Warning: LONG STORY, but I need advice

Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I
jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a
month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee discount( I work one
day doing administrative work for a pet store chain), Swheat
Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive.

I managed to move the litterbox to sit on top of my toilet and then
switched to an aluminum pan. Imp took to it right away, but Missy
refused to use it. After 2 days, I got nervous and put the litterbox
out (which only assured them I am easily trained)

I finally tried ordering a training device. If anyone comes across
pottycat.com, or a cat product from Training Products, Ltd, DON'T BUY
IT!!!!

SURE, it's only $12.50, $20 with shipping. SURE, it guarantees that
it will train your cat easily. SURE, it claims their product is
perfect.

Okay, I order it January 9th, and I just received it LAST WEEK. I
called their "sales dept" and left several messages. I emailed them
and got no response. It was only after an email threatening to report
them for Internet Fraud, that I finally received it. But was I
satisfied??.............HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The "device" is so flimsy, a friggin' 4 month old kitten could have
fallen through. When I finally receive the product, there's a label
saying "Not recommended to cats over 10-12 lbs" That saying was NO
WHERE on the website. Also, you're supposed to put the device in your
toilet seat, lead the cat to the seat with the included packet of
"enticing herbs" (catnip) and the SHUT the cat in the bathroom, and
expect him to use the toilet. And if THAT doesn't work, remove all
litterboxes and wait 12-15 hours until your cat HAS to go to the
bathroom, then shut yourself and the cat in the bathroom, and
encourage your cat to stay on the toilet, UNTIL THE CAT HAS RELIEVED
HIMSELF!!

What a bunch of $(*#%#&^#^##&^!!!!

GRRRRRRRR!!!!! Okay, enough venting......

So to make a long story short, (TOO LATE!!! hehehehehe..) I'm back to
square one. Lately I've gone to putting the aluminum pan IN the
litterbox, forcing them to get used to the pan. So far, it's been
working. Eventually, I hope I can move to the pan in the toilet.

I SOOOOOOOO want these cats toilet trained. Saving $30 bucks a month!
Not having to get out of the shower and step on cat litter on the
bathroom floor! Not having to stand by the toilet for 20 minutes so I
can flush the flushable litter! Not having to vacuum my bathroom
every other day!

*deep breathe*

Has ANYONE managed to successfully toilet train their cat? My plan is
to eventually replace the litter box, so they just go in the pan, and
then put the pan in the toilet seat, and then make a hole and enlarge
it so they get used to perching on the toilet seat.

ANY advice would be useful. I'm on a tight budget, and I'd REALLY
like to make this happen..


Kristi

On 21 Feb 2004 21:14:51 -0800, (Mischief) wrote:

Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I
jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a
month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee discount( I work one
day doing administrative work for a pet store chain), Swheat
Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive.

I managed to move the litterbox to sit on top of my toilet and then
switched to an aluminum pan. Imp took to it right away, but Missy
refused to use it. After 2 days, I got nervous and put the litterbox
out (which only assured them I am easily trained)

I finally tried ordering a training device. If anyone comes across
pottycat.com, or a cat product from Training Products, Ltd, DON'T BUY
IT!!!!

SURE, it's only $12.50, $20 with shipping. SURE, it guarantees that
it will train your cat easily. SURE, it claims their product is
perfect.

Okay, I order it January 9th, and I just received it LAST WEEK. I
called their "sales dept" and left several messages. I emailed them
and got no response. It was only after an email threatening to report
them for Internet Fraud, that I finally received it. But was I
satisfied??.............HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The "device" is so flimsy, a friggin' 4 month old kitten could have
fallen through. When I finally receive the product, there's a label
saying "Not recommended to cats over 10-12 lbs" That saying was NO
WHERE on the website. Also, you're supposed to put the device in your
toilet seat, lead the cat to the seat with the included packet of
"enticing herbs" (catnip) and the SHUT the cat in the bathroom, and
expect him to use the toilet. And if THAT doesn't work, remove all
litterboxes and wait 12-15 hours until your cat HAS to go to the
bathroom, then shut yourself and the cat in the bathroom, and
encourage your cat to stay on the toilet, UNTIL THE CAT HAS RELIEVED
HIMSELF!!

