When asked the question ‘How to toilet train a cat’ I always start by advising the questioner to train themselves. In other words get into the habit of always doing – lid up, seat down. I even go so far as to suggest that they have a little sign close to the toilet stating this to remind them and any visitors to the house. The cat will get used to seeing the toilet this way and accept it to the extent that when it is fully toilet trained, if the seat is still up, it will put it down. Don’t believe me, just try it for yourself. Anyway, that’s not a step for the cat, so here are my 5 easy steps.

1. Move your cat's litter box into the bathroom. That seems so obvious really, but do it gradually by shifting the litter box ever closer to the bowl.

2. When it is beside the toilet, on a daily basis, keep raising the litter box by putting newspapers underneath it or even an old telephone directory until it gets to the same height as the bowl. Word of caution here, avoid shiny magazines, as they are slippery and, well you can guess the rest! Also it might do no harm to secure the box to the stack in case the cat jumps straight up to and with the same end result.

3. Start inching the box over the toilet seat. Again ever so gradually as the cat won’t notice it. Then when it is completely over the seat gradually reduce the amount of litter in the box until there is only about 1inch left.

4. Exchange the litter box with a ‘trainer’. What I mean here is to remove the box from over the bowl and put either a container of some sort fixed in position actually within the bowl or, cover the toilet bowl with wax paper, then lower the seat and put on some flushable litter.

5. Convert the cat into only using the toilet. Make a hole of about an inch so the cat will get used to the ‘sounds’ then, again ever so gradually, keep making the hole bigger until it is using just the toilet seat and gravity. At the same time as widening the hole it is a good idea to reduce the amount of flushable litter until there is none. The cat is now toilet trained.

A few words of advice.

· Go slow. If you rush the cat it will only become confused and increase the chances of little accidents. Wait until the cat is comfortable with this new way before it is changed again.

· Indoor/outdoor cats will probably have got used to just holding it in, so it may not work for them.

· If you are at home for the full duration of the training it is more likely to be successful.

· Believe it or not, some cats are not at ease doing their number 2s on top of number 1s so always try to flush after the cat urinates.

· A little treat as reward for the cat usually does no harm in any type of training.

So there we have it; how to toilet train a cat in 5 easy steps. Simple, straightforward, clean and maybe a bit of fun for both you and your cat.

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