How to litter train an adult cat quickly and easily. We teach an adult cat or a cat to the tray: tips and tricks

10.08.2019

When a fluffy appears in the house, its owners begin to think about teaching the kitten to go to the tray. Agree, it’s not very pleasant to constantly find puddles and piles all over the apartment, come home and feel the pungent smell of feces. So after acquiring a pet, the primary task is to accustom him to the cat litter box.

At what age should you start litter box training?

If you buy a kitten from professional breeders, most likely he will already be accustomed to shitting in the right place. If not, you will have to teach yourself. You need to start at about three weeks of age.

It is advisable to buy a tray and a filler even before you bring an animal into the house, so that it immediately gets used to it. It is not difficult to accustom, the main thing is to clearly follow our recommendations and be patient.

It makes no sense to look for a separate article on how to accustom a street kitten to a tray, since a kitten is a kitten in Africa, that is, it doesn’t matter where you got it: you picked it up on the street or bought it from breeders, the methods are the same.

The most important thing is that the cat litter box is in a place where the kitten can retire. Access to the container for bowel movements should be around the clock. Basically, cat toilets are equipped in the restroom. It is important to remember that now you have a pet, do not forget to leave the toilet door open.

Teaching a kitten to walk on a tray

How quickly a kitten will become accustomed to the tray depends on how quickly he realizes what is required of him. Your task is to carefully monitor the pet. When you notice that the animal wants to use the toilet, quickly carry it to the tray, seat it, stroke it and do not let it out until it does “its business” there.

How to understand what the kitten wants to go to the toilet? He begins to restlessly rush around the room, meowing, sniffing around in search of a suitable place.

First, wear it every time after eating or sleeping. When the fluffy poops in his toilet, praise him, show your satisfaction. In most cases, the kitten begins to go to the tray on its own after 2 weeks.

What to do if nothing works?

Sometimes it happens that the owners have been trying for months to wean the pet from spoiling all over the apartment, and nothing happens. As a result, they again begin to look for information about ways to accustom to the tray in the apartment. There are many reasons for this:

If you can’t accustom, first of all, replace the filler (preferably with a more expensive and high-quality one). Also keep in mind that some kittens like sand, others like newspapers, and others prefer nothing at all inside.
There is also a possibility that the pet, for some reason, does not like the tray itself.
Change the location of the tray, put the cat litter in a secluded place.
The smell of chemicals can scare away the cat, so it is better to wash the cat litter box with warm soapy water, without resorting to strong chemicals.

How to wean shitting in the wrong place?

It's really not hard to learn. The easiest option is to make this place impregnable. But if this is not possible, there are several more effective methods:

treat the place chosen by the cat with deodorant, perfume, or something else that smells strongly. This will scare away the animal.
put a wet rag or a lot of crumpled paper.
when you notice that the kitten has gone to shit where it shouldn't, scare it away with a loud bang.

In no case do not beat a small pet, it also makes no sense to poke his face into a puddle of urine. As a punishment, squeeze the animal's ear with your nails until it meows. Then take it to the tray and pet it.

You can only punish when a kitten is caught doing its “dirty deeds”. Otherwise, he will not understand for what crime the punishment followed. For example, you came home from work as a lady and saw puddles or heaps ... In this case, scolding is already useless, too much time has passed.

It would be more reasonable to soak the newspaper in a puddle and put it in a tray (if you find a pile, put it there as well). Then we take a kitten and put it in a tray, give it a sniff and pet it.

Everything is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. The main thing is to be restrained and patient, do not break into a small animal.

How to potty train an adult cat?

You must understand the fact that cats are extremely intelligent creatures, so even a homeless animal can be taught to defecate in one place. As in the case of a kitten, an adult cat litter box should be placed in a secluded place, with round-the-clock access to it. Then buy a good filler (or use sand). Take the choice of filler seriously, each cat has its own preferences.

