Cat Toilet Training Kit (One Pack)

I purchased CitiKitty to toilet train my 1.5 year old, large breed, 17lb. Ragdoll cat named Griffin. I am beginning this review August 31, 2012 when my cat is over 3 weeks into toilet training and will complete my review when we have fully completed the training program.Before purchasing this training system, I read a lot of reviews and looked into other toilet training methods for my cat, but this one appeared to be the best, and so far, so good! Like other reviews, I was concerned that the somewhat flimsy plastic training system may not be suitable for my 17 lb. baby, but it worked and I decided to add "strength" by leaving the extra insert in for 1.5 weeks (more about that below).PRELIMINARY HELPSEven if you are uncertain whether or not you will use Citikitty or another toilet training system, I recommend you go ahead and purchase flushable litter and move your cat's litter pan next to the toilet. That way, when you are ready to begin toilet training, this is one step you can eliminate. Sometimes it takes time for cats to adjust to new litter and being next to the toilet! Begin by first mixing the flushable litter with the litter your using to get the cat used to it. Thankfully I've always used flushable litter and had my cat's litter pan right next to the toilet for easy flushing. So transitioning to the toilet seat wasn't as big of a deal. For those interested. I found SWheat litter to be a great flushable litter choice. Before you purchase a training system, you may also begin progressing to toilet training by gradually raising the height of the litter pan. Raising the litter pan height gets the cat used to having to "jump up" to go to the bathroom. Please make sure the litter pan is sturdy while raised. I used old encyclopedias to make it very level. You can raise it to the height of the toilet, but I honestly just raised it about half-way up beside the toilet. That way when my cat jumped into the litter box he could look over and see inside the toilet.TIME TO STARTWEEK 1--Transitioning cat to the toilet. Since my cat was large, I decided to add strength to the plastic training system by leaving the plastic training insert, creating a double layer of plastic support. The Citikitty system recommends that you remove the plastic insert and place it only if your cat regresses or needs to go back a step in the training process. However, I decided to leave it in and I think that was a wise decision. I wanted my cat to feel comfortable and more assure of the support. So week one is basically a small plastic litter pan sitting on the toilet with no holes punched. The goal is to get the kitty to actually use this pan. PATIENCE, LOVE, & REWARDS ARE THE KEY AT THIS STAGE. It took 28 hours before my cat used the litter pan on the toilet. During those 28 hours he meowed excessively and wanted to be held and kept coming to me. I probably picked him up 30 times that day and loved on him; I would then immediately place him on the toilet in the litter pan. Sometimes he would play in the litter, sometimes he would run from it. I kept reinforcing my love and kept showing him the litter pan. He didn't eat very well during those hours either. I wanted so bad to give in and give him his litter pan back. You must have patience with them! And if they use it, reward them with treats! :-) It took at least 4 days this first week for my cat to get more comfortable using the pan. He would at times hold his business longer just to avoid having to use the pan. Since week #1 was such a slow process for getting my cat comfortable, I decided to extend week #1 by a couple of days. This is important. You know your cat the best. Do NOT progress them if they are not secure and ready; otherwise your setting this training process up for failure. I read a review once about a woman who trained her cat in 3 weeks--happy for her, but not necessarily for her cat. Toilet training goes against cat's natural instinct and very foreign to them. If you care about your cat, give them plenty of time to adjust and learn to become secure with their new potty. Don't rush it. The tendency will be to rush things because toilet training is time-consuming and messy. Trust me, litter will get on the floor!WEEK 2--Hole #1/2-1 gone. Citikitty recommends punching out hole #1 for the second week. I was concerned that hole #1 was too big; then, I realized that the plastic insert had a smaller hole that was 1/2 the size! So, I started week #2 punching out hole #1 on the main training ring, then placing the training insert that only had 1/2 hole cut. This way, we still had the added strength support with the insert and a smaller hole to start out with!! This worked great. My cat didn't seem to mind at all. He was curious and pawed at the hole and knocked litter into the toilet, but then just used the bathroom! After 3 days, I felt my cat was ready for hole #1. I then removed the trainable insert that had the smaller hole which had also added stability for the past 1.3 weeks. I admit, I was anxious. Was he going to use it now? Was the training system stable enough for a 17lb cat? Yes it did! And then something wonderful happened! Definitely the stability was not as secure and with the hole getting larger; so my cat started to learn to stable himself on the toilet seat! You see, you really DON"T want the training system to be too secure. You WANT your cat to want to use the toilet seat to steady himself, for that is what he ultimately must learn to do! So, I realized that although the system seemed unsteady without the insert, this unsteadiness forced my cat to learn to use the toilet seat. However, the training system WILL support the cat; it just "gives" a little which makes the cat feel uneasy. This is a good thing, not bad.Week 3 -- hole #2 gone. Citikitty recommends punching out hole #2 for the third week, and I did this exactly. This hole is getting really big!! I was super worried and wondered if I should cut it in half. But I remembered that I did have the insert to add if necessary. I am proud to say that my cat adjusted well. It was funny at first. He literally stuck his head in the hole and stared for like 15 seconds and pawed at the hole! It was like he was wondering..."what happened?" I patiently waited, and it did seem that he held off his "business" for a little longer than usual, but soon he was there on the toilet seat using it like a big boy should! LOL The BEST part of this stage is that my cat has learned to efficiently balance himself on the toilet seat which has alined him just right to now do ALL his business straight into the toilet water. I no longer have to scoop anything out of the litter. He simply uses the bathroom into the water and throws some litter into the water! HA! This greatly reduces the amount of litter that gets on the floor! We are still in progress this week and will comment in about a week how things are going!!

