toilet training brand new 12 week old kitten

[kittykitty]

Hi,

I am getting a 12 week old savannah kitten in a few weeks and wanted to ask a few questions about toilet training.

Would it be a bad idea to immediately use the litter quitter training system? By immediately, I mean the day I bring the kitten home, I will show him the first stage of the litter quitter system on the toilet as his litter box. I will make sure that there are books so the kitten can easily jump up to the toilet on his own. I will also isolate the kitten in the bathroom when I introduce him to my home so the toilet/ litter box will be readily accessible for him. Even if he does have a few accidents, at least they will be in the bathroom and not on the carpet...

Does anyone know if I were to go through with this method, is it likely that the kitten will actually recognize and use the first step of the litter quitter as his litter box, or is this plan doomed from the start? I was hoping that starting him on the toilet and not on the ground will teach him that the toilet area is his litter box, since that will be the only place with kitty litter.

I have never toilet trained a cat before, but I do own 3 other devon rex cats. I know that savannah cats are supposed to be extremely intelligent, so I want to start with him, especially since he will be so young.

Can someone tell me if this idea will only further confuse the kitten, and will just result in more accidents around the house?

Thanks!

 

[Patti]

I have never toilet trained a kitten before but I know others who have been successful with it. Having said that, I would guess your chances are 50-50 that he adapts immediately to the toilet. My standard advice to new kitten owners is to always start with the same litter and the same type of litter box (covered, uncovered) that they are used to at home, and not try to introduce anything new for at least the first two weeks until they have settled in and their stress level has normalized. It is possible your kitten is easily adaptable (many are) and you will be able to use the toilet training device right away, you will just have to see how he does when he is introduced to it...

 

[Kristin]

@VioletFae toilet trained her Vivi right from the start. I am sure she can give you some advice, and there is a thread about it as well.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I always advise people to start a kitten with the same litter and type of litterbox they were using at the breeder...simply because the kitten is dealing with a huge change by leaving home and is disoriented enough. I would think stressing the kitten further is exacerbating the risk of having them not use the litterbox at all....and that is a lot more work in retraining them from there :-(

 

[kittykitty]

I always advise people to start a kitten with the same litter and type of litterbox they were using at the breeder...simply because the kitten is dealing with a huge change by leaving home and is disoriented enough. I would think stressing the kitten further is exacerbating the risk of having them not use the litterbox at all....and that is a lot more work in retraining them from there :-(

thanks! I think I will forgo this plan. wouldn't want to further stress the kitten and risk having improper litter habits as a result.

 

[DocMac]

One of my kitten families waited until their baby was one year old to begin toilet training, and has been very successful. She has sent me pictures and is planning to train her girl to flush afterward.


Josie
River Ridge
West Virginia

 

[Patti]

I think the toilet training can be started at any time, and many people have been successful with it...but as Brigitte has said, let the kitten deal with one stressor at at time...

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

One of my kitten families waited until their baby was one year old to begin toilet training, and has been very successful. She has sent me pictures and is planning to train her girl to flush afterward.


Josie
River Ridge
West Virginia

Tell them to be very careful about teaching their kitty to flush the toilet. One of my first litters had a kitten who ran his owner's water bill up to 3 times its normal level until she worked out that he was fascinated with the toilet flush... be careful what you teach these Savannahs! LOL!

 

[Lesley]

I agree with others here. Let your new baby adjust to everything before asking him/her to learn something completely new.

 

[VioletFae]

Yes, I started out with litter in an oval pan (oil pan) next to the toilet on the floor. Once she got comfortable going potty in the round pan with the same litter she was used to, I eventually switched the oval pan out for the citikiitty. Again, once she again got comfortable using the citikitty on the floor, I moved it to the top of the toilet and started the steps in the kit. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be overall- good luck!!!