Hole 1.

We have made a new step in our potty training efforts with our cat, Booboo. As you may already know, we began the process by putting his litter box beside the toilet, then on the toilet, and then inside the rim of the toilet. Over the weekend, S took the next step and added a small hole! S cut down a soda can and used a soldering iron to cut a soda-can-sized hole in the center of the box, attaching it with a glue gun. (This step happened without the litter in the box. But those pictures are kinda gross because of the dirty litter box. We are trying to keep the "scent" of the box constant so Booboo will recognize it and feel comfortable, even with the changes we are making. So....I apologize for the dirty litter box photos necessary to share the process.)
 

 

We introduced Booboo to the new hole. S picked up Booboo and put him up on the toilet seat/litter box so he could check it out. Booboo actually checked it out more than we had anticipated by using it right then. Haha.

 

Below you see him trying to cover by scratching at the toilet seat. Too funny.

 

He walks around fine on the toilet seat, but he usually has two feet in the litter box when he "goes."  Now with the addition of the little hole, we have introduced the concept of having to navigate a hole (with water and open space below.) However, this hole is so small that Booboo seems not to mind at all, which is exactly what we want. Over time, we will slowly increase the size of the hole and Booboo will have to figure out how to adjust his potty approach to compensate. 

Potty training a cat is a slow process. Or at least, we believe it is most effective to make it a slow process. Booboo has been adjusting very well and has not freaked out at any stage thus far. But I must also add, this process involves frequent cleaning. Booboo usually gets the flushable litter on the toilet seat and sometimes on the floor, so we keep a spray cleaner and vaccuum right by the toilet, always ready. Thankfully our current litter box has vertical walls which minimize the escape of litter more than if the box had more curved sides, like a bowl (which some people use when potty-training cats). And I will say that we are now a fan of the flushable litter. Even if we don't succeed in potty-training Booboo, we might stick with this (more expensive) litter anyways. We think we somehow use less and it's so easy to dump it in the toilet a couple times a day, and never have to deal with it again. I guess it is more eco-friendly too?

Anyhow, we are proud of Booboo's progress and anticipate the day he will be able to "go" on the toilet one day without a litter box, even though Booboo's new vet does not seems so confident in the idea. I took Booboo to her the other day (for the first time that he has been to a vet since he was a wee kitten) and I was explaining that we were trying to potty-train Booboo. She looked at me like she slightly doubted my sanity and said, "Well, you know, cats' brains are small, and if it doesn't work, well....they have small brains, and it might not work." But so far, so good. We have high hopes that Booboo has a bigger-than-average cat brain.