I am intrigued by this too! With two humans and three cats sharing ONE bathroom though I fear I would walk in to a toilet filled with pee and poo far too often. Not to be gross but at least litter deoderizes the smell. If you weren't home to flush the toilet for your kitty I'd hate to see what it would smell like.

I have known two people who tried to train their cats to use the human toilet to no avail.

There is something very unsettling to me about this whole concept. I don't know what it is, but it freaked me out when the cat in "Meet the Parents" did it. Plus they wouldn't flush, and would probably pee on the seat. I guess if you're going to have a cat, you are going to have to be ok with cleaning the litter box often just like you have to be ok with walking your dog. Does anybody else think toilet training cats is weird...or am I weird?

I finally have a good cat after the lovable nightmare (rip) I had before, and I'm not going to risk traumatizing her with this.
I would worry about her chubby self falling in.

A friend of mine did it - using this same method. She trained her cat to use the half bath that the family didn't often use, which I think was part of the reason it worked. Cats do like their privacy.

When I switched my cat's food from canned to dry, the terrible odor was gone. I also douse the kitty litter with baking soda and that pretty much neutralizes any potential stink. Also, I find that certain food brands are less likely to produce odoriferous (sp.) poop.

And I think the toilet training is wierd.

eh... it is just too weird.

and my cat likes to attack the shower curtain and toilet paper. and my soon-to-be-roommate's cat has a thing for choosing the bathtub over the litter box when the option is available. so the bathroom door remains closed at all times here.

I taught my cat Moustafa to use the toilet when he was a kitten and he picked it up really quickly. He's since stopped doing it because I can't stand to have the toilet seat up all the time, but it was nice while it lasted. I could never get him to go "#2", as they say, but he did #1 just fine. It was always really funny to hear someone peeing when you knew you were the only person home!

Brother-in-law gave this a try with his two kitties in his small apartment in Brooklyn. They made it up to the final step and then the cats went on strike and just held it...FOR DAYS. It broke his heart so he gave up and put the litter box back down. He thinks you'd have better luck with small kittens.

Also you would have to either leave the bathroom door open all the time or put a kittie door on. No thanks.

a friend of mine did this. it made for very easy cat-sitting. It took a while, though -- several months -- and they had to keep water in the sink because sometimes the kitty would get confused and use the sink instead.

We tried it using a "City Kitty" training seat. We followed their instructions to the letter, taking it very slow and gradually, but no luck. Our cat decided the laundry pile was a better spot and refused to change her mind until we stopped with the potty training. Cat boxes=gross; Poo on our clothes=grosser.

A friend of mine did this too. But if you didn't flush soon enough, there would be protesting. Guess the cat didn't like the smell. I haven't trained my cats to do this; I'll just stick with the litter box in a ventilated corner. Wouldn't it be weird to walk in on your cat using the toilet?

I am not sure which is more disturbing. The fact that the cat is peeing blue or the blue furry toilet seat cover. Both creep me out.

Yes! When I lived with my aunt, her cat, RikiTiki used to watch us (or any other woman) when using the toilet. One day I was getting ready for work, he strolled in, jumped up and used the toilet in front of me. It really was one of those things you wouldn't believe until you see it. My aunt didn't believe me until about a week later when she saw him do it. After that he always used the toilet. Smart cat! He learned by observation because we certainly never made an attempt to train him. He was a siamese and since then I've heard of other cats who are trained.

we have 5 cats. we would never get to use the rest room.

I had the same outcome (holding it FOREVER) as in bostonkayla's post. The cats just wouldn't take the leap from "toilet with cat-protection" to "totally normal toilet". I think if I'd had a second bathroom, I would have stayed at the last step of training a lot longer. I guess they just didn't have enough time to get comfortable.

My old and stubborn cat used the CitiKitty just fine and did well with the toilet until she got her kidney disease, so we're back to the litter box. Point being, it can be done. And it's a hell of a lot nicer and less stinky.

Dogs rule! ;^)

lol monkeyjump, your comment cracked me up!

If I leave the lid up my cat drinks the toilet water...would that mean he would drink the water and pee in it? Ick! I actually have a great litter box solution. I put it under the bathroom sink...in the cabinet. I removed the door and replaced it with a nice piece of fabric. Catface has his privacy and I don't have to see/smell the litter.

I hate hate hate the smell of a litter box.