The easiest way is to accustom a pet to the tray, which has used it all his life. You need to re-accustom, for example, in the event of a move (or they gave you a pet for some reason). The main thing is to provide the same conditions as before. To do this, ask the former owners what the tray was, what filler, where it was located, etc. All this is very important, cats are very accustomed to a certain way of life, it is extremely difficult to change their habits.

The hardest thing is with street cats who already have ingrained habits, have never seen a litter box in their lives.

How to potty train a street cat?

When you take an adult cat from the street, you will not only have to trust him, but also teach him to relieve himself in a place specially designated for this. Keep in mind that yard cats have been used to burying their excrement in sand or earth since childhood, so we recommend using sand as a filler.

In order for a street cat to understand that a container of sand is his toilet, you need to moisten a cloth or newspaper in his urine, and then put them on top of the sand.

The cat has chosen another place for defecation? Thoroughly wash the polluted area, treat with repellents (sold in pet stores), and even better - limit access.

Try to close the cat in the toilet or other room where the tray is located after eating and sleeping.

At first, watch the animals. As soon as it wants to go to the toilet, immediately pick it up and carry it to the tray. We wrote above about how to determine what the cat wants to go to the toilet.

It is much more difficult to train an adult street cat than a small kitten. This will take from several weeks to several months.

Have you heard that now everyone without exception is accustomed to the toilet, and not to the tray? We recommend for only 720 rubles, thanks to which within 3 weeks your pet will learn to go to the toilet and forget about the tray forever. You will no longer need to spend money on filler!

Non-standard places of need

This mainly refers to adults that the former owners threw out into the street, and you picked them up. They can shit in the most unusual places in the apartment, so it’s worth accustoming the cat to the tray as soon as possible. The most common include:

Bathroom, sink or toilet. Weaning a cat to shit in a sink or bathroom is difficult, and sometimes even impossible. This often happens when the animal, before it came to you, lived with some grandmother, where the use of a bathroom or sink for defecation was considered the norm. Get ready to deal with it. If the cat relieves directly into the toilet, then this is very good, you do not need to regularly wash the tray, it remains just to flush the water.
Cloth. This mainly applies to things that you inadvertently threw on the floor or an armchair (chair). There is a possibility that the former owners (grandmothers often do this) taught the animal to go to the toilet on a rag. To get rid of this habit of a cat, we recommend that you allocate one cloth for her, let her urinate on it once, and then put it in the tray.
Bin. This is not common, but there are still cases when cats picked up on the street shit in the bin. On the one hand, it is extremely difficult to get rid of such a habit, but on the other hand, there is nothing terrible about it, you just need to regularly, every day, take out the trash. There is another way out of the situation - to buy a trash can with a lid.
Vases. Cats that have been on the street all their adult lives, when they get into an apartment or house, often start to shit in flowerpots. This is easy to explain: they see a familiar place (that is, a bush with earth) and relieve themselves there. How to accustom a cat to a tray if he shits in flowerpots? Dig up some dirt from the pot the cat peed in, put it in the litter box, and add some litter. Next, put this imitation of a flowerpot in the middle of the apartment, in the most prominent place. Now you need to gradually reduce the amount of land, replacing it with filler. Gradually, every day for several tens of centimeters, move the tray to the right place where it will be permanently.

First of all, in order to quickly accustom a cat to a tray, you must understand that the representative of the cat family is extremely clean, so the cat's litter box must be constantly clean. Otherwise, the cat will find another place to relieve itself.

Cats like to do their "business" in secluded places. So if the sewer constantly knocks near her toilet, the washing machine rattles, shampoos fall from the shelves, the pet will avoid visiting this place in every possible way.

And yet, what to do if the animal is not interested in the tray if it has chosen another place? There are several ways to deal with this problem:

Orange peel

Cats hate citrus. It is enough for you to scatter orange skins in the corners and other places where the pet prefers to spoil, then he will not even come close there.

