stores, which have a grocery store, toys, lawn and garden, pet supplies etc etc- sometimes including a fast food resturant, bank, beauty shop, video rental store etc etc. Here where I live it's the probably the cheapest and best stocked store, but I dislike the corporate arrogance and try to shop in locally owned stores. SignatureSteve Touchstone, faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky stouchst@JUNKsirinet.net [remove Junk for email] Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html NO WAY!! With 12 cats you can manage that??? Yikes! I did try using those crystal things that supposedly lock in the odor, but I found that it could only last about 10 days before it started stinking; if not to me, to the kitties. I remember after using the litter for a while, I noticed it would last about ten days before I would see a gift on the carpet. The Arm and Hammer stuff sounds good, however. Anyone know how good it is locking in odors? Mischief is a special case, cause she'll dig into the litter, take a dump and then just leave; leaving a nice, smelly gift that stinks up my bathroom and bedroom. There have been times she's trotted out into the living room with dust on her paws, and then 5 minutes later, I'm going, "DAAAAMMMMNNN!!! Missy, did you make a stinky???" Right now the litter box is next to the toilet and elevated to the same height. but there's still litter everywhere. *sigh* this will probably be my last try at training. If it doesn't work, the litter box will go back under my sink in the bathroom,(which is like 2 feet away, cause I have a small bathroom) and I'll start looking for cheaper litter that the kitties will accept. I would prefer flushable, cause why put it in a bag that's just going to go into another trash bag, when you can just flush it? I don't pay for water, and the litter box isn't that far from the toilet. But I still think toilet training the cat is cool > But I still think toilet training the cat is cool I don't know anything about toilet training, but my sister's cat trained himself. He just decided to use the toilet without my sister doing anything to teach him. Now, if he would only learn to flush, too. ;o) At least he leaves the seat down. SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki These cat-training toilet-top devices have been around a *long* time in one form or another. In the 70's, my dear aunt in Miami used one and successfully managed to train only one of her brood of cats. It lasted only until one day it collapsed under his unbalanced weight and he fell in the toilet. That was it, el fin', the end. : > But I still think toilet training the cat is cool : : I don't know anything about toilet training, but my sister's cat trained : himself. He just decided to use the toilet without my sister doing anything : to teach him. Now, if he would only learn to flush, too. ;o) At least he : leaves the seat down. > himself. He just decided to use the toilet without my sister doing anything > to teach him. Now, if he would only learn to flush, too. ;o) At least he > leaves the seat down. That would certainly be convenient in our household... however, if we leave the toilet seats up, the cats go in and drink the water. SignatureVictor Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com snipped >The Arm and Hammer stuff sounds good, however. Anyone know how good >it is locking in odors? Mischief is a special case, cause she'll dig [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >and then 5 minutes later, I'm going, "DAAAAMMMMNNN!!! Missy, did you >make a stinky???" I've used Arm and Hammer for almost 2 years. It does a good job at controlling odors. Tiger doesn't always do a good job of covering up, but Tigger, like the good little girl that she is, will go in behind him and cover everything up. >Right now the litter box is next to the toilet and elevated to the >same height. but there's still litter everywhere. *sigh* I don't know of any litter that doesn't get tracked. I got a cheapie ribbed doormat to put in front of the litter box, and that helps keep the litter tracking down, but doesn't completely cure the problem. >this will probably be my last try at training. If it doesn't work, >the litter box will go back under my sink in the bathroom,(which is [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >into another trash bag, when you can just flush it? I don't pay for >water, and the litter box isn't that far from the toilet. I can't use the flushable litter since I'm on a septic system rather than a city sewer system. I also have to pay for my water which is strange since I live out in the boonies, but we have city water. >But I still think toilet training the cat is cool Yeah, but will they remember to put the lid down and flush when they're through? Nan >NO WAY!! With 12 cats you can manage that??? Yikes! > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > >But I still think toilet training the cat is cool Remember you have an animal not a child. Nature designed them to dig a little hole, squat and then cover their deposit. Nature also made the cat to like "clean". Scoopable litter is more effective if you scoop it frequently I tried flushable litter, but it took many flushes to go down and eventually clogged the plumbing. I'll take scoopable any day. You might like to try an airfilter in your bathroom and some sort of deodorizer by the air filter. Some foods make worse stink than others. Good luck And some cats just make stinky offerings every time, no matter what's on their menu. I love Sylvie dearly but can always tell when it's been *her* turn in litterbox......phew. I run, scoop, flush the offering, which won't lose its fragrance otherwise for about an hour or so if ignored or even completely covered over. I just assume like ours, each cat's digestive tract is his/her very own. : >NO WAY!! With 12 cats you can manage that??? Yikes! : > [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] : : Some foods make worse stink than others. Good luck > Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I > jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > GRRRRRRRR!!!!! Okay, enough venting...... I guess that explains why I no longer see the "device" offered in the various catalogs I receive! > > Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I > > jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > toilet seat, lead the cat to the seat with the included packet of > > "enticing herbs" (catnip) and the SHUT the cat in the bathroom, and I tried toilet training long ago, and it takes time and patience. I got very busy at work, so I couldn't see it through. As you've said, the piece that covers the toilet seat at first must be very sturdy. The book I read said: Start with a sturdy shallow wash basin (plastic) that fits into the toilet seat. Fill it with some litter. Every two weeks, you're supposed to make the hole in the wash basin a little bigger...so that eventually basin is no longer there. As for litter boxes and litter tracking... the best solution for us has been large covered litter boxes and a small shag rug at the entrance. I found a soft cotton shag rug at Target -- about 3 by 2 feet. The carpet pile is long and collects the litter granules from their paws. I've tried other textures and materials, and this works best so far. Alt. See http://www.lovethatcat.com for cat furniture. I would love this too as you say it would save a fortune also a lot of messy work, but boy ! that last bit, I hve to scrub the shower out every day with Jiff and and disinfectant, I get those two lt bottles. because the shower is the only place I can put his two litter trays, and since I had selulitus in my leg which started with allergy blisters on my feet I have to be be careful, and my feet are so sensitive it really hurts when I stand on any litter in the bathroom,but Wilson is so full of himself, I'm sure I'd be flogging a dead horse . Good Luck to your efforts though your trying so hard I'm sure you'll succeed sending Purrs to help Jean p. > Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I > jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > > Kristi |
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