Anybody have luck toilet training their cats?

[bettyellen]

i am using theat internet blog method w/ the metal bowl....
i have the metal bowl in the toilet... but they are still putting all four paws in. they love scratching around, i don't know how they are going to get past that part, and keep the paws on the seat.
and they are still making a mess, aiming a bit high, so it's distressing for both of us.
any ideas? are any of those kits worthwhile? the cutaway one?

[politicat]

1. We used one of the cutaway ones....

With my late little old lady cat when she was about 4. She did fine learning until her little brother startled her on the pot one night when we were down to the biggest ring. She fell in, and she HATED water, so she would never go near it again.

The scratching can be a big issue becuase that's instinctive. If you have "digging to China" cats that love to scratch, toilet training may not be in their best interest. My little old lady didn't care to scratch so she was a perfect candidate for toilet training until her brother came along.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. I had a cat who completely trained himself on his own initative!

I will never forget that one day I was alone in my house and I heard the distinctive sound of someone peeing in the toilet. I crept up the hallway and nudged open the door and there was my cat Max relieving himself in the toilet! He did this often, but not exclusively. We often thought, now if we could just train him to flush.

[Grateful for Hope]

3. Back when I was a teenager

I hate to say how long ago this was!

I babysat for a wonderful family to whom I gave a male kitten I had named Harlan (after a character I played in a high school play) from a litter our female cat had.

Without any training at all, this cat learned to use the toilet when he was about a year old. The mother of the family, who loved my babysitting skills, swore that I had trained him.

I did not. He was just so intelligent that he observed what went on in the bathroom, and decided for himself that it was preferable to the litter box.

Just a word of encouragement that cats are far more intelligent that most of us give them credit for, and also that they CAN easily adapt to the toilet.

[Lorien]

4. My father trained his cat Pippin to use the toilet

but he used a kit that came with a clear plastic bowl, which he gradually removed the litter from. Pippin did great with it for about a year, until my dad stumbled into the bathroom one night and sat on Pip while he was still on the John. Poor kitty went back to the box after that trauma, lol!

[bettyellen]

5. wow, i' have a bowl of litter in the toilet and i acidentally used it

myself one night. seems us humans make as many mistakes as they do.
tks for the laugh!