Lavender

Lavender has the opposite effect of orange peels, i.e. it attracts the cat. She needs to process the toilet so that it attracts fluffy.

Special funds

Pet stores sell sprays designed to repel and attract cats. So, we treat the places in the apartment where the animal crap is scaring away, and its toilet is attracting. Most likely the effect will be better than from orange peels and lavender.

Summing up

Well, now you have all the knowledge for accustoming a cat to a tray. Be patient, do not yell at the animal, do not use physical force, and then you will succeed! You just need to be patient for a few weeks, make a little effort to instill in him the habit of going to the toilet on the tray, then the kitten will only bring pleasure.

To teach a kitten to go to the toilet to the right place is quite simple, which cannot be said about an animal with a formed character and habits. If you take an already adult cat into the house, for example, from the street, serious difficulties can arise with accustoming to the tray, because the beast simply does not understand why he suddenly has to do his business in some incomprehensible trough.

It is still possible to teach an adult cat to go to the toilet in the right place. However, to achieve the desired result, you will have to make some efforts, be patient and follow the recommendations given by veterinarians and experienced cat owners exactly.

Location selection

An important role in accustoming a cat to a tray is played by the place on which it stands. The cat will not go to the toilet anywhere. For this business, she needs a secluded corner where she can remain completely alone, hidden from prying eyes. Therefore, the place should be chosen quiet, ideally - slightly shaded. Such rooms as a bathroom or a heated loggia are perfect for him. Can be used for these purposes and pantry. It is important that the animal can easily get to its toilet at any time.

Absolutely not suitable for installing a kitchen tray and a corridor. This is due to hygiene, and the fact that it is very difficult to find a suitable quiet place in these rooms. Yes, and to do their business where one of the people often happens, the cat may also not like it.

Tray selection

The cat litter itself is of great importance, since the pet will never go to the tray, which is inconvenient for him. The length and width of the tray should be such that the cat fits in it entirely, and there is still a little space left on each side. The latter is due to the habit of felines to bury their waste, for which they need some space.

The height of the sides of the toilet should not be less than ten centimeters. Better - more. So the cat will feel more protected, hidden from strangers. And in the process of instillation, filler and excrement will not fly out of the tray, which will make life easier for the owners of the animal.

In addition to standard trough-shaped toilets, there are also tray-houses. This is a rectangular box, closed on all sides, with a door for the passage of the animal. These are more expensive than usual, but they are more convenient for both the cat and its owner. Such a tray gives the animal the same sense of security and intimacy, and the person - cleanliness in the house, since nothing will spill out of this toilet. Also, houses are usually equipped with special carbon filters that prevent odors from the inside from penetrating outside. Therefore, such a tray can be placed in the corridor, and even in the living room.

Potty training a cat

The very process of accustoming an animal to go to the toilet in the right place consists mainly in showing the cat this very place and explaining what it is for. To this end, you need to carefully monitor the animal. When he wants to do things (usually this happens after a short period of time after eating), he will become restless, will look for a place, sit in corners, rake the floor with his paws. Once this behavior is noticed, you can proceed in one of two ways:

1. Take a cat, take it to the tray and put it in it. Most likely, she will do her business there. If this does not happen, the animal jumps out of the toilet and tries to escape, it is necessary to catch it and put it back in the tray until the desired result is obtained.
2. Bring the tray itself to the place chosen by the cat and put it there. In this case, having started doing her business, she will finish them already in the toilet. After that, you do not need to remove it and change the filler, so that the next time the animal detects it by smell. If the next time the cat still sits in the wrong place, you should take it to the tray. Having smelled a familiar smell, the animal goes to the toilet where it is supposed to.

Most often, it is enough for a cat to do things in the tray once in order to continue to go there without a miss. But if this does not happen, you must first put the toilet in the place that the animal has chosen for its affairs. Then you need to gradually, a few centimeters every day, move the tray to where it should end up. This process will take quite a long time, but the cat will not even understand that the toilet has been moved, and will regularly go to it.

