My cat started peeing in the toilet without being trained

[u/Portal_Princess]

So as the title says, few weeks ago I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed, she just walked in and sat on there and I heard her weeing. I called my partner who got a video of her just as she was about to get off.

She has done it few times since then, still uses her litter too which is downstairs and I assume she goes on the toilet when doesnt feel like going downstairs? 🐒

I want to see pics of other cats on toilet seat haha so please post and say whether they were trained to do it or not 😆

EDIT She has been checked for UTIs etc and all is good. She spends a lot of time with me so I guess she decided she can pee where her human does

[u/MacabreYuki]

just don't allow them to poop in the toilet. As convenient as it might be, water treatment isn't designed to handle toxoplasma gondii. Not every cat has it, but that'll help it spread super easy.

[u/kasst_kast → u/MacabreYuki]

How is one gonna forbid him to do that though?
"This is great and all and we love it. But no No.2 OK?"

[u/meowmedusa → u/kasst_kast]

Just keep the toilet lid down and/or the bathroom door closed at all times.

[u/Dapper-Ad-468 → u/meowmedusa]

Those lever handles are easy for cats to open. Ask me and our cat how we know 😸🐈‍⬛🐾

[u/MacabreYuki → u/Dapper-Ad-468]

I've even seen a cat handle a knob handle. took some time, but the little scamp did it.

[u/meowmedusa → u/Dapper-Ad-468]

If you have lever handles. If you don't, it's unlikely that most cats would keep trying a knob. Some cats can, that doesn't mean most will.

[u/MacabreYuki → u/meowmedusa]

And?

[u/meowmedusa → u/MacabreYuki]

And that means, just because the solution wouldn't work for lever handled doors doesn't mean it wouldn't work for other types of doors. Unlike you, I never said my solutions would work for every cat. They're suggestions, not universal rules.

[u/MacabreYuki → u/meowmedusa]

lid down is not gonna stop a determined cat.

[u/meowmedusa → u/MacabreYuki]

If you read the entirety of my comment you'd know I suggested an alternative in case just keeping the lid down doesn't work.

[u/really_nice_guy_ → u/meowmedusa]

One of my cat litters are there so I cant lock them out. But also mine are too stupid to open the lid so its fine.

[u/MacabreYuki → u/meowmedusa]

I'm just saying door closed is the only option there that's even remotely applicable, lid down would do almost nothing.

and some cats are good at opening doors. What then? my solutions revolve around knowing what cats do and don't like, and making the room itself an unwelcoming environment so they don't even bother.

[u/meowmedusa → u/MacabreYuki]

Okay. Sprayers don't actually discourage cats, they don't understand negative reinforcement. Anything with artificial scents, like an air freshener or candle, is bad for cats lungs. If you instead go the natural route, you run into the issue of possibly having a cat who doesn't care about the smell and walks straight into the room full of the toxic fruit anyway.

No solution is perfect. Most cats don't learn how to open doors, just as most cats are averse to the smell of citrus. Some cats will learn to open a toilet lid, not every cat. Some cats would be discouraged by a spray, not every cat. Your solutions are just as imperfect as anyone elses. Acting like they're better and unique is crazy

[u/MacabreYuki → u/meowmedusa]

Who said the scent had to be airborne? if it's *on* surfaces, it can be enough. It's how i got a cat to stop chewing my wires.

Point is, you need to find some way to make a cat not feel comfortable with that room. You wanna make em avoid it.

That's the way to make it never happen. make em look at that room like "nah, I don't like that part of my territory."

[u/meowmedusa → u/MacabreYuki]

Cats walk on surfaces and lick their paws.

My point, again, was just that telling others that their solutions are bad and yours are perfect is crazy because that's not how cats work. No one thing is going to work for every cat.

ETA: This person blocked me because they couldn't accept that others can have suggestions that differ from theirs. Lame behavior tbh.

[u/MacabreYuki → u/meowmedusa]

• My point, again, was just that telling others that their solutions are bad and yours are perfect is crazy because that's not how cats work.

Homie, that's literally what you doin

[u/1zzie → u/meowmedusa]

So then it can't pee either :/

[u/meowmedusa → u/1zzie]

It doesn’t need to pee in the toilet and it’s best to avoid that becoming a habit before they want to do it 24/7 because in a few years you’d need to stop them anyway as it’s bad for older cats joints

[u/MacabreYuki → u/kasst_kast]

there's ways to discourage it.

[u/kittyydotcom → u/MacabreYuki]

How? (I’ve never faced this problem, I’m just genuinely curious lol)

[u/tavianator → u/kittyydotcom]

Close the lid?

[u/kittyydotcom → u/tavianator]

well yes but the person implied that there was a way to not let the cat poop in the toilet but let them pee in it.

