How much time did you spend on red stage?

[Norwegiangirl85]

The question is easy, how much time did your cat(s) need on red stage?

You can first answer the poll over here and then write down here more details of how long it was on the floor and toilet aswell as some info about how your cat(s) did on this stage...

I can start: I started training two cats. They moved in on August 26, 2010. The first night they slept in my bedroom with a litter tray. The next day I moved it into the bathroom where they have slept ever since. They started the red stage on the floor in the bathroom the 29th August. One of them had problems with me changing the litter so she pooped on my bed and on my livingroom floor...When I added more of the old clay litter and slowely changed it for the new crystal litter they both did good...After two weeks on the floor I moved it up to the toilet (The 12th September) and had it there for one week. I had my toilet seat over the LK from the beginning and that worked well. The first day I made the cats jump up on the toilet to get treats so they would see it as a positive space, get used to jumping up there and to know where the litter was. The got the hang of it pretty quick

I had to start the training over again because I got a new kitten after 4 months of training. He had some problems with the LK so he peed all over my apartement and sometimes pooped in the tray and sometimes on the floor everywhere...I had the red stage on the floor for one week and one week on the toilet...He used it more on the toilet, but didn't actually stop having accidents until the green stage...Now he is my star by the way

If you have finished one of the other stages aswell or just want to see how much time others have used; here are some links of the other polls:

How much time did you spend on amber stage?:
http://www.litterkwitter.com/forums/...ead.php?t=2950

How much time did you spend on the green stage?:
http://www.litterkwitter.com/forums/...ead.php?t=2951

How much time did you spend on the white stage?:
http://www.litterkwitter.com/forums/...ead.php?t=2952

Tip

Problems with the red stage?
http://www.litterkwitter.com/forums/...2962#post12962

[abby2932]

My cats were on the red stage for exactly 4 weeks. They did not have to transition from the floor to the toilet. I did not even have to put their litterbox in the bathroom first either. Their litterbox was in the kitchen, I took it away and put the LK on the toilet. I showed them where it was and the only accident we had was the very first day, Kali pooped on the floor. For the rest of the 4 weeks, both cats used the LK every time (toilet seat was also down)

[skrim]

One cat had a week on the floor and two weeks on the toilet; mine too didn't seem concerned with jumping up to the toilet, tho I always had a step stool, even after the older one was fully trained.

When I moved the red onto the toilet for my kitten, Tspin was really pissed off and wouldn't go. I moved him onto amber in three days, I took a chance but it worked out ok. Robbie had no accidents on amber, however I was there to clean after every single usage. He has had accidents on green due to my not cleaning right away and the tray being full of urine as we are reducing litter now.

[devora]

We were approximately 6 weeks on red, that was 1.5 week on floor, 1 week on first step, 1 week on second step, the rest on the actual toilet.

I went really slow as Sparky was only approximately 8 weeks old and it says it is for cats older than 16 weeks.

We did not have a litter tray at all, I had an old litter tray in the storeroom from my old cats, but it had high edges and there was no way Sparky could get in or out, so instead of getting a new litter tray for short period of time, I started the training early but was in no hurry to get it on to the toilet.

[Norwegiangirl85]

Ha ha, I found an old video of Miro on the red stage...he wasen't too happy, as you know he didn't do all his buisness in the toilet until the green stage...And I have to warn that he did have diarrhea at that time, but he is still so little and cute there:

Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fi-G...eature=related

[Aurora]

I brought home my two cats (one adult female and one male kitten) on the same day and they had the LK to use from day one. I started by putting the LK inside a shallow cardboard box lined with plastic, like a litter tray. The cats spent the night in the bathroom for the first few nights.

We had our first accident on day four, and that's when I realized that just scooping out the LK and putting in fresh litter was not enough to keep it clean - it needed to be emptied and washed regularly. We had our second accident on day six, and that's when I realized we needed to wash the LK EVERY SINGLE DAY.