I know a couple people who did this. But they trained them as kittens. For one, they were light enough to not fall through. (I don't think it owuld support a 20 pound cat). I had tried this with my guys when they were kittens, but one of them LOVED to play the Tazmanian Devil and whirl all the litter out of it and on to the floor. I use the Litter Robot now.

My cat uses the toilet! He was five when I trained him and he learnt it in four weeks flat. Not only is there no smell, there's also no litter being tracked all over the place, which is a huge bonus. He also recognized the new toilet when we moved, and he's never used the sink, the bathtub, or any other place as a substitute (and he's never fallen in, either.) To solve the flush problem, I'm considering getting one of those motion sensors; I saw a cat toilet sensor flush on YouTube and am itching to try it.

If I had a cat I would so totally try to train it.
But only if I had a spare bathroom.

I would think that this is an unsafe practice...but maybe if you put some kind of protective cover on the toilet to keep things sanitary it may be okay...

I wouldn't want to sit where the kitty was sitting....

I guess one could train kitty to flush the toilet too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WofFb_eOxxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9D_HN9gXVI

Best thing since clumping litter. Check the video.

http://www.omegapaw.com/RollAwayReg.html

I trained my cat with the citi kitty and a friend had trained hers the same method.

It's wonderful and gives you incredible bragging rights.

I trained my two cats (using cityKitty) when they were kittens; It took 7 weeks. I was tired of cleaning dusty paw prints & litter trails all around the apartment.

Every so often one will pee in the sink/tub if the toilet hasn't been flushed. More often than not, they wait till I get home to use the toilet (they are odd).

ecomush- My cat also thinks the toilet is an extra drinking bowl!!!! (one more reason I use green cleaning supplies) I shudder at the thought of him drinking out of/ falling into a toilet that he used and didnt flush. If you have a dog, you scoop the yard. If you have a cat, you scoop the box. Toilet training the kitty is just weird.

And I think those cats mistaking the sink for the toilet is just GROSS.

@suziegoombs: You read my mind. It's 2 humans and 4 cats in my house! It would be too much to train them and what happens when everyone has to go at the same time (it happens sometimes at my house). I'll stick to my two litter boxes; one withYesterday's News and the other with Feline Pine Clumping.

A friend of mine also trained his cat to to use the bathroom and even flush. I was shocked going to use his bathroom then i saw his cat on the toilet seat. Im like! i your cat taking a dump??? he's like oh yeah he even flushes after he is done.

I could not stop laughing...5 minutes later i see this cat walk out the bathroom. unbelievable

Cats and dogs drink out of the toilet when it is the cleanest source of water available to them. They can smell the residue from dish soap, and they know it is toxic. The toilet is rinsed extremely well many times per day with gallons of potable water, and the large surface area of the water reduces the chlorine taste.

Although I know many cats who are smart enough to be trained to use and flush the toilet, it would be smarter to train people to use a "litter box" or composting toilet.

Why is eliminating into clean water the best solution we've got? The toilet uses more water than any other fixture or appliance in a typical home. I love cats, and my heart melts when they do "people things," but I think our whole system for plumbing is fundamentally flawed.

Diet makes a huge difference in the stink factor when it comes to feces. Ours get a bio-appropriate diet (ie, raw bits) and their sh*t don't stink. We use pine pellets, clean out the box every night, and scrub it out periodically to make sure it doesn't smell. I wouldn't want to use the toilet in a rank bathroom and I don't expect them to either.

regards,
trillium

I'd love to train my five to use the toilet but I think they're all too old now (range from 12 yrs to 6 yrs). I've known a couple of people who had "potty trained" cats. Lucky them. I may get a CityKitty and try it anyway. I hate my husband's purple bathroom and I think that'd be a great place to train them! For those with pets drinking out of toilets, I'd suggest a pet water fountain. That's the only place our cats will drink and they LOVE their fountain.

bad idea! lots of cats carry a parasite that isn't treated for by water treatment plants; it pollutes the water supply, so you shouldn't flush cat feces down the toilet!

since i only have one toilet i would never try this. the idea of being sick and needing to hurl into a toilet just used by mr. kitty is really gross.

With time and patience you can train just about any cat to do this. BUT i do stress it requires time and you have go at your cats own pace. The parasite mentioned by 'rescuedog' is is toxoplasmosis and i pretty much guarantee that most cat owners who have cleaned a litter try have already been exposed and would not have even known, because for most healthy adults there are no outward signs that you have this infection, and it passes with no effects and you then have an imunity to it the future. HOWEVER , pregnant women and those looking to get pregnant shoudl go nowhere near cat litter. Kittens are super esay to train but adult cats are very adaptable, thry using the 'Litter kwitter' product, very easy. The most important thisng is to give your cat some privacy and keep the litter kwitter very clean, as they are just like us they like to have the cleanest possible bathroom :)

One of my 2 cats already has enough psychological issues using a regular litter box. If I tried doing this, he would just be doing it all over the house in protest!

