We surrender, tiny demons.

After a long and arduous (almost) two months of toilet training, we’ve decided to wave the white flag of surrender. There is absolutely no way that both of our cats will become toilet trained. While Tab has still been doing well, other than his poor aim that results in a mess all over the toilet, Hannah has decided to fully rebel and began regularly peeing in the sink. (And yes, this was before we were able to move onto the next step again).

As frustrating as it is to have the cat peeing outside of the designated spot, it became obvious that our time with the CitiKitty has come to an end. So, last week we went out and bought a brand-spanking-new litter box. However, both Aaron and I are beyond finished dealing with the cat mess so we invested in an automatic litter box!

Pluses of auto litter box: we never have to scoop! Great success! Also, Hannah has decided that the situation is win-win for her. She’s happily using the new litter box for her bathroom and using the toilet for what she believes it’s meant for, a giant water dish. (For those of you who haven’t seen a cat try to drink out of the toilet, it’s quite entertaining.)

Minuses of auto litter box: Tab is terrified of it. He currently slinks around or runs past it, staring at the toilet longingly and waiting for his CitiKitty to reappear.

Generally, we’re happy to be finished with this poo-filled adventure. As a thank you to those of you who have followed Our Little Poopers on this journey, we would like to leave you with a comprehensive list of things we’ve learned while *trying* to potty train our cats:

1. The quick 8-week training promised by CitiKitty is lies. All lies.
2. Potty training a cat (or cats) is a messy, uncomfortable process for everyone. Cats were not created with any type of proper aim. This results in your bathroom needing to be cleaned each time you want to use it.
3. Adding cat nip to the CitiKitty to entice your cat(s) to use it doesn’t do a damn thing.
4. Cat littler will be tracked around your entire house/apartment. Arm yourself with hundreds of wet-swiffers and a powerful vacuum.
5. Flushable litter makes your toilet smell REALLY bad. Much bleach will be needed to rid it of the smell.
6. When your cats pee on the edge of the CitiKitty it has a tendency to get trapped between the two layers of plastic, creating one of the most foul smells you will ever encounter. Again, much bleach will be needed.
7. Cats are smarter than you think. They will understand that you are trying to train them, and they will make their own decision as to whether or not they will indulge you.
8. CitiKitty, if successful, will greatly reduce your cat owning costs such as no longer buying litter. However, it does not factor in the numerous new rugs, cleaning supplies and scented candles needed along the journey. Prepare yourself for the need of these items to triple. (A conservative estimate.)
9. When toilet training fails and you want to revert back to a litter box, you will need to train them to use it again. 
10. Upon beginning the journey of toilet training your cat(s), your friends and family will tell you that cats were not meant to poo in toilets. Listen to them.

All is well in the world of potty training. We haven’t had any real issues since we took a step back so we’ll finally start to move forward again next weekend! The only new development is that one of the kitties has become a small, furry diva.

Tab has decided that if he’s meant to use the potty then it should always be clean, and he has started to pace the hallway outside the bathroom crying if his toilet isn’t “up to code.” Oh well, I guess it’s better than poop on the floor.

Even when things go well, the mess still appears. 

Other than a few poor aims by the cats, the last week went really well in CitiKitty world. We’ll be giving them one more week of pooping bliss before we (hesitantly) move forward again.

This week we learned that Hannah is quite shy in the bathroom. One night, Aaron walked in while she was doin’ the dirty deed and Hannah promptly jumped off the toilet mid-stream and accidentally peed on Aaron’s foot. A few mornings later I was in the bathroom getting ready for work and Hannah kept coming in and looking at me, then at the toilet, back and forth. When I finally left she immediately jumped onto the toilet to handle her business.

Tab, however, is quite secure with himself and will go at any time, no matter who is watching. Little perv.

Back to normal. Or as normal as life can be when you’re teaching cats how to use the toilet.

We had a successful weekend. Overall it seems that the protest of the toilet stopped when the hole in the CitiKitty disappeared. I’m relieved, yet nervous that this entire poop-filled week will happen all over again when we decide to move forward again… guess we’ll wait and see.

On a more entertaining note, this morning Tab fell head-first into the bag of cat litter that we keep next to the toilet. I guess he was looking for more exciting, yet acceptable places to poop. Shame that the camera wasn’t at the ready, but I hope this poo-pic is enjoyed nonetheless!

The last three days have been a disgusting roller coaster of relatively quite evenings and poo-filled mornings.  

