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We are officially in Stage 4 of Operation Kitty Poo Poo, whose objective is to train Crash to go to the bathroom using the toilet. The entire process is going to take about two months, but in the end will be completely worth it. For those wishing to undertake this process I have outlined how to be litter free below.

1. Move your cat’s litter box into the bathroom. Some cats may be extremely fussy about the location of their litter box. If this is the case start by moving it half way to the bathroom or moving it into the bathroom a little ways at a time. You will want to leave the litter box in the bathroom as usual for about a week. I’d also close off access to the cat’s normal spot so that it doesn’t get any ideas and start going to the bathroom on the carpet where their litter box used to be.
2. Start raising the litter box a little bit at a time. This gets the cat used to jumping up into the litter box. Some cats will not require this step, but the fussier ones will.
3. Move the litter box on top of the toilet. I used strips of velcro to secure the litter box to the toilet lid so that when the cat jumps up and down from the litter box he doesn’t knock off the litter box. Once the cat is used to this operation you can move onto the next stage. I recommend a week or more at this stage.
4. Get out your tape measure and meaure your toilet. Lift up the seat and meaure the inside of the rim. Drive down to the local pet supply store and buy a metal bowl with a decent lip on it that measures a little bigger than the inside rim of your toilet. Take it home and make sure it fits with the seat down (very important). Fill the bowl about half way with kitty litter, place it in the toilet and put the toilet seat down.
5. This stage is really an extension of stage four. The cat will continue going in the bowl. As they do scoop out used litter at least once a day and do NOT refill the litter. The idea is to get the cat used to not having any litter at all. During this stage you will also want to keep a close eye on when the cat uses the bathroom. Follow them in and begin by placing their front two paws on the toilet seat. Once you have trained them to do that you do the back to legs.
6. Eventually, the cats are going to the bathroom in the bowl without litter in perfect four point stances. It’s time to remove the bowl entirely.

This may sound like a lot of work. Well, it is. But, it also results in you not having to clean a litter box ever again. One last thing before you start training your own cat. You may be tempted to teach the cat how to flush the toilet as well – don’t. The problem is that cats love fresh water and the sound it makes so they tend to flush over and over for the fun of it leaving you with a huge water bill.