Have you read a million books by now on how to toilet train your cat? Most of the ideas come across as impractical? How your pet cat takes to your training cannot be certain as it varies from cat to cat. The focus is to have a successful transition from the litter box to the toilet. The same can be achieved in a series of stages.
It has to be a slow transition as when you make a small change you need to give your cat time to adjust to that change. If you find that he has gone back to choosing his favorite corner in the house then you probably haven’t given him the time he needs to adjust to that change.
Lets look at what goes into toilet training your cat
1. You can toilet train your cat if you train yourself first to always keep the "lid up" and the "seat down".
2. Make sure everyone in your house also makes a conscious effort to do so. Leave the door open.
3. Move his litter box to one side of the toilet. Make sure your cat knows where it is and uses it.
4. Raise the height of the litter box inch by inch on a weekly basis, let your cat get used to the small change. You could raise the height of the litter box by keeping something sturdy like a thick book or a cardboard box under it. It is important for the base to be sturdy as if it isn’t then the litter box could move around the place making your cat very uncomfortable. Raise the litter box up to the height of the toilet seat. By now your cat would be jumping into the box to use it.
5. Now what you need to do is lift the toilet seat, measure the inside of the top of the bowl at its widest point. Go ahead and buy a metal mixing bowl of the same measurement, please do not use a plastic one as it tends to bend with the cats weight and bounces back, not only giving you extra work to clean up the mess but also scaring your cat and making your efforts so far futile. If your cat has taken time to adjust to all these changes, take it slow. Move the litter box half way and then with time you can have your cat sitting on the toilet seat. Don’t make any more changes till your cat has adjusted to this. Then move away the litter box entirely and fix the metal bowl with some litter in it, inside the toilet bowl and put the seat down.
The toilet would need to be used by humans as well of course. During such times remove the metal bowl and remember to replace the bowl and more importantly leave the door open. This is not the end though; you need to teach your cat the squatting posture. Once he is on the toilet seat, get him to put his legs on the seat. Make sure the front feet are in front and the hind feet on the sides. He will take time to get the act together on his own, so you will have to keep at it till it is successful. Once your cat gets used this as well get him used to the two different kinds of squats.
Remember- a lower squat for urination and the higher squat for bowel movements. At this point you can also begin to reduce the litter in the metal bowl. Finally you can remove the metal bowl completely and leave the bare toilet bowl for your cat to use. Remember to give it all time and don’t rush it. Even if it takes going back a step, it’s worth it. It’s goodbye to cleaning-litter-box days.
To learn the secrets of training your cat visit http://highly-rated.org and click on the "How to Toilet Train a Cat" link.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julian_Bates
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