Day 9: Removing the First Ring

Montee has been going to the bathroom in the CitiKitty toilet training seat for 9 days now. However, it was not a smooth process. I had to improvise by placing the tray on the floor, where his old litter box was located. After he was comfortable with going potty in the tray, I put it on the toilet; however, he still would not jump up onto the CitiKitty toilet training seat.

On Day 7, something clicked and he has been a pro at using the CitiKitty. Feeling very confident that we can move to the next step, today I removed the first ring.

The CitiKitty Manual States:
By gradually enlarging the opening in the training seat your cat will naturally begin to stand on the toilet seat for support. There is no need to adjust your cat's stance. your cat will also learn to use the toilet water for waste.

It has only been about 20 minutes since the removal of the first ring and Montee has already jumped on top of the CitiKitty several times and is VERY curious about the new opening. He is fascinated by the fact that when he sticks his paw down into the opening there is water. Hopefully, he will still recognize this as his bathroom and not a play station.

Step 5: Fill CitiKitty with Litter and Cat

We are ready to start the CitiKitty training process!

I have now removed his old litter box from the bathroom, so we are fully dedicated to the CitiKitty. Now all we can do is wait and see what happens.

Step 4: Putting CitiKitty on the Toilet

Definitely not the prettiest process. I definitely wont be having people come over for a while.

Step 3: Preparing Your Bathroom + First Fail

The CitiKitty Training Guide suggests these steps in preparing your bathroom before training your cat:

1. Secure your toilet lid with a piece of adhesive tape to ensure your cat will always have access to the toilet and a guest won't close the lid accidentally.

2. Place a "Cat toilet training in progress" sign in your bathroom so guests know you are toilet training your cat.

3. Store cat treats in close proximity to the toilet so you can immediately reward your cat after he or she uses the toilet.

4. Keep a small trash can, kitty litter and scoop nearby (but out of your cat's reach) for easy and quick cleaning of the training seat.

5. Remove area rugs from your bathroom so you can easily keep the bathroom clean and neat while the training is in progress. You can return the rugs when the training is complete.

6. Close the doors to the nearby rooms in your home, including spare bedrooms or basement. This enables you to stay close by your cat's side and see how he or she is adapting to the training.

The steps definitely are not difficult, but I think they forgot one:

7. Keep your cat away during this process as he/she might jump in the toilet!
(watch the video and you'll see what I am talking about)

We had our first fail: Montee not knowing the toilet lid was up, and him jumping right in the water. Poor guy.

Step 2: Before Using CitiKitty

There are few steps to accomplish weeks prior to using CitiKitty. We were lucky in that we had heard about and wanted to use CitiKitty before we even got our cat.

Here are actions that the CitiKitty company suggests should be taken before you start trying to use the CitiKitty product:

1. Cat should be at least 3 months old
2. Move cat's litter box into the bathroom close to the toilet
3. Fill your cat's litter box with flushable kitty litter

Once your cat meets and is comfortable with the above, your cat should be ready to use CitiKitty.

Since day one of having our cat (about a month and half ago) we have had the litter box in the bathroom, right next to the toilet, and have been using flushable litter. We have been waiting until Monee was "of age" to start using CitiKitty. We had a few holidays that we knew were going to cause us to be away from home, so we waiting until we were ready as well. So now Montee is 3 1/2 months old and he and we are ready to start the CitiKitty process.

Step 1: Open CitiKitty

I was very excited to receive my CitiKitty and to start this journey of being litter free. I was a little disappointed by the quality of the product. I don't know what I was expecting, but the plastic is so thin and feels really cheap. Thinking about it now, I guess it has to be this way because you have to cut out sections of it, but my initial reaction was:

"I paid $29.99 for this!?"

It definitely could be cheaper.