It is not true that it is more difficult to accustom a male to a tray than a female. If the cat is not neutered, he can leave odor marks all over the apartment. But cats are more capricious and finicky creatures, and if the pet doesn’t like at least something in the toilet, she will never go to it.

If the cat goes to the toilet in the wrong place in the absence of the owners, the puddle should be blotted with a napkin, which then put in the tray. Transfer excrement there. So that the animal no longer uses the chosen place for its business, it can be treated with ammonia, bleach, vinegar essence or citrus aroma oil. A strong unpleasant smell will scare away the cat and make him avoid this area of \u200b\u200bthe apartment. And such tools will destroy harmful microorganisms that can be dangerous to people.

In no case should you scold a cat, poke her nose into her own waste products. The animal will only get angry at such actions and will start going to the toilet in the corners out of revenge. Instead, you need to quietly, but persistently and strictly pronounce any forbidding word (“No”, “Fu”), and then take the cat to the tray, showing him where to do things.

If the cat stopped going to the right place

If a domestic cat, which used to regularly visit the tray, began to go to the toilet past him, the reasons may be as follows:

health problems (especially if it is a castrated male);
the animal does not like the tray or the place where it is located;
the cat is not satisfied with the filler;
the tray is not cleaned often enough.

Based on this, you must first take the pet to the veterinarian. If he is healthy, you should pay attention to other reasons. The most likely one is a too heavily polluted toilet. So - you need to try to clean it more often. Cats are clean animals, and at the slightest pollution they may refuse to go to the tray. Therefore, excrement and the top layer of the filler (or its lumps) must be removed as they appear, and once every two weeks, the contents of the toilet must be completely changed and washed.

To accustom a cat to a tray, you need to make sure that it is convenient for her, and is located in a secluded enough place. The toilet should be moved to the place that the animal has chosen for its affairs, if this does not cause any particular inconvenience to the owner. It is also worth experimenting with the filler - very often pets do not like it. You can try to start using a different type, as well as pay attention to other manufacturing companies.

if possible, each of them needs to purchase a separate tray;
when a new one appears in the house where cats already live, it will be easier for him to learn how to go to the tray, taking an example from animals that are already familiar with the rules of behavior in the apartment;
similarly, if several animals were taken at the same time, it is enough to accustom only one of them to the tray, and the rest are likely to follow suit.

For a street cat, instead of store-bought filler, at first, ordinary earth or sand should be poured into the tray. So it will be easier for the animal to understand what exactly the strange object is intended for. If an adult cat did not enter the house from the street, it is better to take it from previous owners along with the tray. In a new place, she will be much more willing to go to a familiar toilet. The filler used should also be familiar to the animal.

The recommendation to move the tray gradually, every day for a very short distance, can be read in every second article, the authors of which draw inspiration from each other's work. This is how I imagine the tray gradually migrating from under the bed in the bedroom to the corner of that toilet, through the entire bedroom, corridor, hallway. It is interesting how to implement this in practice. And will a cat agree to do their intimate affairs on the aisle, even if she is already accustomed to the tray?

However, the method can work if you want to move the tray a short distance within the same room.

However, more often it is not at all the way it seems to the authors of the articles. My first cat, for example, chose a place for her toilet under the kitchen sink. In the tray placed there, she began to walk stably and confidently in just a couple of days. However, when trying to move her toilet at least a little, she went exactly to the same place, ignoring the convenient “potty”. And it all started all over again: I wash the floor under the sink (and this, I tell you, was not easy in the conditions of a 5-meter kitchen full of furniture), I put the tray, I watch the cat for several days, I make sure that the habit of the tray has developed, I make a new attempt move the tray (it is very inconvenient to get it out to wash and put it back in) - and with the same result.

So I switched to plan B.

