Cats Can Use the Toilet, Too ... Maybe
Permalink Posted on 06-26-2006 at 08:08:07 am by Justin, 595 words, 7622 views  

First, Watch the Epic Tail of My Cat and Toilet:

(Note: make sure you have sound turned "on" for the best experience)



The Story:

During my senior year at the University of Georgia, I decided to get a cat. I found Zeke when he was a kitten at the Atlanta Persian and Siamese Rescue. Having seen Meet the Parents and not wanting to deal with litter, I did a little googling on cat toilet training. As is now the case, the top website returned was Karawynn.net's How to Toilet Train Your Cat. Though I departed slightly from Kara's tips, her methodology was sound. So I embarked on an attempt to train Zeke to use the toilet. Litter be damned!

Here's the gist what I did. I got a plastic bowl that nested inside the toilet, below the seat. It had a healthy lip to it so as to rest on the inner rim of the toilet. As such, it didn't touch the water or anything particuarly disgusting (I say "particularly" only because this process was disgusting, at base). Then, I put litter in the bowl. As a result, Zeke was conditioned to get up on the toilet to use the litter box.

The hardest part was getting his feet to be on the seat and not in the bowl/litter. In order to do this, I had to catch Zeke right before he commenced the act. Then, you had to move his feet up onto the seat manually. Being lazy, I did not want to run to the bathroom every time Zeke went in, so I put a webcam in the bathroom and turned on the motion sensor. The rest is history. Well, at least as it concerns the video above.

As for the kitty gritty, Zeke was a slow learner, which is surprising because he's pretty smart (He was still a kitten though). I eventually got Zeke to the point of going No. 1 in the toilet without assistance or any litter in the bowl. It's hard to explain the never-lessening hilarity of studying in my room and suddenly hearing this tinkling sound coming from the bathroom. Absolutely hilarious. And on a couple of occasions, he would paw at the air and hit the toilet paper roll only to spill endless TP on the floor. Tell me that's not funny.

Unfortunately, Zeke just would not get used to going No. 2 in the toilet. The video above is one of the rare times he did it. My only theory is that the splashback spooked him. Hell, splashback still spooks the hell out of me.

So I tried and tried and tried to get him to poop in the toilet, continuously sticking to the training. I probably should have regressed considerably in the training regiment but I was too stubborn: I kept thinking, this time he'll get it. Nope. He just kept pooping in the tub, instead (Super gross). I can just imagine Zeke thinking, "That'll teach the bastard to try and make me poop in the toilet!" Ah well, at least I get the enjoyment of the hilarious (And yes, disgusting!) video.

I hope you enjoy. And no, I did not attempt to teach him to flush.

Update: 2007-07-05

watch cats poop grey To commemorate the fact that something like 150,000 people have viewed Zeke poop on either YouTube or Google video, which is to say nothing of those who saw it on VH1's Best Week Ever, I did up a little t-shirt. It's specifically for folks just like you:

I watch cats poop on the internet compliments of AnarchyWARE.

AnarchyWARE


Categories: Bizarre, Humor12 comments PermalinkPermalink

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: matthaus [Member] Email
The timing on your scoring is incredible. Way to hit that climax in synch with the splashage.

I predict this gets far more web hits than Peace the Old Fashioned Way. Imagine how disappointed people will be to see that the only other "shit" you've posted is a defense of the estate tax!
PermalinkPermalink 06-26-2006 @ 08:10
Comment from: Tommy [Visitor]
I am pleased to say that this momentous occassion happened right underneath my bathroom. I had the unique experience of living through the toilet training and living in the same house as Zeke the toilet-using cat. I gotta give it up to neal for his persistence. What do you think he thinks about when he sees toilets now?
PermalinkPermalink 06-27-2006 @ 12:41
Comment from: Justin [Member]
I think he thinks about drinking some water. Gross.

