"I just had to tell you how much I enjoyed your web page on toilet training your cat. Not only was it informative but you made me laugh so hard I cried." - Sarah Kraft, OR "I did do quite a bit of research on this subject before I made the decision to attempt such a feat. And by far the most informative and comical was your website instructions on toilet training your cat." - Kelly Karsemeyer, Gardnerville, NV "HURRAH!!!!!!! Penny is officially trained. She is just like clockwork now, thanks to your help and your method. I am so thrilled I still can't believe it - what a pleasure not to have that nasty litterbox. Discounting all the time I wasted with the two other methods I tried prior to finding yours, it took me about 4 weeks to completelly train Penny with your method. I shall never forget that you helped me so much. Thank you more than I can ever say." - Nita, Seal Beach, CA Why the heck would anyone want to toilet train a cat? Good question, certainly worth answering first. Someone would want to toilet train a cat because: It's more sanitary for cats as well as for the humans sharing the toilet (see below). It's less time consuming to flush the toilet once in a while than it is to maintain the litter every 1-2 days and clean the litter box every couple months. It's less expensive to flush the toilet once in a while than it is to buy litter every 1-2 months (and plastic litter box liners for those who buy them). It's better for the environment for cat waste to be filtered out of sewage at water treatment plants than it is for cat litter clumps to fill up our dumps. It's estimated (by me) that used cat litter accounts for approximately 1.5 jillion tons of new waste in U.S. dumps each year. More sanitary? Wouldn't it be less sanitary to share a toilet with a cat? That's what I thought at first too. But just stop for a minute and think about it. How sanitary is it for a cat to go in litter digging in or around his own urine or feces? I haven't met a cat yet that doesn't get its paws wet at least once in a while (typically more often than not) while going in a litter box. As they try to bury their own excrement, they get it on their paws, the litter sticks to their paws, and they track the litter, urine and feces around the house or apartment. Then they jump up and walk on the same kitchen countertop that you used to make that turkey sandwich you just ate. If the litter box is in the bathroom like it was in mine, you will have to step out of the shower onto the tile with your bare, moist feet and pick up every loose particle of dirty litter in the room. Tiny pieces of litter would often go undetected until I put on my shoes each day, since it liked to stick to the bottom of my damp feet. My bathroom also always looked filthy, a definite drawback for anyone who wants to have guests over for dinner who will invariably need to use the bathroom. On the other hand, when a cat goes in the toilet, his paws never touch his own excrement nor does it touch anything else that can be tracked around the house. I find it so funny that we think at first that it's gross to share a toilet with a cat, yet we'll gladly let a cat walk across our bare legs just after it practically bathed in dirty cat litter. My cat even enjoyed hanging out in his litter box playing with litter when he got in frisky moods. Yuck!! Wouldn't cats miss the toilet since cats "spray" their urine, even if they do squat and aim? Cats mark their territory by "spraying." Cats urinate by "peeing." One technique is used on a vertical surface and the other is used on a horizontal surface. These two techniques are not to be confused. And just how exactly would a cat be able to squat and aim anyway?? A cat cannot avoid squatting into the toilet if it has to balance itself on the small area of one side of a toilet seat, which is exactly what the cat will be doing by the end of its training. How long does it take to toilet train a cat? Using the method I suggest on this site, I would guess anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks, depending on the cat's intelligence and/or stubborness as well as the ambitions and persistence of its owner. It took me roughly 8 weeks, but it would have taken me less time if I had known then what I know now. I created this site in hopes that people who train their cats after me will do it faster and easier than I did. Wouldn't it be more trouble to train the cat than it's worth? No way. There are two kinds of people in this world--there are lazy people, and then there are ambitiously lazy people like me. Toilet training a cat is certainly more work and more time-consuming for a few weeks, but in the long run there is simply no contest. I am the lazy one - those who say it's too much work are the ones who will be working the hardest in their lifetime to take care of their cat. Is it feasible to toilet train more than one cat at the same time? As strange as it sounds to say this, it may actually be easier when there is more than one cat involved, because they can learn from each other. One would think that the slower-progressing cats would mess up the training for the cats who progress faster, but that theory was shattered by an e-mail I received from someone who now has two toilet-trained cats. His cats weren't trained at the same time, though, so I would be interested in hearing the success stories and/or difficulties of those who train more than one cat at the same time. Are there any drawbacks to toilet training your cat? There are only a few very small drawbacks. One drawback is that, when you have guests over to your place, they may be able to hear your cat going if the bathroom is within hearing distance. Unless you are somehow able to train the cat to close the door as well, your mother in law might be just about to take her first bite of a home-cooked meal, only to be interrupted by a faint "plop! plop!" coming from the bathroom. And as for providing a romantic atmosphere for your lover, toilet plopping really has a way of spoiling "the mood." Another drawback is that tiny water drops will usually splash onto the toilet seat when the cat goes Number Two. The drops dry up quickly, or if you're home while the cat goes, you can easily and quickly wipe it up (especially if you have company that may soon be using the bathroom). One more drawback is that, once in a while, you will actually have to wait for your cat to go before you can go yourself, assuming you only have one bathroom. This cartoon explains it best, of course, with a little exaggeration. I have a question or specific situation that is not covered anywhere on this web site. Can I e-mail you my 30-page cat story and ask you for advice? As much as it warms my heart that people are using my site and benefitting from it, at this point I can't justify spending more time on the toilet training of cats than I already have. If you need help, I recommend going to Yahoo Groups' Toilet group. With the hundreds of people there eager to answer your questions, this will be more worth your time writing the e-mail anyway! Ok, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm actually curious and possibly even ready to start toilet training my cat. Yes, I know you probably imagined yourself saying, "Hold on, Alphonse, while I finish licking this red-hot charcoal" more times than you pictured yourself saying that. Well, it's reality - toilet training is very doable as long as you are planning to have lots of patience and willing to be creative when faced with strange and unpredictable obstacles that are as unique as the cat itself. You can get started by going to Phase I of the training instructions.