Method #2 - Duplicate Tray

This method is my invention. Having suffered with the cat for a couple of months, I moved her tray immediately to the toilet, where he was supposed to be, according to my plans. And in place of the tray under the sink, she put the usual large tin can from under the herring with a newspaper inside. The bank perfectly closed the most attractive place, in the opinion of the cat, besides, it was reliably blocked by the banks standing there, so it was not easy to move it. Now my stubborn one had a choice of two options: a convenient, tested tray in a new place - in the toilet, and a small, uncomfortable jar, but in the usual place under the sink.

The choice of the cat was obvious. After a little break for decency, she went straight to her destination. Nuance: the jar was under the sink until we moved, otherwise the favorite place was immediately used by the cat, like in the good old days.

By the way, the problem did not even arise at the new place of residence. The cat immediately went to her tray where they put it and showed it to her.

Train your cat to use the travel litter box

If you plan a long trip, for example, on a visit, on vacation, in a word, where the cat will not be carried all the time, but will take advantage of freedom, you will have to take care in advance of accustoming him to a small folding tray.

If you plan to carry a cat in a carrier, then it is better to get the carrier itself a few days before departure and leave it open for free access. Then the animal examines its new “house”, and at the same time leaves its smell in it. And the road will not seem so scary.

"Camping" tray is also better to get in advance. It is optimal to put it next to the main one, pour the same filler. Let them stay close for a few days. If the cat has not used the new toilet, we remove the old one for a while - and carefully observe so that “trouble” does not happen. After the cat "updates" the tray, you can periodically change them, exposing one or the other. This is how we let the pet know that both trays are the right place for the toilet. And later, on the road, at a party, there will be no problems, because you will already have a familiar, proven “pot” with you.

An adult cat moves to a new house. How to potty train her?

If you become the owner of an adult cat or a cat that confidently went to the tray with the previous owners, you still have to devote several days to accustoming the pet to the new toilet.

First of all, find out which tray your pet is used to. Trays come in different sizes, depths, open and in the form of a house. It is best to purchase the same or as close as possible to it. Find out if there was a tray and if so, what type. Try to repeat exactly, up to the manufacturer and the name of the product (a different smell can confuse a cat that is already frightened by the move and change of owner).

Ask the cat to pass along some used litter or a napkin soaked in the tray. And send it all to a new tray. Put the used filler on top of the fresh one and smooth it slightly. Place a damp cloth under the grate (it is enough even just to run it several times along the bottom of the tray).

Do not wash the new tray with strong-smelling disinfectants before use.

Immediately after moving in, pet your new pet for a few minutes - and take it to the tray. Here it is necessary to plant him and calmly, benevolently talk in the spirit that, they say, here is your new tray, here you need to write and poop. You are a smart cat (smart cat), I'm sure you will understand everything right away. See how convenient: dig into the litter or empty tray with your paw and praise the animal. Now you can let him go to get acquainted with the room (do not forget to show where there is water). It remains only to watch the newcomer, so as not to miss the moment. When he decides to go to the toilet. If he went to the tray - everything is fine, we praise, we admire his mind and quick wits! If the excavations began in another place, we urgently catch it, run it into the tray and again conduct an educational conversation. And so on until the “first contact” takes place. He is the most important.

However, you should not relax for a few more days. It is better to control where your pet goes to the toilet.

So you ask why the cat so beloved and adored by everyone does not go to the tray? Protest? Sick? Dissatisfied with life? Let's find out!

There are several reasons why a cat has stopped going to the litter box. And this, believe me, is not always revenge or anger. There are much more important aspects of refusing to go to the toilet in the right place.

