Day 6 - On the Rim

The girls have been good about using their new box. This evening I gave the device a thorough cleaning and placed it upon the toilet bowl rim. I've shown them where the box is now. Hopefully they will take to this change easily. Now I'll have to try to catch them when they are going to make sure they are putting their front paws on the white rim and still going near the center of the box. Go girls! I know you can do it!

Day 3 - Consistent Progress

Here is a picture of the Petmate water fountain I got the girls recently. Isn't it cute? Purrfect for a couple of girls.

I figure that I might not submit a post for each day of the training. Right now at this phase it's just plain old maintenance like scooping out the tootsies and oatmeal cookie clumps.

I dumped out the litter today and cleaned the red disc. You're supposed to clean it out completely frequently. There are some clumps that the scooper just can't reach. It is a little difficult to scoop with the ridges inside the red disc. 

I think I'll keep the device on the floor over the weekend and set it up on the toilet Sunday or Monday evening. They are still doing good with their aim. Nothing has ended up on the outside on the floor or on the white rim. So far, so good.

Maya & Juju Profiles

Maya

Age: 14 months

Birthdate: April 2007

Fur: Fluffy Mackerel Tabby

Favorite Toy: Balled-Up Cat Hair

Favorite Pastimes: Inspecting every box, suitcase, purse & paper bag - Fascinated with water; likes to lick the water in the tub after a shower

Disposition: Sweet, will let you pick her up, jumps into your lap (my private-lap-dancer), a little bit ditzy at times

Favorite spot to hang out: On top of the TV

Enjoys Catnip: Yes

Talkativeness: High

Juju

Age: 14 months

Birthdate: April 2007

Fur: Short-Haired Mackerel Tabby

Favorite Toys: To Fetch - Rabbit's Foot, Starlight Mint & Butterscotch Disc Candies

Favorite Pastimes: Playing Fetch & Chasing Laser Pointer

Disposition: Independent Diva - Does things only when SHE wants to... demands to be pet, but when she's done, so are you.

Does not like to be held.

Favorite spot to hang out: On HER IKEA chair

Enjoys Catnip: Yes

Talkativeness: High

Day 2 - Tootsie Roll Sightings

Late last night, I was happily surprised to catch Juju making her doo-doo in the new box setup. I tried my best to give her privacy, but made sure that immediately after she was done that I gave her a treat and lots of praising and petting. Of course, when you put out treats for one cat, the other comes running for their share. Well, they both got a snack, however I made sure to dispense the treat in the training bathroom so that perhaps they will associate the yummies with the room as being a positive environment.

I scooped out the waste from my oatmeal-cookie-batter litter, as it's best to keep the device clean and as fresh as possible so that the girls won't look elsewhere to do their business.

This morning, I found one of the girls had also used the new setup as their catbox. I betcha it was Maya. Sweet! I again cleaned out the chunks and deposited them in the toilet. Flushable litter is the best! Yeah, and oops, I was so excited last night about Juju that I forgot to flush the toilet from the previous night's poo.

I am so thrilled that they didn't rebel and go stashing nuggets around the house. I swear, Maya is a nut. She was picking at the litter scattered on the floor again this morning. Guess you gotta get your fiber where you can!

I've noticed that they're making more of a mess with the litter since the Kwitter box is smaller than their regular catbox. That's OK because the bathroom is dedicated to their training and I don't have to step out of the shower into cat litter.

I suppose I should post pictures of the girls and give a brief description of them and their personalities. It will be interesting to see if one of them learns at a quicker pace than the other. They are sisters from the same litter, however they are almost like polar opposites.

Day 1 - Starting

This evening I setup the Litter Kwitter with the red ring stage on the bathroom floor next to the toilet. The past weekend the girls have been using a regular cat box that was recently moved from just outside the bathroom to inside next to the toilet. Also, I have switched them over from nasty clay litter to flush-able wheat litter. It looks like sawdust and the urine clumps remind me of oatmeal cookie dough.

When I was filling the red ring with litter, some crumbs spilled onto the tile floor. I caught Maya trying to eat the wheat litter particles. Too funny. She can be a bit ditzy at times, but I'm sure she was just investigating.

I am already enjoying the switch to this Swheat Scoop litter, as it doesn't kick up dust. I also haven't smelled that nasty cat box smell with this litter. I wish I would have tried it earlier.

Yikes, I smelt some poo smell on Maya when she jumped up on my lap here at the computer. She likes to jump on my lap when I'm busy at the computer. I like to think she just wants to help out. Anyway, I don't know if what I smelled was just a fart, so I went to check to see if she was using the new "box." Well, she didn't poo in it, so I checked for accidents around the house, but couldn't find any. I hope I didn't start it too soon.

There have been a lot of changes lately for the girls. First off, my sister just moved out and her room is now practically empty, as well as the main bathroom that she used to use. I'm so glad I have two bathrooms so that I can dedicate one to the girl's potty training.

They are also dealing with the absence of Ike, my sister's cat who is just now about six months old. Juju won't miss him since he would attack her when she was sleeping or grooming. So put all these changes along with a new Petmate water fountain. It was a steal on clearance at Petco for only $12... and it's pink! Good thing I have two girls.

Received "Litter Kwitter" system

Monday. June 23. 10-ish AM.

Well, the week and a day's wait better be worth it. I ordered the Litter Kwitter cat toilet training system and got it in the mail today at work. I've wanted to potty train my girls, Juju and Maya, since they were kittens.

I knew that I wanted to accomplish this feat early on, however, I was skeptical because the methods I had researched were mostly DIY. I really didn't relish manually setting everything up for training.

Just a few weeks ago, my sister emailed me a link to a product that seemed quite worthy of my girls. Simple. Three steps. Heavy duty (sturdy) plastic. Others I had read about were described as "flimsy" so I was excited to find something that would support the weight of my 11.5 lb. each cats.

There have been a lot of changes in the household recently, so I've decided to wait a day or so to start using the system. I decided to create a blog to track the progress of the training. Everyone I have mentioned this "training" to has said, "Let me know how it goes."

I suppose this is enough for the initial entry. Hopefully I can keep this updated as the training progresses.