What a bunch of $(*#%#&^#^##&^!!!!

GRRRRRRRR!!!!! Okay, enough venting......

So to make a long story short, (TOO LATE!!! hehehehehe..) I'm back to
square one. Lately I've gone to putting the aluminum pan IN the
litterbox, forcing them to get used to the pan. So far, it's been
working. Eventually, I hope I can move to the pan in the toilet.

I SOOOOOOOO want these cats toilet trained. Saving $30 bucks a month!
Not having to get out of the shower and step on cat litter on the
bathroom floor! Not having to stand by the toilet for 20 minutes so I
can flush the flushable litter! Not having to vacuum my bathroom
every other day!

*deep breathe*

Has ANYONE managed to successfully toilet train their cat? My plan is
to eventually replace the litter box, so they just go in the pan, and
then put the pan in the toilet seat, and then make a hole and enlarge
it so they get used to perching on the toilet seat.

ANY advice would be useful. I'm on a tight budget, and I'd REALLY
like to make this happen..


Kristi
I'll tell you what I do and it's far from $30 a month.
I have the litter pan in the bathroom with a small rug (K-Mart)
in front of it. I use Scoopaway which I scoop into saved veggie bags.
When I take a shower, I put a bathmat over the little rug so I won't
step on any litter which may be there. I shake the rug everymorning
into the litter pan and every few days sweep any litter around the
pan.

When the litter starts to get a little low, after careful scooping, I
dump that litter into another clean litter pan and add new litter.Then
I poor some clorox into the bottom of the dirty pan, add hot water and
wash it clean. Then I rinse well in the shower and let it dry. It is
ready then for the next rotation.

This takes a few minutes, but doesn't cost a lot. "A penny saved is
a penny earned"

What I use for my three are three covered litter trays - each has a hood which
is high enough for a cat to stand up in and the littertrays are big enough for
a cat to turn about in easily. Access is via a catflap at one end. Great for
minimising spillage of litter out of the littertray when they are "digging to
Australia" ;-)

Cheers, helen s


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove dependency on fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e**nd***$o$ts***i*$*$m**m$$o*n**s@$*$a$$o* *l.c**$*$om$$

That sucks about the company that you got that stuff from. They do sound
like a rip-off. I've never toilet trained a cat, but have heard the steps
are quite similar to what your plan is. I've heard that after they are used
to using the pan, another step you can do is to put telephone books under
the pan to slowly raise it up to the level of the toilet before putting it
on the toilet. I don't know if that will help.
Maybe also gradually decrease the litter in it so that they get used to
scratching less. Also, you could put a carpeted toilet seat (don't laugh!)
on your toilet, it would give them something to hang onto while pooping and
also something to scratch after. You may have to make the toilet seat
yourself. Or maybe put carpet on top and down the front of the tank? I
dunno. Well, that's all the ideas I have today... Good luck!
--
Britta
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album

In om,
Mischief radiated into the WorldWideWait:

Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I
jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30
bucks a month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee discount(
I work one day doing administrative work for a pet store chain),
Swheat Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive.

[snip terribly sad story]

Why not use shredded newspaper? It's free, biodegradabubble, very
absorbent, convenient, and even provides entertainment while you are
standing there ripping long thin curly strips off and dropping them in
the pan.
I've never found a cat yet who didn't approve of using it.

On 21 Feb 2004 21:14:51 -0800, (Mischief) wrote:

Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I
jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a
month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee discount( I work one
day doing administrative work for a pet store chain), Swheat
Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive.

You need cheaper litter. I manage five pans for 12 cats on about $15
a month. Walmart's house brand of clumping litter is not very
expensive, has relatively low dust, and with a couple of doses of
baking soda and topping off with clean litter, can be stretched out to
a couple of months or more.