Inflammation of the genitourinary system or injuries. For this reason, the animal often goes to the toilet and simply does not have time to run to the designated place. If there are stones in the urinary tract, the ducts are compressed and the cat cannot defecate. No need to rush to conclusions and punish an adult pet. You should consult a doctor and examine the animal.
Not everyone knows, but cats are very clean animals. And if suddenly a four-legged friend refuses to go to the toilet in the right place and “plays pranks” in another, then in this way he protests. Perhaps he does not like the filler, perhaps there are “traces” of a crime from the last time in the tray, perhaps there is an unpleasant smell. Such "possibly" can be listed more than a dozen.
But the cat does not want and therefore does not go to the tray. He doesn't suit her. Maybe the owner liked the model, because it is combined with the interior of the room, easy to clean, etc., but the pet did not like the design at all. The animal prefers an old, unsightly product.
A street cat, and an apartment cat too, can be confused by the smell of the filler. The owner may like the smell of lavender (as a rule, fillers are sold with this smell, but it doesn’t matter how important), but the animal does not need these aromas at all.
I doubt that a person would want to go to the toilet in a noisy square with curious looks. So is the cat. He loves privacy in this matter. Therefore, the cat toilet should be located in a secluded place.
If the time has come for the cat to actively breed, he may begin to mark the territory. Scolding a pet is not an option. This will only increase stress and make the situation worse. You should consult with your doctor. If a feline “wedding” is not planned in the near future, then the veterinarian will advise drugs that act as a sedative and completely discourage the cats from going to the “bride”.
Jealousy! If another animal appears, then the old-timer can show character. After all, the youngest is loved more, caressed more, they give him all the best. Just like with children!
Vindictiveness. Another quality that does not give the owners peace of mind. In retaliation for swearing, a cat can shit where it is not necessary. Therefore, it may be worth talking to the pet and asking for forgiveness. It may sound silly, but sometimes it helps, believe me. Cats are smart. They understand everything. This is how you look reproachfully at your feline “son” or “daughter”: “Well, why did you go to the toilet here, and not in the right place?” You scold them, scold them, but they understood everything, lowered their eyes. Shame on them. That's how it happens!

Features of accustoming adult animals to the tray

Toilet training an adult pet will be more difficult than a kitten. However, there shouldn't be much of a problem if the cat has previously lived in an apartment. Usually, such animals get used to cope with the physiological needs of the new toilet quite easily.

To simplify the process, ask previous owners for an old tray and some used litter. Show your cat the new litter box right away. If the pet goes to the tray once, she will use it all the time.

You need to tame a street cat in the same way as a small kitten.

Procedure:

Watch your pet after sleeping, eating.
When the cat shows signs of anxiety and starts to look for a suitable place, carefully place it in the tray and move away.
If the pet starts to rake the filler and relieves himself in the tray, there should be no problems with the toilet in the future.
If the cat rejects the toilet, shows signs of anxiety, calm the animal.
Return the cat to the litter box again and again until she has done all that is needed.

Another solution to the problem:

Follow the cat. When she chooses a place and prepares to relieve herself, substitute a tray there and put the animal in it.
Do not change the used filler or leave a small part of it soaked in "aromas".
Put the tray in the right place, then the cat should find the toilet by smell.
If the next time the pet is again ready to do its business in the wrong place, quickly put it in the tray. The cat will smell its scent and use the toilet.

At first, use river sand as a filler for the tray, which must be mixed with the ground. In the future, gradually add the composition purchased at the pet store to the sand-earth mixture. To accustom an animal to a tray without filler, gradually reduce the amount of material used.

Sometimes even a trained cat can become stubborn and goes to the toilet wherever possible. In this case, buy special products (Accurate Cat drops, Toilet Training spray), they make it possible for the pet to develop the skill of using the tray as a toilet. The drug is applied to fresh filler or to the grate. At the same time, you can use "Antigadin", they are treated with places where the cat has relieved himself.

If you become the owner of an adult cat or a cat that confidently went to the tray with the previous owners, you still have to devote several days to accustoming the pet to the new toilet.

First of all, find out which tray your pet is used to. Trays come in different sizes, depths, open and in the form of a house. It is best to purchase the same or as close as possible to it. Find out if there was filler in the tray and if so, what type. Try to repeat exactly, up to the manufacturer and the name of the product (a different smell can confuse a cat that is already frightened by the move and change of owner).

