Abandon ship...

I've officially given up cat potty training. This was prompted by a couple of things. For starters, the cats just weren't cooperating consistently. They would pick and choose when to use the toilet, so I couldn't get a good read on whether or not they were having accidents because they were being obnoxious or because they couldn't figure things out. Several times I caught them getting ready to have an accident and tried to pick them up and quickly put them on the toilet and then praise them, much like you would a puppy. They were pretty uninterested in my efforts and it ultimately left me covered in cat urine. I also tried to break them of their instinct to bury by removing them from the pan after they used it and before they could dig, but cats are sneaky bastards and I just couldn't be there when they were toileting. I considered the commercially made litter pan I talked about in my last post, but since I have to be able to remove whatever is lining the toilet to use it myself, this wasn't going to work. So I'm back to scooping litter...for now.

The other reason I'm giving up at this time is that I'm experiencing a mysterious plumbing problem at my house. I did a DIY fix yesterday and so far haven't seen any more leaks, but I'm having a plumber out today to check it out just in case. I can't have the cats trying to use the toilet in the midst of a day-long plumbing session. So the litter box is back in the office and the boys seem pleased.

The weather is getting warmer and our thoughts are turning to spring at the 1543. Caddie wants to spend most of her time outdoors and the boys enjoy lounging in the sun. Check out Franklin keeping an eye on the backyard from his perch on my stairway. Caddie is a terrible guard dog, so maybe I'll have a guard cat. Two of my friends had dogs escape from their backyards this week--one for an hour and the other for 2 days! Thankfully they both returned home safely. It reminds me that our pets truly are part of our family and how devastating it would be to lose them. They provide us with companionship, laughter, distraction, and affection. They lower our blood pressure and lift our spirits. Love your babies today and keep them safe!

Things fall apart...

We took a step back last week, removing the water from the pan and replacing it with litter. After as week of once again slowly reducing the litter in the pan, we're back to no litter in the pan and a small amount of water. Unfortunately, this also means the cats are back to making messes elsewhere in the bathroom. Sometimes it's right next to the toilet, sometimes it's on the shelf, and today it was in the wastebasket. I'm not sure what to do next here, because they use the toilet sometimes, but not others. I hate to keep backing up a step if they're just being obstinate and could really figure this out. I don't know. I continue to try to keep every possible place the cats might want to go to the bathroom blocked off or covered up, but it's starting to prove difficult. Pet stores sell a pre-made liner that allows you to make an increasingly larger hole in it, and I'm considering moving to this method if the makeshift liner doesn't work. Other than that, I'm kind of at a loss. I'm becoming discouraged.

In other news, all the pets got a bath today. Caddie puts up with it, but the cats, understandably, hated it. Maybe that's why they're not cooperating with their toilet training today! Check Franklin out in all his post-bath glory.

One step forward, two steps back

It was beautiful outside today! Caddie and I got out for a run on the Monon Trail, which is truly our happy place. After taking a lot of time off from outdoor running this winter due to illness and a bitterly cold winter with lots of snow, she and I both have some work to do! Here's a picture of her rockin' the trail!

Yesterday's success with Franklin and Linus was bittersweet. Not long after I updated, I found a couple of washcloths that I thought had been placed out of reach of a certain pair of four-legged critters, pulled down on the floor with a mess inside! It seems that the boys have no problem peeing in the toilet, but their instinct to bury their other business is still there. I'm not going to get discouraged though. Per the advice of fellow cat trainers, I've backed up a step and I'm proceeding cautiously. I poured all of the water out of the pan and replaced it with a small amount of litter. I'll try this for a couple of days and see if they're ready to advance this weekend.

I've also read that it may help to provide a way for your cats to "scratch" after they've used the potty, thus easing them into the whole no burying thing. I'm contemplating taping a small piece of sandpaper on the front of the toilet seat so they have something to paw at. I know this seems like a lot of thought and work, but never having to scoop a litter box again would be well worth it!

Emma is with us for two more days. The poor baby is still nervous and having trouble eating. At my mom's, she likes to eat in a confined space, away from everyone else. I've tried isolating her in the laundry room and in her kennel box, but neither of these seem to be working. I was starting to worry since she hadn't eaten since Saturday, so I put out some extra cat food before going to bed last night. Lo and behold, I found an empty bowl this morning. Perhaps she just prefers Meow Mix to dog food.

