Start of Amber Stage

The amber stage is one of the hardest for the cats. Many changes happen at the same time:

• There is a hole in my litter box!
• There is water bellow my litter box!
• How am I suppose to stand there and pee somewhere with these huge gap in the middle of the way?!
• What if I fall?!

For these reasons I would recommend the multicat system of LK.

Since we did not have it, we just decided to try it like that. Big mistake. Some cats can do it without problems, but most cannot (neither can Lee). 

She did not pee for a whole day. She went up once of twice, put her head inside the hole and started drinking water! Or she was just sitting there.

Our Lee in her amber toilet. Normally there is litter in the ring, we had just cleaned it.

We then though we had gone too fast and put back the red ring. She went to pee even before we had finished adding all the litter. Poor kitty, she was holding for a long time!

We started looking for solutions on the internet for the problem. We found of course the multicat system, which has a much smaller hole:

Not our cat, random image from internet. Look how much smaller the hole is!

We decided not to buy this system in addition (you either way need the main kit to adapt the multicat system, so buy both of them if you can) because of the shipping costs basically.

The other solution was to try the cardboard method. You basically fix a cardboard under the hole and cut a tiny hole in the cardboard. Every few days or when your cat is comfortable enough, dig a bigger hole in the cardboard.

Attention:

• Thoroughly impermeabilize the cardboard by putting duct tape around it (all the corners, every single cm).
• Every time you open a hole, put tape around the edges of the hole to avoid pee from soaking into the cardboard.
• Make sure to tape it very firmly to the ring so your cat doesn't rip it apart and fall inside the toilet bowl.
• Also use tape to avoid pee to go between the cardboard and the ring. It usually forms a puddle in the central part of the ring that will run under the ring and get stuck between the ring and the cardboard. That will smell really bad to your cat!
• Change the cardboard every few days (4-6). You will be impressed on how dirty and smelly it can get. (that is why I think the multicat system is a better choice).

First Part - Getting them Going

Hi again!

Now that your cat is able to use the flushable litter without any problems in the bathroom, it's time to open the training kit and get start with the action.

First, make sure the training toilet fits in the toilet bowl. For litter kwitter (LK) you may need to remove some plastic adapters in the bottom and then add back a few of them (we need to use 3 to fit our toilet).

Take away the normal litter box and store somewhere your cat can't see it.

Place the red ring in the white toilet adapter of LK. Add litter inside it. For Citikitty, only add the litter, there's nothing else to mount.

Place the LK on the floor next to the toilet. Do not put it directly on the toilet.

Lee had no problems with the change of litter box. She peed directly on the LK on the floor. You can leave it there for a few days, but we didn't (it makes a huge mess). Since Lee was very confortable with it, we moved it in the next day to the toilet.

It's important that you watch your cat during the process. He/She will tell you how confortable they are with each step. If they just go without delays, don't hesitate, don't walk around too much and just pee/poo normally, it means they are fine with that. Otherwise, wait a few more days to move on (until they are very comfortable). This applies to every step of the way.

Lee again had no problems with the red stag. She went directly, both number 1 and 2 were just perfect.

After a few days (2 or 3) we decided to move to the amber stage (first big hole).

Let's get started!

Hello!

This is Lee, our Persian cat. We picked up Lee when she was almost 4 months old and decided to train her to use the human toilet. Why? There are many reasons for that. Some of the most important for us are:

• Less mess of litter around the house.
• Less waste (litter takes a lot of space in the trash can).
• No more bad smells!
• Cheaper (and lighter) than buying sand all the time.
• Clean your cat's waste just by flushing.
• Not having our cat digging on its poo and then jumping on the table, on the sink, on our pillows, etc.

And so on. Many people disagree with this method, saying that it's "unnatural" for the cat, but peeing in a litter box indoors is also not so natural is it? Plus, trained cats are much happier and satisfied when all the pee and poo smells go away instantly inside the water of your toilet bowl.

Still, if you disagree with this method, your are in the wrong blog. But for those who want to help their cats to use the toilet as well, this is the right place!

Step 1:

Make sure your cat knows how to use the normal litter box before starting. Make sure your cat is also not too young and unable to balance himself on the toilet or jump that high.
Also, transfer the litter box to the toilet. It's there that your cat needs to start going to do his/her business. 

Step 2:

Change your cat's litter. Buy a a litter that can be disposed of in the toilet and will not clog it! That is very important and must be done before starting the training. Some cats don't like changing their sand/litter. Lee had no problems whatsoever. We changed the litter and she went on the new one right away. If you cat refuses, mix the new and the old litter (50%) and then gradually reduce the amount of the old litter until they are 100% fine with the flushable one.

Step 3:

Buy a toilet training kit. The 2 main ones are Litter Kwitter and Citi Kitty. Litter kwitter is more robust and seems to me more stable for the cats. The plastic from Citi Kitty is a bit too thin in my opinion. But both methods work the same way.

Some demostration videos to explain you the method:

Litter Kwitter:

Citi Kitty:

If you decide to buy Litter Kwitter, also buy the MultiCat system. It makes an easier transition between all stages. These transitions are not so abrupt in the Citi Kitty, so that is advantage for this method. Also Litter Kwitter is much more expensive ($80 for the standard + Multicat, against $30).

Note: Although it is possible to do the training without these kits, it's much messier and it takes a lot of time and effort to prepare each step. Still, if you want to try you can look at how to do it here.

So choose the best for your cat and for your pocket.

We have decided to buy the Litter Kwitter without the Multicat system (we regretted though). To train lee without the Multicat we had to work harder and go through more mess than usual, but it will also work.

Step 4:

Follow the instructions of the kit. Here we will give our experience and so tips to go around problems that WILL APPEAR along the way. Be ready to clean a lot of mess and be patient with your cat. You are both going on a journey together and he will be as happy as you to make it work!