Friends of Gizmo
Archive for the ‘toilet training’ Category
Every Cat has its Day
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
The last stages of toilet have been a breeze. With only two rings left to punch out on the CitiKitty toilet training seat, I’ve been in no hurry to rush Gizmo.
She’s been aiming for the center hole, so there’s been no messy litter to scoop, no seat to clean. Life is easy.
That all changed yesterday, when I saw her squatting in an open cabinet in her master bath. A cabinet filled with white fluffy towels of all things.
“Gizmo!” I said in shock. She seemed shocked too.
She leapt from the cabinet, got tangled in my legs, looked up at me like I had just intentionally kicked her, then ran away and hid.
I followed her, telling her I didn’t kick her, still she was cowering. What next? Of course, I gave her a treat to let her know everything was A-OK.
Basically, she peed in a cabinet and got a reward. Ooops. (more…)
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From unhousebroken to toilet trained
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
Toilet training Gizmo has been a long process. But then again she had a long way to go. In four months, she’s gone from occasionally using the litter box (preferring the bathtub, sink, bathroom rug, and even a dustpan) to using the toilet flawlessly.
Yesterday, she made another big step. I punched out the third ring of the CitiKitty training seat. Now there’s a 5′ x 7′ oval hole in the center of the catseat exposing the water in the toilet bowl below. A 2-inch wide round rim of flushable litter circles the toilet.
According to CitiKitty’s training manual, the toilet-training process ordinarily takes around four weeks. This is at the rate of one ring per week. (Removing rings widens the hole in the litter box-style training seat.) (more…)
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Tinkle. Tinkle. Little Star.
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
’Twas the night before Christmas Eve, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
All of a sudden, I heard what sounded like a faucet trickling in the bathroom.
Oh, what a clatter. I jumped out of bed to see what was the matter.
Peeping around the corner with care, there was lil’ Gizmo, straddling the toilet, taking a wee.
Sure enough, she’s learned to aim for the hole in the center of her toilet-training seat. If this practice continues, you know what that means? No more scooping out the litter-box-style seat. Fantastic.
When she finished, she stuck her head into the hole as if trying to figure out what had just happened. Her little carrottop head disappearing into the john would definitely have made a great Kodak moment. However I’m trying to respect her privacy—except for the fact I’m blogging about everything.
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Go Cat Go
Sunday, December 20th, 2009
It’s hard to tell who is being slow about this kitty toilet-training business: me or my cat. I started to raise her litter box off the ground right next to the toilet September 29. Since that time, there have been a few “oh no, what have I gotten myself into” moments. But all in all, it’s been a pretty amazing process.
I’ve proceeded very slowly from one stage to the next. Gizmo wasn’t litter-box perfect to begin with. Surprisingly enough, she was OK with her litter box being raised to a certain point. That point: exactly 6.5 inches.
After that, a laundry basket became an all-of-sudden desirable place to pee. That was a first in her house-cat career.
In a preemptive move, I broke open the CitiKitty toilet training kit box early. Obviously, she wanted other options, so I thought I’d offer her a more preferable one to me: the toilet.
The kit sets easily on the toilet under the lid. The plastic tray is made to hold a flushable brand litter, and the kit includes a bag of what looks like cat nip to lure them in. Just sprinkle it on.
After a few days of sniffing around to scope out the new situation, she had an epiphany: “Omg, this is a litter box.” (more…)
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Thinking Outside the Box
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
For those new on the scene, I’m around 27 days into the process of toilet training my cat. Progress for the last week or so has been slow, mainly because I didn’t quite think things through.
The game plan for the week was to raise the litter box higher and higher off the ground until it was lined up with the toilet seat. The only thing missing from the plan was the means to raise the box.
I looked around my flat for a last-minute solution and spied the cheap, Tupperware-meets-Wal-Mart-style dresser in my closet. Upside down, one drawer makes a perfectly sturdy 7-inch pedestal. I crossed my fingers.
Later the same day, a befuddled Gizmo walked out of the master bath. She hadn’t used the box, I checked. Five minutes later she walked back in; she circled the raised litter box a few times, but didn’t jump inside. Instead, she crouched behind it. (more…)
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Are You Kidding Me?
Monday, September 14th, 2009
Doink. Doink. Doink…
I was awoken last night around midnight by strange noises coming from the living room. Doink. There was Gizmo on top of the keyboard trying to sabotage my work; my computer was crying for help.
She’s never been very fond of the computer. In fact, weeks ago I returned home one day only to find its down arrow key amputated and tossed to the ground as carelessly as a Big Mac wrapper at a bus stop. Gizmo pretended to be asleep.
Today, she’s been parked on my keyboard on and off since 7 a.m. It’s just her way of saying, “enough, already.”
I’m starting to get the feeling I’m embarrassing her writing about this toilet-training business, but it won’t be for long. Week two is over. The litter box is right next to the toilet and her veterinarian gave the green light to continue the training process. (more…)
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