Thoughts on toilet-training a cat
Not litterbox training…we’re talking a real human toilet
I’m not going to cover the techniques of training a cat to use a human toilet, but I’m going to bring up some pros and cons (and I lean heavily on the cons…)
For those of you wondering if it is possible, the answer is, yes. Humans have succeeded in training cats to use a toilet instead of a litterbox. Some cats are just as capable as humans in doing so, shy of flushing (although we know that some crazy person somewhere is trying that, too).
It would be a dream to not clean a litterbox (and not even have one in the house), right?! Before getting too excited about the possibility, consider all sides of the issue.
The advantages of training cats to use a toilet:
1. Per above, no litterbox (this is a very big plus, I get it)
2. Cats are such self-cleaning animals that if they’re not in litter, they won’t be tracking toxic litter and waste around
The disadvantages of training cats to use a toilet:
1. The time and attention involved means you would need to be around at all times (for weeks) where your cat learns the new way of doing his business
2. Tools and books designed to help very much fall short
3. The mess made during this process is not negligible
4. It is questionable that requiring a cat to balance on a slippery seat rim and try to do their business is ok for their abdominal muscles (much less for their mind)
5. If your cat falls in (especially repeatedly) during the training, you can expect to do more damage than good
If after the above, you thought the pros outweighed the cons, you’d need to either purchase an insert for your toilet (they exist on the market), or you can create them with a disposable aluminum roasting pan. You would then fill the insert/pan with litter and you spend positive time with your cat in this new setup, making them see that this is just like their litterbox, but up higher. You place boxes and such so they can jump up and explore.
Every sniff of the box is rewarded with a treat and positive feedback. Feline behavior specialist Sarah Ellis says that the timing of rewards for good behavior is key. Give treats at every instance of good behavior and precede that with a ‘marker’ (like saying the word “good!” doled-out instantly). The ‘good’ marker, “will allow you to buy those extra few seconds, but it’s not going to be a few minutes, it’s only going to be a few seconds.” Keep those treats handy, but give the word “good” to buy you the time to get the reward to your cat in good time.
You keep coaxing your cat into thinking what a great thing this litterbox toilet is. Eventually, you swap the inserts for deeper and deeper ones or you remove more and more litter. Incidentally, the amount of litter (and miss-aimed attempts) is very significant. It is never good to yell or give negative feedback, so roll-up your sleeves, clean on.
The creator of one such cat toilet insert recommends you place your cat right on that toilet rim. I find that so telling: anyone who thinks a cat learns from being placed in a situation is really not seeing cats for cats.
I heard a story from my pet sitter that one of her clients was attempting this with his kitten. The kitten was repeatedly falling in. Cats don’t like to get wet. You can seriously break a cat mentally by putting them though training that traumatizes them. There’s nothing worth the pain, in my view, of pushing this on them if all it is producing is anguish.
If you do train your cat to use a toilet (or train it to do anything) I recommend understanding the core of cat “trainability” by reading “The Trainable Cat: A Practical Guide to Making Life Happier for You and Your Cat,” by John Bradshaw and Sarah Ellis. This will not provide a step-by-step instruction on how to train to use a human toilet, but it will provide insights in how any cat learns and how you can best be understood by your cat and how you can best understand them.
The point is that training a cat to use a toilet has been done and might just work with your cat. But if you attempt this and you see nothing but obstacles and frightening frustrations for your cat, please stop. The bond you have with your cat will erode. Having a litterbox around is a small price to pay to keep that amazing love and trust going.