Ask the cat to pass along some used litter or a napkin soaked in the tray. And send it all to a new tray. Put the used filler on top of the fresh one and smooth it slightly. Place a damp cloth under the grate (it is enough even just to run it several times along the bottom of the tray).

Now you can let him go to get acquainted with the room (do not forget to show where there is water). It remains only to watch the newcomer, so as not to miss the moment. When he decides to go to the toilet. If he went to the tray - everything is fine, we praise, we admire his mind and quick wits! If the excavations began in another place, we urgently catch it, run it into the tray and again conduct an educational conversation. And so on until the “first contact” takes place. He is the most important.

However, you should not relax for a few more days. It is better to control where your pet goes to the toilet.

Problems with accustoming a cat to a tray often arise in the process of moving. The most difficult thing to explain to an adult animal, where its toilet is located, becomes when changing an apartment to a private house, and vice versa.

In the first case, it is necessary to repeat as much as possible the environment to which the pet is already accustomed - put the tray in a similar place, at first do not change the container to a new one.

To help the animal get used to the new tray, you can use a small amount of used filler taken from the old container.

In the second case, the difficulty is created by the cat's habit of using any place near the house as a toilet. The same applies to street cats that have been taken home. The animal will have to be accustomed to the tray with filler in the same way as a small kitten.

Upbringing

Stick to simple rules:

Do not engage in handshaking.
Show the animal that he is not allowed to do whatever he wants. Explain to him that you can not hang on the curtains, jump on your shoulders, etc.
Get a special scratching post and accustom a kitten to it, then you will not face the problem of damaged furniture.
A cat and a dog in the house is a special situation. Contrary to popular belief, these animals can get along together. It is better to take a kitten and a puppy, rather than adults, then they will get used to each other. A cat and a dog require a lot of attention from the owner, so think about whether you can give it.

For a cat, essentials such as a personal bowl, sleeping place, toilet play an important role, affect behavior and mood. It is easier for a kitten to adapt to a new home if he knows where to go to the toilet, where to eat, where to rest. To avoid bad habits in the future, it is important for the owner to know how to toilet train the cat. Timely toilet training will help the cat to maintain the correct behavior throughout his life. An important question is how to choose and where to place it correctly.

Choosing a toilet for a cat.

Toilets for cats vary in price, design, size, and the possibility of using filler. Many pets have individual requirements for a cat litter box. One cat will like a closed (and therefore safe) toilet "house", for another, the presence of a filler in it is more important. Models with a grid allow you to do without a filler. There are common models that almost all cats like. In case of pickiness, during the training of cats to the toilet, you should try several options.

Where to put a toilet for a cat.

Cats instinctively look for a quiet, secluded place for their natural needs. There should not be the noise of a running washing machine, objects falling from shelves, humming pipes. At the same time, such a place should be accessible to the cat. The toilet should not be closed at times. There should be enough space at the place of departure of natural needs, the cat should be able to turn around, cross its paws.

Toilet training for kittens.

In general, one-month-old kittens are already ready for toilet training, which is easy for them to run to and convenient to climb. By the age of two months, the kitten will have developed an appropriate litter box reflex, which will need to be moved to an acceptable, quiet place. It is easier to potty train a kitten by using its digging reflex with loose litter in the tray.
A convenient scheme for teaching a very small kitten to the toilet is the example of a mother cat. If the kitten has already learned to go to the tray in the nursery, in the new house all he has to do is add the usual filler and remember the usual actions. After each successful trip out of need, the kitten needs to be encouraged with kind words, stroked.