I tried putting the litter box in the under sink cabinet and it was really inconvenient for him since he's too big to be comfortable. So he started using the bathroom floor instead! Phew!

So regular old litterbox it is.

I tried this with my tonkinese kitten from when we brought her home at 3 months. She stopped using it when the hold became too large - and started going in the washing pile or on my sons bed when it wasn't made. She just didn't feel secure up there. When we went back to a smaller hole (we bought 2 sets) she started using it again but since we have only one toilet and 3 young children, they would make too much mess taking the seat on and off.

We are now having a break, but will try again when we move into our new house where there will be an extra toilet that she can use.

I have a MUCH easier solution for getting rid of that smell....

GET RID OF THE CAT!

My friend couldn't work out why his toilet often had urine in it when he thought he'd already flushed. This was driving him crazy until he caught his cat, Max, going to the toilet all on his ownsome... no training whatsoever! Max left no residue on the seat... My friend had no say in the matter... this is where his cat wanted to go. End of story!

The first day my cat went and peed on my bed. I took her to the litter box and she learned the lesson right away. I use a special sand that absorbs smells, plus the litter box has a cover and some carbon pads on the side, so no smell comes from it at all.

If my cat went to the toilet seat, i would be scared of her falling down.

My only doubt is: My cat likes to scratch the inside of the litter box for no reason at all. She goes totally crazy (and I go crazy too when she does that in the middle of the night!!). Anybody knows why she is doing that???
Thanks
Senorita Puri

My aunt and her hubby used to have two siamese, mother and daughter. The mother took to using the toilet on her own, the daughter never gave up the litter box. I guess some are born with the natural inclination or a toilet seat...

my younger sister trained her cat (with another product i think) and he has done great. She leaves the toilet seat up so he goes whenever he feels the urge but he will not go if someone is watching him.

We took in a stray cat. One day my husband was home alone and heard someone peeing in the bathroom. He burst in, thinking there was an intruder, and there sat our new cat peeing in the toilet. We never caught her peeing in the toilet again, however one day we caught her peeing in the dog's water dish!!! I'd like to think that only happened once, but from then on, I began washing the dog's dish every day. Who knows how much urine flavored water he'd been forced to drink!

I grew up with a cat who actually trained herself to do it. It was really remarkable. She'd hang out above the shower and startled us quite a few times when we'd look up and there'd she be, staring down at us. One day we just started noticing her poos in the toilet. Smartest cat ever.

I have three cats now, and I'm not sure I have the time or the patience to train them myself.

LOLZ featherorpleather!!!!

Seniorita Puri: The digging is a good sign, it means your cat is actually "diggin'" the kind of litter you use and thus enjoys going in there to use it.

I trained my sphynx (very slowly) to use the toilet when he was three, and he's been using it for six years. He'll use it when visiting other homes, and he has used it through several moves. When he was younger, he had really smelly bowel movements, but that went away when I started feeding him homemade raw food. I'd never go back to the smelly, dirty, disgusting cat box (unless medically necessary). I don't understand how people can think it is unsanitary. The only part of the cat that touches the seat are the footpads. Which is grosser, holding a cat that stands on a relatively clean toilet seat or a cat that stands in a box full of poop & pee? Are you really so grossed out by your cat that you wouldn't share a toilet seat with it? The part of your body that touches the seat is covered with a large, thick, unopen sheath of skin, so there's really no chance of getting any diseases from your cat's feet. My apartment is much more pleasant to come home to on a hot day, that's for sure.

I tried to train my then 13 y.o. cat to use the toilet with Citikitty and he learned pretty quicky, but the larger the hole got, the more reluctant he was to use it for pooping. After a long struggle of the wills, he won and got his litter box back.

OK, we've all seen "MEET THE PARENTS" with Ben Stiller. We know cats don't have opposable thumbs. haha

BIG PROBLEM WITH THIS:
seems nice but there is a very small bacteria that is benign to cats and is expelled in their urine. Marine animals... particularly fish and many corals are extremely vulnerable to it and are getting sick and dying off at alarming rates because of increased flushable litters and cat toilet training; the bacteria is reaching the ocean through waste treatment.
If you just can't clean the box everyday please buy an automatic box and hide it creatively.

