Location, Location, Location

As you may or may not know, there are hundreds of resources for cat toilet training. One incredible big I recently discovered is www.toilettrainedcat.com. It's got a format I hope to mimic once this is all finished. I'd like to compile all the "progress" posts in chronological order, and have one main page for simplified easy-to-read instructions that contain angles I've discovered.

One thing this guy mentions that I hadn't previously thought about before invovled determining where the hole in the pan should be. Should it be in the front or the back of the pan? I never thought of this because my cats naturally face towards the front like I've seen all the other successfully trained cats do. But if you try and do this and your cat faces the tank instead, then his advice is really helpful!!

He basically talks about how the placement of the hole in the pan cannot only affect how quickly your cat catches on, but also where the cat will learn to naturally face AND this consideration could prevent splash-back!.

The blog has some pretty serious reproduction restrictions, so I'm not going to quote him here. But I do reccommend checking out his blog!

Moral Thoughts on the Subject

Lately I've been reading opinions from people saying that potty training your cat is a bad thing to do. Reasons given are similar to the following:

1) It can kill sea otters
2) It makes them jump which can be uncomfortable
3) It's not natural for them

I am very concerned that I don't want to do anything that could hurt them, so I welcome feedback to flesh out these concerns. As for these three, I do agree that they all could do what they say, but I believe there are ways to explain why they aren't necessarily relevant.

For instance, the poo can kill sea otters because of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, whether they use the toilet or you use "flushable litter." It is not a given, however, that your cat will have the parasite, and this is very easily tested for. If your cat does not have the parasite then there is no reason to worry.... especially if your cat is indoors and will most likely not become exposed to it. More on this problem here.

To solve the second problem I will do what I have been planning on doing all along - I will get for them a very easy and comfortable step stool. No jumping necessary, not ever. I'd like to find a stool that folds up easily and is portable, incase we ever are out of the house.

The third problem has been the most concerning for me. I don't want to force them to do anything they don't want to, so if it goes that it is not natural for them in the end I will gladly move them back to litter.

But the reality of house cats is that much of their lifestyle is not "natural," yet they live longer, happier lives indoors (assuming they have stimulation and room to run around). If we truly wanted them to live "naturally" then we would make them hunt for their food. We'd also keep them outside, which I know some cats are used to. If Pascha suddenly roamed around outside I fear she wouldn't last a month.

Anyway, I'm not blindly going into this. I ask questions, seek answers, and definitely keep my mind open to the possibility that this may not be best for them as individual felines. But there's one thing I do know: my cats hate the smell of the litter box, they hate being in the litter box because it can be dirty, and they may just enjoy the experience of being able to go to the bathroom and not have the smell linger in their paws and nose. For this reason, and the obvious personal benefits to training them, I am going to keep at it.

What do you think?

Unsophisticated or just Uncomfortable

Note: this post is all about poo.

Rex has a problem that Pascha does not. After he defecates, often times he'll find the nearest carpet (aaak!) and scoot his butt along it in what I thought was a very unsophisticated way of cleaning his rear.

Pascha has never done this, and I ignorantly never questioned the difference. I guess my subconscious thought she was better taught than that.

But when Rex did it today I decided to look it up. Maybe find a way to stop it, since, I really don't want that stuff on my carpet.

It turns out he may have a problem with his anal sacs, and he'll probably need to go to the vet to have them treated.

More on that HERE, in case you ever noticed this about your pet.

The Setup

For my instruction, I am using the book Potty Talk by Toast by Trisha Yeager Menke. I found her book to be the most honest and true to everything else I had read on the subject. If this doesn't work out, I will in no way put the blame on this book but rather my misunderstanding of the instructions.

So, as you can see we have the current litter box next to the toilet. It's been here for a while and the cats are very used to using it in this location.