Buh Bye Kitty Litter

Some of you wanted to see Miss Bella on the potty.

Here she is, investigating the set up. Does she have to go? Yes, she does:

Notice that she still has both back feet in the roasting pan inside the toilet bowl. As more and more of the pan is cut away, she'll have no choice but to place all four paws on the seat. Also note that she hops up on the sink to get her treats and praise after a job well done. :-)

I use The World's Best Cat Litter, which is made from whole kernel corn and is biodegradable and flushable, so even if she kicks some down in the little "cut away" parts, it just disintegrates and one flush, it's gone.

The method we are using is The Toilet Trained Cat by Aston Lau. We got the book and DVD set.

He makes it very easy to understand. It's very logical. He provides good tips and tricks along the way to make it a smooth transition.

We're going a little slower - and not because Bella is having trouble, but because I want to be super cautious about letting her become comfortable with each step and make sure it sticks with her. Soon, there will be no pan and no litter in the toilet bowl and I don't want her to find an alternative "potty area" somewhere in the house.

When you think of how many pounds of cat litter and cat waste is in landfills, and when you think of how nasty and germy a cat box can get with all that waste in it and the cat scoops around in there and then transfers those pee-pee and poo-poo paws all over your house: on your couch, your bed, your counters (you know they're up there when you're not looking!), well, I'd rather have a cat with clean paws. I wipe down every toilet in this house (3 of them) almost every day with 409 and clean the bowls, so I know they're all sanitary.

Right now, that bathroom is a mess with litter all over the floor and we have not been using it. I figure the big payoff will be after all this is over, the floor can be cleaned and disinfected, all the mess can be cleared out and we will once again have use of that toilet.

I'm not going as far as teaching her to flush. I figure as a stay at home mom, I can swing by that restroom every so often and check to see if it's in need of a flush. Pressing that flush handle is a lot easier than scooping poop and pee from the litter box every day!

The big thing is going to be training the Evil Twin to lower the seat after he uses that potty himself! Bella can't go if the "girl" seat is up! LOL.

And there you have it! Cats will aim to please for a treat and praise, even though they still know they're the boss of the house.