Next steps

Yesterday was another big day in the world of cat potty training. All of the litter was removed from the aluminum pan. I made a small crease in the middle of the pan and placed a handful of litter in the front compartment and a little bit of water in the back half. And wonder of wonders...the cats used it! Check out the photo of Linus, mid bathroom break in this photo.

I'm still being really cautious about keeping all of the doors and cabinets closed so the cats can't have an accident elsewhere. I've also picked up throw rugs and towels so they won't use those as a makeshift litter box. I think another important key to this process is believing that it's actually possible. Did you read 'The Secret?' Neither did I, but I heard about it on Oprah. So keep up the good work, kitties. I believe in you!

Small success!

I'm totally stoked! After much trepidation, the cats used the modified litter box/toilet yesterday. Check them out eating some treats off the toilet seat! It took some effort on my part--I had to take them in there every few hours and place them in the litter, but they are using it like champs today. Everything I read about this process says that patience is truly the key. This could take anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months and if the cats show signs of discomfort, it's best to back up to the previous steop and proceed cautiously. We all know how cats hate to have their proverbial apple carts upset! Taking it slow should ensure that they don't potty elsewhere in retaliation. I've also taken to keeping every door and cabinet closed tightly so they don't have the opportunity to sneak off and do something naughty! (Another tip I'm borrowing from puppy housetraining.)

Today I will scoop out the used litter and also reduce the amount of litter in the pan. It's important to keep things clean since cats don't like using a smelly litter box. This has also proved to be incredibly messy. With no lid to catch the excess litter, it looks like I've been using a wood chipper in the bathroom. But a few days of extra sweeping will be worth it if I can get rid of litter for good!

In a side note, my parents are out of town and I'm dogsitting for them this week. Please welcome Emma to my zoo! Does anyone have any tips for keeping dogs out of cat food? I came downstairs this morning to find two empty cat bowls. Since my dog Caddie doesn't touch the stuff and a bowl of food can last Franklin and Linus several days, I suspect the culprit is our new zoo mate.

By popular demand...

Recently, I decided to attempt to toilet train my cats (think Mr. Jinx in 'Meet the Parents'). I've had several people ask me to start a blog to share my experiences, so welcome to Gwen's Zoo!

Toilet training my kittens Franklin and Linus appeals to me on several levels. For starters, the environmental impact of cat litter is kind of staggering. I currently use pine chip litter, which I guess is sort of reclaimed, but it still has to be bagged up and thrown away every other day. Secondly, cat litter is just disgusting. Aside from the smell, I'm appalled by the amount of litter that gets tracked everywhere in my house. Thirdly, the hygienic prospects of flushing away the waste a couple times a day as opposed to scooping it out with a flimsy plastic shovel seem pretty great.

I did some research about cat toilet training on the WWW and decided to give it a go. This is partly due to the aforementioned problems I have with cat litter and partly because it's winter and I'm bored out of my mind. I needed a project. I'm usually pretty fascinated by the prospect of understanding what animals did in the wild, prior to domestication, but I've never had cats before and I'm curious about their trainability.

I think my boys will be good candidates for toilet training because they are absolutely fascinated by the bathroom and the toilet. You can almost always find them in the bathroom exploring something. They are also pretty adaptable little fellows. They're not the kind of cats who get really fussy if you move their litter box or switch brands of litter. And starting this while they're still young can't hurt either.

So my first task was to begin moving the litter box slowly into the bathroom. I was so glad that I'd chosen to initially put it in my guest room, which is right across the hall from the bathroom. If I'd put it downstairs, it would have taken a year to get it upstairs! I started small--the first day the box went from directly inside the door of the guest room to directly outside the door--a move of just a few inches. Every day I would move the box a little closer to the bathroom. After each move, I would show the kittens the new location of the litter box and give them a treat. (If this sounds like how one might train a dog, one would be correct. This is all I know, people. I'm new to cat ownership.) Once I finally got the litter box next to the toilet, I started elevating it a couple inches a day until it was level with the toilet so the cats would get used to jumping up to use it. After that, I let them use the box for a couple of days while it sat directly on the toilet, weighted down with a book so they wouldn't spill it when jumping out.

Today was a big day! After nearly two weeks of preparation, I got rid of the litter box altogether. Instead, I got an aluminum roasting pan and molded it around the rim of the toilet and filled that with litter. With any luck, Franklin and Linus will learn to get onto the seat of the toilet to potty.