How to toilet train an adult cat

To introduce the cat to the toilet should immediately upon arrival in a new home. Many cats instinctively become accustomed to the toilet in the apartment, seeing the tray and rummaging through the litter. Once having gone into it, it will be easy for the cat to repeat it again. The following algorithm tells how to teach a cat to go to the toilet:

Decide on the choice of tray and put it in a prominent place. Let the cat make sure it's safe.
If the cat feels insecure in the new house, she can sit out in her chosen secluded place. Arrange the necessary items near her until she feels safe.
When the cat is free to move around the room, show her the toilet, dig the filler with your hand. For a cat, as for a small predator (which has natural enemies in nature), it is more habitual to cover its tracks. Therefore, the filler will help the cat quickly understand what the tray is for.
While interacting with the cat, sometimes move it to the place chosen for the tray (for example, next to the toilet). So the cat will quickly remember where the tray is.
Cats want to visit the toilet soon after eating or sleeping. If the cat begins to sniff out the floor, objects, sit down, meow, look for nooks and crannies, you need to transfer it to the tray and carefully dig the filler with its paw.
If the cat has already gone out of need in the wrong place, blot the traces of her “crime” with a napkin and place it in the tray. A familiar smell will tell the cat that you need to write in this place.
If the cat has made a puddle in the wrong place, do not scream or poke her nose so that she does not develop fear of her own natural manifestations. Cats distinguish intonations well, express their displeasure in a rather strict tone. You can lightly sprinkle the cat with water.
To quickly train an adult street cat, use a filler that resembles earth or sand in appearance and consistency. It is more convenient to use sand to train street cats to the toilet, since they prefer to go there on the street.
If you already have a cat living at home, it will be easier to get used to a new one, the animals quickly learn from each other. But during the acquaintance and division of the territory, it is worth having a separate tray for each. In the future, they may become common.
When your cat successfully urinates in the litter box, praise, pet, or treat her.

Toilet training scheme for cats

Many cat owners dream of getting rid of the need to replace and clean the tray. The process of toilet training is considered extremely difficult for cats. At the same time, the cat should be accustomed to the tray, not be afraid of the toilet bowl and the sound when flushing. The most common way is to gradually raise the level of the tray to the level of the toilet. To toilet train your cat, follow these steps:

Training an adult cat can take longer than a kitten. Not all adult cats are willing to change established toilet habits. The kitten should be quite grown up (after about 5-6 months).
First you need to accustom the cat to the tray. The tray should be located next to the toilet.

Gradually (from 14 days), you need to put a stable volume under the tray. Magazines or boxes will do. As a result, the tray should be flush with the toilet.
The cat should learn to jump into the toilet on a hill without any problems. The learning phase can take a long time, but be patient. Otherwise, the cat may get scared and start going to the toilet in other places.
The next step is to move the tray from the hill to the toilet. This should be done gradually, moving it to the toilet a little bit. The design should be as strong as possible, since a cat that slipped once will not dare to do it again.
If such an arrangement of the tray does not cause problems for a cat, the tray can be placed on the toilet, having previously secured it with tape.
Now you can either remove the tray, or by moving it to make it inaccessible, so that the cat chooses the toilet.
An alternative method is to carefully tape the toilet seat over the tray so that the cat gets used to it. Then just remove the tray.
At the final stages, you can fix a small container with filler in the toilet so that the cat understands what needs to be done.
On average, the accustoming procedure can take 21 days. For each cat, everything is individual, the training time is individual.

For convenience, there is a special system for accustoming cats to the toilet. The device is shown in the following video:

Cat toilet as an indicator.

The behavior of a cat in the toilet can say a lot about her health and peace of mind. Changes in urination or defecation, or refusal to do so, may indicate the presence of diseases of the internal organs. In such cases, you should immediately contact your veterinarian. It is believed that it is more difficult to recognize alarm signals in cats going to the toilet than those who go to the tray. The refusal of a cat to use the tray can be caused by its contamination, inconvenience.
If the cat prefers to use its toilet as a house and sits in it for a long time, it may be a sign of anxiety. The cat is insecure about its owners, so it tries to be closer to its own smell.