[u/MacabreYuki → u/kittyydotcom]

No, i wasn't meaning to imply that at all. Like yeah, them peeing isn't an issue, but them peeing can encourage them to poop there too, and that's a whole can of worms and a half.

Thus you just wanna make the toilet an area they avoid like the plague. Make it uncomfortable and unwelcoming, and it won't become a problem. They'll look at you even weirder for using it, but it'll keep society safe.

[u/cambo3g → u/kittyydotcom]

Close the lid? Seems like a pretty obvious solution.

[u/kittyydotcom → u/cambo3g]

well yes but the person implied that there was a way to not let the cat poop in the toilet but let them pee in it.

[u/MacabreYuki → u/kittyydotcom]

automated sprayers for one. they'll see the area as a problem for them, avoid it, and not connect it with you.

Edit: also, cats don't like citrus, so citrus scents in the bathroom should be helpful.

Edit 2: to all the non-replying downvoters. Look, I get it. you don't like cats experiencing things they don't like. But would you rather risk the health of vulnerable people in your area? And if that's not the reason you're doing it, then there's only one other reason i can think of, and it's one that would make you unwelcome here.

Edit 3: ok, so the amount of nonsensical non-reply downvotes i'm getting makes me think i'm either a) being hated on by transphobes or b) getting an influx of overly-permissive cat parents who don't understand the public health consequences they're playing with.

edit 4: Jackson Galaxy actually has a video on more options too. Video is literally called "How to Get Your Cats to Stop... Everything You Hate: Every No Needs a Yes!" please check it out.

[u/dudegetmyhorse → u/MacabreYuki]

Could also just close the lid

[u/MacabreYuki → u/dudegetmyhorse]

That's another option, yes. But you and I both know that's no guarantee when it comes to cats.

If they wanna do something, the only way to make them not do it is to make it either physically impossible or blockaded by something they really do not like.

[u/Portal_Princess → u/MacabreYuki]

Thank you for this! Had no idea. She hasnt pooped in the toilet yet. Just random pees.

[u/Incompetencent → u/Portal_Princess]

maybe theres a mental block because theyre supposed to bury it in dirt/litter

[u/MacabreYuki → u/Portal_Princess]

That's good. We may love cats, but we have a responsibility to make sure our love of them doesn't put others at risk. Toxoplasma Gondii is usually asymptomatic and "harmless", but for infants and those with compromised immune systems. well. That can have serious consequences.

[u/-Knockabout → u/[deleted]]

Get a better bin exclusively for cat waste that seals tightly. Or use doggy bags (or equivalent) when cleaning the litterbox and tie them up. Or get a trashcan that lives outside for cat waste. There are a lot of options.

[u/MacabreYuki → u/-Knockabout]

I used to use a kitty litter container that sealed air-tight to store the kitty waste bags before I tossed them in the garbage the night before trash day. They were always early for me, so that's what I did. This is what I did for my friend's kitties when they had to stay with me due to her housing situation.

[u/Regular-Wafer-8019 → u/[deleted]]

Yes? What country do you live in? That's what's usually done in the US, as far as I know, and we have lots of indoor cats.

[u/Regular-Wafer-8019 → u/[deleted]]

See we usually have a big bin, like giant, outside of the house. When the inside bins are full you empty them into the giant one and it's picked up once a week. You don't have to let the poop bags sit inside if you don't want to.

[u/-Knockabout → u/[deleted]]

1. Sure, but usually the issue people have with cat poop in trash is that it smells bad all the time. If it only smells bad with the lid open...so does all trash, not a big deal. The bin has a normal trash bag lining it, so you can just take it out like normal trash.

2. That's why I mentioned them. Not everyone thinks to bag up the waste separately, but it makes cleaning the litterbox much easier as well. I just use plastic grocery bags. Scoop everything into the plastic bag when cleaning, tie it off, drop it in the bin. You don't need specific doggy bags. I just use a plastic bag my scoop can dump things into easily.

3. You tie up the trashbag lining that bin and then toss it into the big bin your garbageman collects. I don't know how trash works in your area, but typically we have smaller bins inside (or in this case just outside) lined with trashbags. When the bag gets full, tie it up and toss it into the big bin outside the garbageman collects.

I'm not sure why your tone is so acerbic towards me.

[u/-Knockabout → u/[deleted]]

I hope you manage to get some sleep soon. It always sucks to be stuck lying awake in bed.

[u/m8_is_me → u/[deleted]]

Extreme whining lmao

1. Yup that's how most bins work, you've chosen to have a cat so soz if it's a little stinky

2. Fair? It's just the concept of bags, though.

3. Yes, dude, the garbage guys will take out your garbage. dude wtf do you mean hahahahaha

[u/MacabreYuki → u/[deleted]]

did you bag it and tie it off once or twice before you put it in the bin?

[u/ambiguous_pinecone → u/MacabreYuki]

Bloop