Toxoplasmosis is not coming from indoor-only cats.

cat poo risks

According to microbiologist J.P.Dubey, an expert in toxoplasmosis, "The possibility of transmission to human beings touching or caring for indoor cats is minimal to nonexistent.... [B]ecause an indoor cat on a commercial diet does not become infected with toxoplasmosis."
A minor danger lies in the possibility that the cat became infected before becoming an indoor cat. Even so, it is improbable that the cat feces will carry toxoplasmosis cysts more than 35 days after the initial infection. A healthy indoor cat will not become infected with toxoplasmosis unless the cat has access to infected feces, infected meat, infected prey, or infected raw milk. The indoor cat who eats a commercial cat food and uses only his own litter box, should not become infected. Toxoplasmosis is another good argument for keeping all pet cats indoors.

yes, i have done this! & yes, it worked. however, there are problems. i suggest doing this if you have a second toilet & you cat is never under any kind of stress. i only had 1 toilet. the problem w/ that, is that it comes w/ this kit. you get a sort of litter box that fits into the toilet. eventually, the cat gets used to it & you remove the litter. anyway, as you can imagine, having to remove a litter box everytime i needed the toilet, was a pain. also, the poor kitty kept kicking the litter all over the toilet. it was a total mess. but yeah, if you have a 2nd toilet, that is not a huge issue. the BIG PROBLEM is that if the cat naturally prefers the litter. so, if something stresses them out, they will revert & go find a place to poo on your floor. i was in school full time so that stressed my cat out. the last straw was when i saved some newborn kittens i found in the road. so, i gave up. i would do it again though. & if you want to try it, i suggest buying the kit on ebay. there are loads of them & they aren't too $$. i think i paid $10.

as for toxoplasmosis, i only studied vetrinary science for a semester, but i did get an A in the parasite class. my understanding on this was that you should just behave as if all cats have it. however, you don't really need to worry about it unless you have a weak immune system or you are pregnant.

is citikitty the best trainer? I would love to train my cat..but what do you do when you go on vacation?

Thank you, featheropleather, for a very therapeutic laugh! Highly entertaining.

All this works great when the cats are full-sized and healthy.

But imagine a kitten falling into the toilet and dying. We had a cat who fell into the toilet as a kitten, and although he survived (by hanging onto the clip-on toilet bowl cleaner and mewling at the top of his tiny lungs for literally hours on end), it did scar him for life.

Or imagine that you have a cat that is sick and not very steady on their feet. Or maybe old and can't jump that high any more.

Nice theory, and maybe it works out in practice for some people, but I see a number of issues to be concerned about. And toxoplasmosis would definitely be something else to look at.

We had a cat that did this on his own a few times--mom said she saw him doing it and all of us thought she was making it up. The he did it when I was there and she called me. So when I got my two munchkins, I trained them and it worked easily when they were kittens until I went out of town and my cat sitter friends didn't visit every day like they were 'sposed to. Cashmere still does it, but Macchiato screws up sometimes. Cashmere used to try to flush when the flusher was on the front of the toilet, but now it's on the side, so I don't get the pawing to flush when she's done.
I used a plastic tray to get them started and steady up there, but you can use a foil roasting pan, too.

We tried City Kitty with our kitten. Ah...how idealistic we were...

It was a bad solution for us because we have only one bathroom. Humans didn't like it. We were afraid to have guests over at our house.

Kitty actually did pretty well because she was young with a eager little mind and she was willing to try anything. However, even though she made it to the very last ring, the minute we took it away to "complete" the training she rebelled. The first indiscretion happened in her kitty bed - the second under the Christmas tree. The call of the wild, I guess. We switched back to a litter box immediately.

I recommend trying City Kitty - it's a good product. Don't make the mistake of trying it if you only have one bathroom.

I'm in a 365 Sq' apartment and no matter how diligently I attended the various types of litter boxes I bought, the apartment always smelled bad. I tried Litter Kwitter with Olivia whom I adopted off Craig's List at age 7 and it worked like a dream. The only rough spot in the road occurred at the end of her training, but I figured out that she didn't like the water splashing her when her solid waste fell, so I lowered the water level in the bowl and it solved the problem. A year later 8 year old Fuji joined us from the the Humane Society and started using the toilet from day one. He saw what Olivia did and simply followed her lead. Two years, and not a single accident later, we're living happily every after. Wish I knew how to upload photos.