Tuesday came and went without either of the cats going to the bathroom at all… either in the CitiKitty or elsewhere around the apartment. We were both pleased and scared, and were just waiting for the literal shit to hit the fan.

On Wednesday morning, Tab again proved how he has reformed his poopin’ ways and proudly showcased his overnight usage of the CitiKitty. Hannah, however, decided to stage a not-so-peaceful protest and pooped on the rug in front of the toilet. (For those keeping count, this is the second rug that we’ve now thrown away during CitiKitty training. Thank you again to Dollar General for your inexpensive carpets.) Even though this brought the protest count - protest, not accident, because the little jerks know full well what they’re doing - up to 3, we decided to preserver for the rest of the day.

However, upon returning home from work yesterday I was met with an ominous puddle of liquid on the kitchen table. After which, I proceeded to clean every surface in the house for the 18th time this week.

So, last night, we finally consulted our CitiKitty manual and followed the instructions on what to do when your cats are covering your house in unpleasantness. We settled on placing the extra training insert in the bottom of the toilet below the city kitty. (It just covers the water in hopes that the fear of getting wet was all that was holding up the process.) We crossed our fingers, offered a burnt offering to the toilet-training gods, and went to sleep.

This morning we had our answer, and it came in the form of poop in the bathroom sink. On the upside, the sink is made out of generally the same material as the toilet, so we’re getting closer. We also didn’t have to throw away another rug, which Tab has become quite attached to and lays down on to guard, so huzzah for small victories! On the downside, it made us decide to go back to step 1. We put the training insert back into the CitiKitty so it looks like the hole was never there. Let’s just hope that they both our little poopers start using it again.

*FYI after reading about other toilet-training experiences, we’ve learned that the short 8-week time span advertised by CitiKitty is blasphemous. It takes much, much longer than that to potty-train a cat.

Step 2: And then disaster struck.

Yesterday we decided to move to Step 2 of CitiKitty livin’ - aka cut out the first perforated hole in the training seat while hoping and praying that the cats embrace the idea of water in the bowl below.

Sadly, we did not have such luck. Upon waking up this morning I noticed that both cats were again on a bathroom strike and had not used their CitiKitty all night. Oh well, no big deal, we’ll just have some constipated kitties again… or so I thought.

Upon getting out of the shower I walked into the bedroom to a defiant protest from Tab. He had pooped on the bed. While Aaron was still sleeping in it. Oh, the glory. 

I woke Aaron up and, following CitiKitty rules, re-introduced Tab to the place he’s supposed to do his dirty business. We cleaned up the mess (blankets bound for the wash) and continued with waking up, until Aaron’s fateful call came from the living room. Hannah had peed on the couch… the NEW couch. Oh, the horror.

On the plus side, we learned that our couch is indeed water (and other liquid) resistant. Win 1 for us! Also on the plus side, Tab promptly went to pee in the CitiKitty upon learning of Hannah treachery. I assume he feared punishment and wanted to prove that this mess wasn’t his.

On the downside, we had to deal with two dirty cat messes before 7:00 in the morning.

#CitiKittyFail

It will be a glorious, glorious day when we no longer have to deal with cat litter.

We’ve now make it 1 whole week without any accidents!!! (Although we did learn that if there is not adequate litter in the CityKitty the cats track little pee-filled footprints around the apartment and you need to wash every open surface.)

According to CityKitty instructions, we can now move on the the next step where we get to remove the first ring from the center of the training seat… we’re giving the cats a few extra days though and waiting until the weekend to pop out the first ring. Up until a day or two ago Tab was still avoiding going to the bathroom whenever possible and he’s finally getting back on a normal schedule. *Yes, I do feel silly understanding my cat’s bathroom habits so well.* So, anyway, we don’t want to stress him out again quite yet. 

Hannah is still the world’s most perfect cat and can do no wrong.

One needs a strong stomach to potty train a cat.

We had a successful day yesterday without any angry little accidents, although I’m pretty sure that Sir Tab the Ever-Constipated-Kitty is holding it in again.  Here’s to hoping that we come home tonight to lovely little kitty poops in the toilet! (It’s not every day you type a sentence like that.)

We did win some of his affection back yesterday by replacing his pooped-upon litter mat with a new rug - thank you Dollar General - and he seemed quite pleased.  He actually spent the rest of the night and most of the morning sprawled out on it so we’re hoping that this means he likes it too much to use it as a litter box. 

As usual, Hannah is perfect and causing no problems at all. Huzzah for 1 easy kitty!