How To Potty Train Your Cat To Use The Toilet

So, you’ve decided to potty train your cat.

Or you’re just curious to know how a feline furball can be trained to use the actual toilet instead of a litter box.

As intelligent as they are, cats can indeed be potty trained to use human toilets. However, before we plunge into the actual ways to potty train a kitty, let’s go over the fact that it’s not the best idea.

Cats have biological instincts. Building on those instincts, litter boxes have a distinctive odor, indicating to kitty that this is where it should pee and defecate.

After doing its business, a cat’s innate instincts cause it to bury its waste, thereby preventing predators from easily tracking them.

Even indoor cats bury their poo in the litter box, though there’s no actual threat of a predator inside your house or apartment.

Thus, the litter box is the ideal place for a cat when it needs to go because it allows your cat to follow its natural tendencies.

I also want to note that the comment at the bottom of this page really opened my eyes to a few reasons why cats might need to be toilet trained. Basically, if an owner is unable to change the litter in the box due to injury or recovery, then perhaps it is the best way for the cat to expel waste, rather than being stuck with a dirty litter box that the cat parent can’t clean regularly.

If this is the case, and you need to do it to give your cat the best home life possible, please read on!

Now that we’ve cleared up the fact that potty training your cat isn’t the best idea, let’s see how some people actually manage to teach their cats to use the bathroom as humans do.

Prepare yourself!

Teaching your kitty to use the toilet isn’t an easy task, so you should prepare yourself with lots of patience and essential products, and you should be ready to clean up accidental messes.

Begin the training

Begin your kitty’s training by placing its usual litter box in the bathroom.

This way, your feline friend will be familiar with its surroundings, and it won’t feel like the toilet bowl is a foreign and potentially dangerous item. Make sure the litter box is placed right next to the toilet bowl.

Make a “staircase” out of newspaper, magazine stacks, or cardboard. With each new day, raise the litter box one “stair” up so that your kitty will get used to the idea that it’s not supposed to do its business on ground level anymore.

When you’ve reached the final “stair,” the litter box should be placed on the same level as the toilet seat.

Now move the litter box on top of the toilet seat and leave it there for several days. Don’t do anything else at this point. This step is important as it will show whether your cat feels comfortable doing its business on a high level above the ground.

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Remove the litter box

If your cat keeps using the litter even when it’s on top of the toilet, then it’s time to remove the actual litter box and to proceed to the next stage of potty training.

This is where Litter Kwitter comes in handy. This product is the best one for toilet training and won’t break your budget.

Litter Kwitter

Litter Kwitter is a set of special toilet trays for cats that are designed to help your feline pal learn how to use the toilet bowl instead of the litter box.

The set includes a total of four multi-colored trays, which should be placed on the toilet when your cat is doing its business.

The Litter Kwitter system comes with instructions and various trays, depending on how far ahead you and your kitty are in the training process.

Start by swapping the litter box for Litter Kwitter’s litter trays. Fill the training tray with flushable litter. Your cat won’t learn how to pee and poop in the toilet overnight, so it’s extremely important to be patient with it.

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Positive reinforcement and treats play a key role in any part of cat training.

Transition from  tray to tray with each new week, moving up a size each time. At this point, an accident or two is bound to happen, but if you start scolding and punishing your cat during this stage, you won’t achieve anything.

Once you’ve reached the point where your cat feels comfortable with the biggest tray, it’s time to remove the litter trays altogether. If your kitty manages to do its business without the training set, it should be comfortable enough without any aid.

Can you train your own cat to use the toilet?

Potty training isn’t an easy task. It requires not only a great deal of patience, but it also depends on the cat.

For example, senior cats may find it quite difficult to balance their weight on top of the toilet bowl without stumbling or falling down, especially if they are overweight or have joint problems. By default, newborn cats and young kittens will have trouble urinating and defecating in a standard litter box, so there’s no point in trying to train them to use the toilet bowl at such a young age.

On top of that. the fact that the kitty cannot bury its stuff in the toilet can cause a stressful and confusing situation for many cats.

Last but not least, there’s always the chance that you or somebody else might accidentally close the toilet’s lid. This will confuse your cat and will make it do the nasty stuff somewhere else – on the floor or the carpet, for example.

If you really want to potty train your cat, make sure your cat is of appropriate age and stock up on cleaning supplies, toilet training products, and lots and lots of patience.