We've made it to green. So now what?

[crossedfingers]

Hi,
I'm so glad my cat has made it to the green stage. In spite of one pee accident which might have been able to have been avoided I've got a couple of questions. First a little background on my cat. He's moved along fairly quickly. It's taken him 4 going on 5 weeks to get to green but, he was pretty leary of this stage. Lastly, everytime he uses the potty he scratchs all of the litter into the toilet. How do you suggest I transition to the next stage? What do you think of taking of the lid of the toilet and just having the seat I'm kind of worried my 3 yr old might shut the lid. Your advice is appreciated.[/b]

[imported_admin]

Hello,
Yes your cat has gone through the different stages fairly quickly. Most cats take at least six weeks to get to the end of Amber (two weeks at each stage, including Red on the floor). I think your cat spent 1-2 weeks on Red and 3 on Amber? Even so, if he is using the Green stage correctly you should be O.K. Scratching all the litter into the toilet isn't a major problem, but from here I recommend taking it very slowly, lest you run into a major setback.
You can start decreasing the litter. Two tablespoonfulls should be the most you want to place in the Green Disc. Then start decreasing this by 1/2 a spoonfull every few days (or more- the slower the better). He might still scratch even when it's all gone, but let him- because it's not damaging to the LK and if it makes him feel more comfortable it's worth t!
If you have accidents, place more litter back in, but if they persist then you may have to go back a stage. It is important to take it slowly because even when cats look like they've "got it", you need to reinforce the behaviour until it's second nature.
Thanks,
The Litter Kwitter Team.

[crossedfingers]

well. I regret to say, my cat wasn't quite ready for the change to green. He's only once ever had an accident but, he was with holding toileting all day and only used the toilet maybe once or at most twice a night. That's half as much as usual and I was afraide he just wasn't making the adjustment as he should. I would hate from him to develop some kind of UTI or UT problems. By a strange stoke of luck I aquired 2 amber disc so, I've modified one to a slightly larger hole without the big lip. He's already used the green sucessfully so I'm opting for the disc that is closest the green that he's comfortable using. Believe me, he's comfortable on this modified disc. He'll just up and use it in front of me as if it's nothing. I'm going with the suggested 2 weeks before trying the green disc again. Wish me luck!

[imported_admin]

Hi Crossedfingers,
It's good that you have gone back a stage. The way that your cat has re-taken to the (modified )Amber Disc is a textbook example of what we want to see; they should be so well programmed on previous stages that they can go back to them and immediately stop having any mishaps whatsoever.
You have the right idea to leave him here for a couple of weeks. In the meantime think of anything you can do to help make the transition when the time comes to move him back up to Green. We'll keep in touch.
Cheers,
The Litter Kwitter Team.

[crossedfingers]

My cat used the modified amber disc for one week and I put him on the green disc again. This time things are going GREAT!!! Hooray He's keeping his usual schedule and using the toilet as usual. He's not scared at all and so I'm not scared either. *** I was freaking out that he would pee or poo some where other then on the toilet*** I think he's going to really make it!