Potty Training the Cat part deux deux

Well, potty training the cat took longer than I had expected.  Oh, she was okay with peeing in the cat pan up on the toilet.  She just wasn’t sure she wanted to do a dump up there I guess.  The bathtub seemed the more appropriate spot to her.  *sigh* (and yes, UGH!)  Leaving the bathtub with an inch or two of water in it at all times discouraged that idea!  

She eventually did start using the toilet box both times. The plan was that once she started using the toilet all the time, I would remove the cat litter and then, the plastic cat pan.  When I stopped replenishing the litter after scooping out the mess, she decided that she should go back to using the tub again.  (ARGH!) 

Now, I’m a patient person, but I’m getting REALLY tired of taking the litter box out of the toilet so that I can use it myself and then putting it back so that SHE can use it!  I know that the end result will be worth the trouble.
(no more smelly pan, buying litter, carrying poo out to the trash)

It’s just that in the middle of the night, I’m not all that good at thinking.

I stumble like a zombie toward the bathroom and I’ve forgotten more than once to take out the litter box before I sit down!

Anyway, let me show you how I made my toilet training litter box.  I had a lid from a store bought cake.  I had crafty plans for its lovely clear plasticness but it jumped out and said, “Hey there!  I’d love to be a litter box!”  Yes.  I talk to inanimate objects and find that if I listen with the right type of inner ear, they often talk back to me.  Don’t worry.  The crafty voices in my head are mostly benign.  My fabric and craft supplies do not have plans for world domination.  If they do, they have yet to share them with me!  But as I was saying,

I had the lid from the cake

I had a large cardboard box., having just moved,

What crafter doesn’t have a few rolls of duct tape?  (Shouldn’t EVERYONE?) 

I also used a marker

And a pair of heavy duty scissors.

I put the cardboard on top of the toilet with the seat up and used a marker to trace around the edge of the pot.  I then drew another circular shape about two inches smaller inside of that and cut out a toilet lid, donut shaped ring.

I had to cut off the part of the cake lid that fit into the cake plate.  Cutting through that thick plastic was the hardest part.  DO NOT use your Mom’s sewing scissors or she’ll knock you upside of the head for it!  (rightfully so) I then cut down the side of the lid about every inch and a half.  My slits were about two inches long; the width of the cardboard donut.  I bent each of these tabs out, stuck my lid in the donut and duct taped the two pieces together.  It fit very nicely in the toilet, but the seat did not want to close.  Once I cut off the back part of the litter box rim where the hinges of the toilet seat were in the way, it closed much better.  There was still plenty of support for the weight of the cat and the litter.

Once I had it all together and fitted to the toilet seat, I poured in some litter and set the cat on her new ‘litter box’ to get used to it.  She didn’t seem opposed to it, but didn’t have to go just then.  I waited nervously for her to use it, thinking she might not be up to the game, but am very happy to say that she has been really good about it, mostly. 

Curious Cat

P.S.  *snickers*  p.s. Get it?  *snickers*  I never did actually pee in the cat pan.  I caught myself just in time!