Toilet Training Cats 201

Apologies for not having written this update a week ago, however, I wanted to make sure I actually had something to write about. And I do! Hurray!

We have successfully switched to the next stage of the Litter Kwitter Toilet Training Program -- the amber stage. At this point the tray now has the hole in the middle.

I went into this stage very apprehensive and prepared to have to coax Dumbledore with food or trick him into going into the hole -- especially since the last time was a disaster. I was wrong. As soon as I had the new tray up there, Dumbledore sauntered into the bathroom and jumped onto the tray, avoiding the hole like a pro, scratched a couple times and then squatted and did his business, right into the water. I stood there mouth hanging open in astonishment -- are you freakin' kidding me?! Dumbledore?! The sound of urine tinkling into toilet water was music to my ears! In fact, I was so excited, I almost peed my pants. Ok, no not really. I'm just kidding. But I was very excited. After all, this was Dumbledore The Priss. 

As it turns out, my dear beloved girlfriend was right (and will never let me live it down) about having to wait another week or two. Turns out DD just needed a little more time to get used to the tray in general. 

I would have written about this amazing success right away, but I always want to wait for what I term the "4 Successes" -- two poos and two pees (one of each from each cat...). At this point I was only one down and three to go. Later in that evening, my lady came over and as I was brushing my teeth (of course), I turn my head and see this:

With a mouth full of toothpaste I exclaim "Get my phone! Get my phone!" only to hear "I got it, I got it!" She was already on it, crouched down and getting a direct shot, like an experienced photojournalist documenting the rarest of all cheetah kills or something. 

2 successes down and two to go. We still hadn't seen anything from Merlin, which I found strange since I had seen him go when I tried this stage earlier (see previous post). It took a little while, but we eventually heard some scratching and popped our heads into the bathroom to see Merlin squatting. There was no glorious tinkling sound, though, and it turns out he was still doing his business into the tray and not the water. Not ideal, but at least it's in the right area and not on the cat bed... or my bed... or the sink. 

It's been a week now and though there are some poos that land in the tray, about 80-90% of all the waste goes into the hole. Merlin is getting better and more used to getting it all into the hole. He seemed to be uncomfortable about it for a few days. I was away all night and all day today and upon returning home was very pleased to see that only one poo was in the tray, and there was a LOT in the bowl.

Other good news is that I have left the drain in the sink open several times on accident and have seen no evidence of pee in the sink --hooray! Though I'm still a bit doubtful so I try to keep it full of water for them as a pee deterrent and a watering hole. 

The only unfortunate part of this stage is the amount of litter mess it creates in the bowl itself (it sticks to sides of the bowl) and on the floor around the toilet. One of the reasons behind my motivation to do this was to avoid stepping in litter. It seriously grosses me out to feel the grains in the bottom of my feet, or worse, to find them in bed.... EWW! I'm becoming a little OCD about cleaning the floor in my bathroom to avoid this unpleasantness and am so looking forward to the day when I am truly litter-free!

I will wait a couple more weeks before I decide to move on. Once they are going into the bowl all the time, I will switch to the green stage. I will try to do a better job of updating you all. However, I think this is going fabulously! I already have several people in line to inherit the Litter Kwitter when I'm finished. 

'Til next time, Happy Poos!