Ktrit
March 24th 2011, 10:32 AM
I am proud to say that after a long 5 1/2 months, my cat Theodore is FINALLY 100% trained. We dealt with; poo on the floor, not standing in the correct position, and not giving up his litter in the final stage. It took lots of time and tons of patience, and even several times of wanting to give up.
I will fill you in briefly on our training experience and the things that helped us succeed.
Theodore did great in the beginning and moved to the amber stage within a month. Once in amber we had some issues. He did not like the new larger pee hole and he would go poo on the floor instead. OUR FIX: we taped the hole to make it a bit smaller, IT WORKED! We stayed on amber for 3 more weeks (two months total has past at this point).
Now for the Green stage....oooh, the green stage....
It started the same as the Amber stage pooing on the floor. We kept at it and he finally got used it after a few days. But the biggest issue we had was him on Green was not wanting to give up his litter. So….. we let him keep it, for 2 1/2 months actually. I figured he just needed his time to part with it and sure enough, he finally gave it up.
At this point I was so excited about not needing litter, and I dodnt want to rush him and him back track from it, so i kept on the empty green tray for him for a month.
finally I decided to take out the green tray and see what happens, sure enough....after just a bit of crying he went #1 and #2! I was so excited! We have a trained kitty!!
So, my tips for you:
DONT RUSH!! When they are past 100% comfortable then it’s your queue to take the next step. Don’t give up! IT WILL TAKE TIME! Rushing will just make a worse experience for you and you cat.
Foot placing: If your cat doesn’t have his foot placing right, even by the green stage, have no fear. After the 3 months in the green stage, his foot placement while peeing was still not correct, But once I removed the green tray he corrected himself.
Pooing on floor: When moving to a next stage make time to CONSTANTLY monitor them. Dont give them the chance to poo on the floor. I would wake with Theodore at 4am to make sure he goes on the toilet when he was adjusting to the new stage. Another thing I did was constantly place him on the toilet. Each time I walked by the bathroom I put him on it, even if he did not have to go. He got a bit annoyed, but he got the idea. It helps see that’s where you want them to go and gets them feeling safe on the toilet. When we did have an accident, I would put the poo in the toilet and let him see where I put it, then a bit of could shoulder did the trick. The tape/cardboard method really helps. Breaking down each stage as much as possible is the best think you can do for your cat. Some of the jumps from stage to stage are a bit traumatic.
Good luck everyone! If it worked for me it will work for you! Don’t give up!!!!
I will fill you in briefly on our training experience and the things that helped us succeed.
Theodore did great in the beginning and moved to the amber stage within a month. Once in amber we had some issues. He did not like the new larger pee hole and he would go poo on the floor instead. OUR FIX: we taped the hole to make it a bit smaller, IT WORKED! We stayed on amber for 3 more weeks (two months total has past at this point).
Now for the Green stage....oooh, the green stage....
It started the same as the Amber stage pooing on the floor. We kept at it and he finally got used it after a few days. But the biggest issue we had was him on Green was not wanting to give up his litter. So….. we let him keep it, for 2 1/2 months actually. I figured he just needed his time to part with it and sure enough, he finally gave it up.
At this point I was so excited about not needing litter, and I dodnt want to rush him and him back track from it, so i kept on the empty green tray for him for a month.
finally I decided to take out the green tray and see what happens, sure enough....after just a bit of crying he went #1 and #2! I was so excited! We have a trained kitty!!
So, my tips for you:
DONT RUSH!! When they are past 100% comfortable then it’s your queue to take the next step. Don’t give up! IT WILL TAKE TIME! Rushing will just make a worse experience for you and you cat.
Foot placing: If your cat doesn’t have his foot placing right, even by the green stage, have no fear. After the 3 months in the green stage, his foot placement while peeing was still not correct, But once I removed the green tray he corrected himself.
Pooing on floor: When moving to a next stage make time to CONSTANTLY monitor them. Dont give them the chance to poo on the floor. I would wake with Theodore at 4am to make sure he goes on the toilet when he was adjusting to the new stage. Another thing I did was constantly place him on the toilet. Each time I walked by the bathroom I put him on it, even if he did not have to go. He got a bit annoyed, but he got the idea. It helps see that’s where you want them to go and gets them feeling safe on the toilet. When we did have an accident, I would put the poo in the toilet and let him see where I put it, then a bit of could shoulder did the trick. The tape/cardboard method really helps. Breaking down each stage as much as possible is the best think you can do for your cat. Some of the jumps from stage to stage are a bit traumatic.
Good luck everyone! If it worked for me it will work for you! Don’t give up!!!!