T.E.D. - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body)

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 22:49:31 -0700, m. L. Briggs
wrote:

When the litter starts to get a little low, after careful scooping, I
dump that litter into another clean litter pan and add new litter.Then
I poor some clorox into the bottom of the dirty pan, add hot water and
wash it clean. Then I rinse well in the shower and let it dry. It is
ready then for the next rotation.

This takes a few minutes, but doesn't cost a lot. "A penny saved is
a penny earned"

I use sifting pans and rotate a clean one into the sequence each time
I sift: I remove the sieve from the first one, dump the clumps into a
plastic bag lined waste basket and pour the litter into the clean pan.
The litter from the second goes into the first pan and so forth. The
last (fifth) pan then gets all it parts thoroughly scrubbed in the
slop sink with sudsy ammonia and a brush. I wash anti-kick rings from
intermediate pans as needed. If one of the intermediate pans is
extremely filthy, I substitute one of the clean spare pan sets and
wash it. I have eight pan sets and a number of extra bottom pans and
keep five in service.

One thing I no longer do is throw a particularly disgusting set out
the back door to dry out and perhaps be cleaned by the rain ... the
dogs chew them up to the point where they won't fit together if they
aren't destroyed.

T.E.D. - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body)

Mischief wrote:

Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I
jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30 bucks a
month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee discount( I work one
day doing administrative work for a pet store chain), Swheat
Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive.

I managed to move the litterbox to sit on top of my toilet and then
switched to an aluminum pan. Imp took to it right away, but Missy
refused to use it. After 2 days, I got nervous and put the litterbox
out (which only assured them I am easily trained)

I finally tried ordering a training device. If anyone comes across
pottycat.com, or a cat product from Training Products, Ltd, DON'T BUY
IT!!!!

SURE, it's only $12.50, $20 with shipping. SURE, it guarantees that
it will train your cat easily. SURE, it claims their product is
perfect.

Okay, I order it January 9th, and I just received it LAST WEEK. I
called their "sales dept" and left several messages. I emailed them
and got no response. It was only after an email threatening to report
them for Internet Fraud, that I finally received it. But was I
satisfied??.............HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The "device" is so flimsy, a friggin' 4 month old kitten could have
fallen through. When I finally receive the product, there's a label
saying "Not recommended to cats over 10-12 lbs" That saying was NO
WHERE on the website. Also, you're supposed to put the device in your
toilet seat, lead the cat to the seat with the included packet of
"enticing herbs" (catnip) and the SHUT the cat in the bathroom, and
expect him to use the toilet. And if THAT doesn't work, remove all
litterboxes and wait 12-15 hours until your cat HAS to go to the
bathroom, then shut yourself and the cat in the bathroom, and
encourage your cat to stay on the toilet, UNTIL THE CAT HAS RELIEVED
HIMSELF!!

What a bunch of $(*#%#&^#^##&^!!!!

GRRRRRRRR!!!!! Okay, enough venting......

I guess that explains why I no longer see the "device" offered in the
various catalogs I receive!

Ted Davis wrote:

You need cheaper litter...
Walmart's house brand of clumping litter is not very expensive

Yeah, but then you have to shop at Mall-wart. Ugh!!

Joyce

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Hash: SHA1

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 06:25:45 -0600, "Duke of URL"
macbenahATkdsiDOTnet wrote:

In om,
Mischief radiated into the WorldWideWait:

Okay, I'm a full time student that also works 4 days a week, so I
jumped at the opportunity to toilet train my cats. Saving $30
bucks a month would be AWESOME!!!! Even with my employee
discount( I work one day doing administrative work for a pet store
chain), Swheat Scoop(wheat litter) gets to be expensive.

[snip terribly sad story]

Why not use shredded newspaper? It's free, biodegradabubble, very
absorbent, convenient, and even provides entertainment while you are
standing there ripping long thin curly strips off and dropping them
in the pan.
I've never found a cat yet who didn't approve of using it.


The main problem with shredded newspaper, from my (admittedly
limited) experience, is that it doesn't help much with odor control.
You end up with much more cat-pee stench than with clay-based litter.
I haven't tried wheat-based litter, so I don't know how good it is
at odor control.

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--
John F. Eldredge --
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"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
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