How I trained My Cat, Oscar, to Use the Toilet by Brandy Connery

The first thing was to get a Cat Training Kit that has been around forever and that has a proven track record. I chose Kitty Whiz because my parents used it for our cat when I was growing up and my son recently used it for his cat with great success.

My cat, Oscar, isn't the brightest of cats, so I didn't want to fool around with one of those Johnny-come-lately imitations. Plus, they are all so over-priced! One is about $90.

Anyway, my experience in training Oscar paralleled instructions in the kit. Oscar always needed more love with everything because he's a little slow. I figure that if Oscar can get it, any normal cat can.

The Kitty Whiz package included a bag of herbs, a plastic form, a clever cartoon style instruction booklet and a diploma for when Oscar graduated. The diploma was a nice touch and it gave me a confidence boost.

There were standard warnings. And Oscar was to have been litter trained already. Warnings could be summed up as good sense. My personal advice here is to schedule a little me-time to do this thing right. You can't be jet-setting around the world or working 168 hours a week on a corporate merger.

The process was to take about 2 weeks. I lost track of time, but it was about that for Oscar to get into the groove.

There was a recommendation to use a padded toilet seat cover for off-balance cats and Oscar qualified because he is pretty clumsy. The poor thing stumbles over his own shadow.

Kitty Whiz divided their training into stages. Everything I personally did was covered in the instructions. I do have additional recommendations, which you will read.

STAGE 1

I took Oscar into the spare bathroom where nobody would bother him. Remember to start this training in the evening because your cat will need to stay in the restroom overnight so they will do their first poops and pees.

While Oscar was meowing around, I put the form together. It was simple so don't be alarmed.

I chose to train Oscar with the toilet seat down because I thought it was safer and it is usually down anyway. The padded lid stayed up. I figured that the more routine things were, the better.

I then took the old litter box out to the shed so Oscar couldn't find it and he would be focused on his new toilet facility. Good riddance to that smelly thing. Now my husband will hope for Oscar's success so he can get rid of the litter box in his tool shed.

Per instructions, I filled the bowl part of the form with regular litter so it looked similar to Oscar's regular litter box. This made for a smoother transition. A slow smooth transition is the key in my opinion.

Since Oscar had been known to poop and pee in everything resembling nature, I covered my houseplant soil with aluminum foil where possible and rocks where possible.

In the restroom where Oscar was training, I put his bowls with his favorite food and fresh water. Any place with food is a good place to Oscar.

I opened the herb package and took a whiff. It did nothing for me and I felt no sudden urge to use Kitty Whiz myself, but Oscar responded. He followed the package as I led him up onto the toilet seat.

I sprinkled a little on the litter and Oscar sniffed around. This was to help Oscar take note of where his new kitty litter box was now located.

It was a little heartbreaking, but I closed Oscar in his restroom for the night. He needed to poop in peace, and he doesn't like for anyone to interrupt his work. Instructions mentioned that cats are that way.

In the morning I checked on Oscar and he was perfectly content and maybe a little too proud. The litter was saturated with pee and there was a healthy mound of poop.

There are instructions for cat owners who may not be as successful at this stage as I was with Oscar. But, neither my parents nor my children had any problems.

I read over the steps to take if one is unsuccessful. They boil down to doing things over, keeping things real clean and encouraging one's cat with love and finesse. Oscar may not have been blessed with smarts, but he was blessed with a loving family. I'm sure your cat also has a loving home environment.

STAGE 2

I was glad to move on to the next stage because Oscar was leaving me with mounds of love each day. I was anxious to flush instead of clean up litter. I think Oscar was laughing at me during this stage. He always had a slightly twisted sense of humor.

After four days, Oscar was accustomed to using his new litter box on top of the toilet. So, I saw the principle involved here. I gradually removed parts of the plastic form until nothing was left. After about two weeks, Oscar was going into the restroom all by himself and using the toilet like a regular human.

This is my own personal touch to the toilet system. I secured the toilet seat lid so it was always in the up position. Otherwise, someone might leave it down. I also had the door fixed so it was always open enough for Oscar to walk through. I did these two things to make sure Oscar was never prevented from doing his work.

Nowadays, it is quite humorous to see Oscar get up from his favorite TV program and wander off to use the restroom. My only responsibility lately is to flush the toilet. Maybe Kitty Whiz will someday invent a way to train Oscar to flush the toilet.

I think Oscar was proud to officially join the human race as a toilet user. He always knew he was human, but it was good to have official recognition in the form of a degree. We gave him a graduation party and presented him with his Kitty Whiz Degree. He wore a blue winner ribbon and we framed his degree and photo together and hung them in his office, right above the toilet.

Here is my personal testimony about Kitty Whiz as opposed to other cat trainers:

I remember Kitty Whiz from the 1970s. It was around a long time before other cat toilet training systems. It is proven and trusted in my family. And I know other families that used it with success and I recommend it to first-timers. I've seen many imitations on the market lately and they are usually way over priced. I saw one for about $90 dollars. All I can say is, Get real!

Are Those Cat Toilet Things For Real? Enjoy the Real-Life Experience of a Brandy and Oscar, Her Not-So-Smart Cat. You might profit from her personal experience and suggestions about training your cat.

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