Anyone train their cat to use the actual loo AND flush?

Question

My little Angel learned to flush (and I did not teach her,bless her, she picked it up while watching I can only surmise)-This amazing babe of mine does high 5, high 10, can count to 12 with her tail (swishes, as I count, she gives a swish-if I say 8, she goes around my legs, with her little slinky swish "eight times", and sure, at times she gets it wrong, but I STILL give her highest praise, stroke her fur, and cuddles and verbal praise.) She also does the "fetch the fake mousies"-Now I've trained her to "HERE", and she comes to me and sits practically on my foot-Then I show her the little fake mousies and tell her in louder than normal tone "NO FETCH"-If she starts to take off,she sits back down,and I PRAISE& PRAISE-And I tell her w/in approx.1-5mts to "FETCH MOUSIE", she leaps and bounds,drops mouse @my feet.Also from floor jumps to my shoulders on command (YES, she is declawed in front)-Any suggestions for more cool ideas-Serious answers ONLY-no losers w/mean answers pleze!!!

Answer 1

Hi there... as a feline trainer to my personal cats as well as my clients cats they can do all behaviours you've taught your cats as well as many more including using the toilet. Cats can learn just about as many behaviours as a dog that's within their natural abilities. For instance you can't teach a cat to twist open a cap on a jar since they don't have the opposing thumb like a primate. Anyhow, most dog owners wish their dogs could use the toilet too, which is difficult to train because they are are not as agile like a cat so training is relative to the species of the animal.

Consider teaching your to do agility like training. Set up obstacles around your home and have her follow a target (like a pen/pencil) to go through a tunnel, jump over a barricade, zig-zag through weave-like poles. There is competitions held all over the world for agility through ICAT (http://www.catagility.org/index.html).

Many people do not realize that once their cats learn they look forward to more. Professional animal trainers learn that all animals best benefit from behavioural enrichment through positive training also known as operant conditioning (Pscyhologist B.F. Skinner discovered this) used with classical conditioning (Pavlov).

Answer 2

Your kitty sounds like a lot of fun! There is a website on teaching cats to use the toilet and with patience it can be done. I don't know about the flushing. Have you tried attaching the fake mouse to the lever?

Answer 3

my cat was almost trained to use the toilet - he would have gotten it with another week or 2 of training, but it was interrupted. i kept him in a bedroom while workers were coming in and out of my apartment to replace the heating system. he was so excited to have a litter box (you should have seen the way he was digging!) that i didn't have the heart to take it away from him again.

He has always enjoyed watching the water swirl around in the toilet when it's flushed, though.

Strangely, he also likes to play in water (as in roll around in water, not just stick his paws in it)

i'd really like to know how to train him to stop meowing though. he howls uncontrollably, and for no aparent reason. while he does want attention, giving it to him does not shut him up. (and he's loud).

Answer 4

Its nice that you spend so much time with your cat & it shows. I think this is more of a brag then a question but maybe it will get some people thinking about working alittle more with their pets. I would like mine to use the potty, no more litter:) Good Job!

Answer 5

you have a clever cat. By the way, mine doesn't use the loo (he tried to when he saw us, but we didn't want him to use our loo so we didn't let him), but he does this: whenever he wants to wake us up to feed him, he presses the light switch, switches the light on and so he wakes us up.

Answer 6

My kitty can't use the toilet--but he falls in ALL the time, but I love him just as much!