ProsIt’s easy to switch from a litter box to a toilet.Nearly all toilet training kits are trays that you insert underneath the toilet seat. The trays have a series of rings that you cut out about once a week to gradually diminish the surface area of the “litter box.” You place flush-able litter in the pan insert and wait for the kitties to discover where their new bathroom is. On the first day, both of our cats easily found the litter tray in the toilet. They were curious about how clean the litter was, both using it within the hour.You will no longer have a stinky litter box in the corner.Anybody that has a cat knows that cat urine is an unpleasant smell. (For those of you that don’t, feel free to smell a boxwood shrub and you’ll get the jist.)The best part about having this tray in the bathroom is that you no longer have to worry about scooping out a stinky crap box. Gone are the days where you have to worry about the smell of cat urine while having guests over. You will also no longer have to carry out stinky kitty poop to the trash bin weekly. Heck yes!Flush-able litter is easier to dispose of.There aren’t many flush-able cat litter choices, based on local municipality “flush-able” definitions. Tristan and I chose “Better Way Eco Fresh Clumping Cat Litter” on Amazon which typically comes in a 12-lb bag. Whenever the cats would finish going potty we would just scoop the litter into the toilet and - poof - there is goes. This litter is soft with small granules, making it easy to dispose of.Potty-training is more eco-friendly than traditional litter boxes.Normal litter isn’t great for the environment. With all of the strip mining used to produce clay-based litter products, flush-able litter is a better long-term solution. Potty training cats requires a few weeks of litter usage before becoming unnecessary. Once the cats get used to using the toilet without litter, you never have to buy it again. Never again! What better way to reduce your carbon footprint than not having to purchase it at all?You save money every month.Depending on the type of litter you were using before, you could be saving anywhere from $20-$50 per month. This is one of the reasons why Tristan and I decided to start using the potty training system in the first place. Once the cats are fully-trained you never have to buy litter again. Repeat, NEVER again.ConsUpfront costs are pricey.CitiKitty is an Amazon brand that Tristan and I used for our cats.Don’t try to remove a training ring too soon.If you purchase a kit that does not require you to cut holes in the tray insert, this doesn’t apply to you. CitiKitty is a single tray with “rings” that you cut out as toilet training progresses. So you need to make sure you give your cats adequate time to adjust to a reduced amount of litter. If you think - “oh they’re doing so well, maybe I should cut this ring out a little early,” - don’t. If you’re mistaken your cat will inevitably take a dump on the bathroom floor, or somewhere else in the house. CitiKitty includes one extra tray insert as a fallback if accidents start happening after you remove a ring, but you can only remove it once.Multiple cats take longer to train.When training with multiple cats, you have to make sure you are progressing at the right pace for both of them. Luna, our black bombay cat, took well to the potty training, no matter how small the rings became. Khaleesi, our white, gray, and tan baby, decided she would use the litter pan every time we removed a ring, only to poop on the floor two days later. This vicious cycle happens every time we removed a ring. Khaleesi did well to always tinkle on the potty but when it came to the number two, it was on the floor every other time.“No mess” is a lie.CitiKitty advertises “no mess, no litter” - yeah, not so much. Maybe it’s true after the cats are fully potty trained. However, Tristan and I had to endure months of finding used litter thrown left, right, and all-around the toilet. Since both of our cats are fully grown the tray fills up quickly. Considering the tray is only an inch deep, it needs cleaning after every use for the first couple of weeks. The idea is that the cats get accustomed to a minimal amount of litter in the toilet, making it easier when the surface size of the tray decreases. That minimal litter results in very little absorbance of the kitties’ “fluids.”You have to move the tray every time you pee.This is the part that I hated the most about potty training. For those of you that have kids, you might be used to potty training seats, but litter trays are different. As a female, using the toilet was disgusting. For weeks I was wiping urine splashes and small poop smears off the seat before sitting down. Additionally wiping off small litter particles from my bottom after going potty made me feel like I needed to shower four times a day.Long-term SuccessThe toilet training process is not all sunshine-and-rainbows, it requires patience with yourself and your kitties. The short-term annoyances of the process are almost enough to make you give up several times, but you just have to keep the bigger picture in mind. When you think about how much money and trash you’ll save long-term, it makes short-term messiness of potty-training easier to handle.