I came across a friend of mine who was seeking help for ‘cat toilet training’. Without going into the details of the conversation, his cats have been trained to use the toilet, but in the past few months, they started pooping in a specific corner of the house. My dear friend thought that this was a problem, however, little did he know that cats are independent creatures. Turns out, I simply advised my friend to purchase a litter box.
Nevertheless, living with cats is fun if you learn to clean after them and respect their independence. Also, I get it that for most people cleaning a litter tray is not fun, and I agree it is not. But consider this, first and foremost toilets were made for humans. Humans are capable of sitting on toilets and cats are not. On the other hand, litter trays were designed for cats to defecate. So, why would you train your cat to poop inside a toilet instead of a litter tray?
Now, if you have a dog, do you toilet train the dog as well? Instead, you take the dog out on walks and wait for them to finish their business. Yet, we want our cats to learn everything about toilets and adjust to an environment they might not even like. This is why we need to dig deep and learn why toilet training is not a good idea for cats.
Toilet training goes against natural cat behavior
Just like humans evolved specific behavior for specific tasks, so did cats. They like to eliminate waste in the most natural ways. Not only this but cats also use feces and urine to mark their territory. Most vitally they use feces and urine stench to communicate with other cats. This way they identify whether a specific cat is a friend or foe. No wonder my friend’s cat started to loiter in a different corner of the house.
In addition to this, cats need to smell themselves and their territory. By forcing your cat to go against their natural ways of defecating you are only asking for more trouble. And the good news is, if you train your cat to litter in the tray, you allow your cat a perceived sense of survival. In other words, the natural way of feces extraction gives them the liberty to bury their waste products. Eventually, acts like these are indicative of instincts that cats use for survival.
Simply put if you don’t allow your cat to defecate naturally, in a short period of time they will start showing behavioral problems. Which is not a good sign, especially if your cat is an emotional support animal.
One slip and your cat will end up injured
Let’s say your cat needs to use the toilet and you take your cat to the toilet. What’s next, as trained, your cat will follow your instructions and poop inside the toilet. However, it is quite possible your cat executes a poor jump or even worse ends up in the toilet bowl, soaked in you-know-what.
You see cats are not used to toilets and no matter how good you train them, cats will still feel the need to litter in their new-found territory. So, as a cat owner, it is your responsibility to help them find a happy space and provide a litter tray. After all, nobody wants to find clean sheets covered in poop and hardwood floors soaked in the toilet. Which leads me to my next point.
Think about the changes caused in your cat’s health
In a litter box, the cat gets a chance to firmly stand on the feet and the chances of slipping are next to impossible. Another reason why you should use a litter box. Your cat will age with time and develop hip, joint and leg pain. In fact, joint pains are quite common in aged cats. So, do you think your cat will be able to climb the toilet seat? Of course not! In fact, she will feel stressed and might show symptoms of bad behavior. And that is just one side of the story because an unhappy cat is not just angry but depressed too. I am sure you don’t want your cat to be unhappy or depressed for that matter. So, before you go and toilet train your cat, think about all the things I have mentioned in this post so far.
Final Words
When it comes to toilet training your cat, do yourself a favor. Throw the arduous process of training out of the window, and instead, train your cat to litter in the tray. There are several litter boxes specially designed for cats out in the market. You can choose the box that best fits your cat and set up the box in a corner your cat marks as her territory. What does this mean for you? This means that you will have a stress-free cat who will never find himself inside a toilet bowl.