He still will try and stand on the edge of his litter box like he would have stood on the seat of the toilet. It doesn't work but is hilarious to watch.
PermalinkPermalink 06-27-2006 @ 12:48
Comment from: plasticmanplasticman [Visitor]
if you want to eliminate splashback for you and your cat, and never experience it again as long as you live, just put a couple of pieces of toilet paper in the bowl. it will float, of course. poop can now descend without any splash, because the toilet paper prevents it (just lay the paper flat). simple. you are wondering why you haven't done this before. i know i did when someone told me.

don't thank me, just enjoy the freedom.
PermalinkPermalink 12-14-2006 @ 02:36
Comment from: Justin [Member]
Wow, that really is a brilliant idea. And you were right, I was wondering why I hadn't thought of this before. Unfortunately, Zeke has now digressed back to the litter box. However, maybe there is hope for him yet. Thanks for the insight!
PermalinkPermalink 12-14-2006 @ 08:31
Comment from: Martin [Visitor] Email
I Lowered the water level in my toilet bowl to prevent splash, you know the hose that sprays in the tube of the tank? I redirected it. Check out the funny situations I put on U tube. Make sure your sound is on two of them are really funny. You may find my cat on U tube at.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa-MluR8eyo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFrymzqJ-zA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEs9oyYpPB0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls88_utAqQQ
PermalinkPermalink 03-14-2007 @ 23:29
Comment from: Martin [Visitor] Email
Hello; I forgot to mention cats are afraid to fall in is why they regress. I put 3 of the plastic trainer together to triple the thinkness so she would feel secure. She took to it the first day just as you see it in the video. Hope this help you as it did me.
PermalinkPermalink 03-14-2007 @ 23:44
Comment from: Ruinean [Visitor] Email
Funny, I had a cat that I found near feral and in the act of having kittens in the shrubs outside the front door. I left her with my Mom when I went off to college and she had to share a box with my Mom's cats, 4 or 5 of them at the time, and she did not like that at all so she took to using the toilet for all her business with no prompting or training. I guess she saw Mom using the potty and she just decided to do it too. It was funny that she would turn around on the seat and try to scratch nonexistent litter into the bowl, and then would reach up to push the handle, but she did not have the strength for that, nor I think the intellect to understand the consequences if she were successful, she was mimicking human behavior she witnessed. I have it on video, but it is on an old fashioned VCR tape, I should dig it out and get it transferred to DVD or a computer file.
PermalinkPermalink 04-11-2007 @ 11:37
Comment from: Aaron [Member] Email
Apparently, cats can also ride the bus:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=447527&in_page_id=1770

Fish and chips... of course...
PermalinkPermalink 04-11-2007 @ 11:46
Comment from: bayoujim [Visitor] Email
When I was a child we had a cat that would sit on the toilet and use it. The cat taught itself to do this. When we first heard a tinkle coming from the bathroom we thought someone else had come into the house, but upon looking into the bathroom there was the cat on the toilet.
PermalinkPermalink 08-23-2007 @ 21:44
Comment from: miranda [Visitor] Email · http://wwwmandacom.webs.com
what was the name of the score/music?
PermalinkPermalink 08-09-2008 @ 20:37
Comment from: Beryl1234 [Visitor] Email
To stop - in the tub pooping - keep your tub with water in it.

One of my four cats is so fussy, he'll poop in the tub if the boxes, in a different room, are not up to his high standards.

I keep my bath tub with water in it. End of problem.

Another cat prefers to drink clean water from the tub.

You may not need to do it forever. Your cat might adjust. They can't tell if the bottom has water without jumping in if you keep lowering the level.

There's an alternative method in the "21 days to a litter free home" book, fasten a toilet seat atop the litter box. No splashback. Might also work as an intermediary step to your cat's acclimation.

I hope to toilet train mine at some point.

They've been jumping up to toilet level for years now. I have a tiny bathroom so I didn't put the litter boxes in there. Takes a lot of time to train four at once.

Thanks for your awesome web page reply script. It found the email addy problem and didn't trash my text!

You do a lot of things very well ;)
PermalinkPermalink 08-19-2008 @ 20:36

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