On day seven I removed the LK from the box and put it directly on the floor beside the toilet. On day nine I elevated the LK a few inches off the floor on a box filled with phone books. On day thirteen I moved the LK onto the toilet and gave them a stepstool.

We stayed on the red stage for about 1.5 months total. When we switched to multi-kat kit amber, my adult female cat refused to poop in it, so for the first day I left the red stage nestled directly under the amber. The next day I put the red disk down into the toilet bowl with a mountain of litter on it and that did the trick. Over the next three days I slowly reduced the amount of litter, until finally I removed the red disc altogether and they were just using the multi-kat amber.

[Meezer Girl]

I am new to the forum and really appreciate all the tips and words of encouragement. Thank you all for sharing!

Our two Siamese kittens (5 mths old) have just moved to the Amber Stage after 3.5 weeks on Red. Red was fairly uneventful with just a couple of accidents from our one girl. Our bathroom now looks like a slalom course, with water bottles lined up all around the perimeter to discourage any squatting.

My training strategy was to establish a routine around toileting - including lots of treats, play and encouragement. We all race to the bathroom first thing in the morning, when I get home from work and before bed. Lulu likes to perform and will wait until we are there to watch her do her thing - she wants to make sure she gets her treat. Lily will often wait until the tray is all cleaned out and go in private.

My biggest learnings at this stage:

• Keep the LK super clean. And be mindful of the soap or cleaners you are using to clean the LK. I was using a citrus liquid soap. I think the smell discouraged one of the cats.
• Look for the signs that it's time to potty. Every cat is different. Some will call. Some will scratch. Some will go very quiet and hide. Knowing your cats signals will help training be less stressful for both of you.
• Keep a schedule. This sounds anal, but it's especially informative when training multiple cats. You need to know who's doing what when. This will allow you to be there to help at those critical training moments.
• Keep it chill. Accidents will happen. Get yourself a good enzymatic cleaner. If you are stressed, your kitties will be stressed. This is a long process. Be patient with your kitties and yourself.
• Reward. Lots of treats, play and encouragement. With patience, you can teach your kitties to do almost anything.
• Get help. I found the forum to be an awesome resource. So many other trainers out there sharing their experiences with invaluable tips and tricks. You are not alone!

We just started the Amber stage today! We are using the intermediate amber disc from the multikitkat set with the smaller hole. I just knew I would not be able to fuss with the cardboard method.

Lots of fascination with the hole - the girls spend more time peering down the hole and trying to bat the water than anything else. I knew they both needed go first thing this morning (no sign of anything over night), so we all stayed locked in the bathroom (30 minutes) until they both did their business. They really didn't want to go on the LK (lots of scratching on the floor), but i kept popping them back on the LK to encourage them to go. Had I not been there, for sure they would have gone on the floor.

I expect to spend weeks at this stage. I will update the poll once completed and onto green. Wish us luck!!

Thanks again to everyone for sharing!!

[Norwegiangirl85]

Thank you everyone for sharing your experienses, hopefully this will help other people with their training

Meezer Girl: Sounds like you have learned a great deal already, very good

Just wanted to say that for some cats even the multi kat amber does not have a small enough hole, the good thing about the cardboard method is that you can start with a pensil sized hole so the changes are as small as possible. It's not really alot of work and it's a really cheap method, and you don't need to use cardboard...You can use a thin cutting board or whatever you can come up with...Either way, I wish you all good luck and hopefully they will get used to the amber multi kat soon

[LucyDee]

My little girl, Chewie, spent 2 weeks 5 days on red. We always knew we were going to use the LK so from day one her litter tray was right next to the loo. When she was old enough we swapped to using the red and put it straight on the toilet. She was an angel and never had any accidents, I was going to wait until the three week Mark but thought, what's 2 days difference? And since I had a weeks holiday thought it would be better to start Amber when I had the full week to train her.
xX

[Norwegiangirl85]

LucyDee: Sounds like she did very good and that you made the right decisions for her! I just read that she is actually on green and no litter right now...Great job