So last week I introduced little Kumo, my new kitten, to toilet training so I didn’t have to mess with a litter box anymore. I started by placing her litter box next to the toilet and elevating it to the same level as the toilet seat. I got lucky because Kumo was born outside in the wild and had never used a litter box so none of this seemed strange to her in the least. For house cats, owners will have to go through the process of slowly elevating the litter box a few inches every couple days.

Everything was going great with Kumo so I decided to try the next step: placing a bowl with litter in it inside the toilet, always remembering to leave the toilet seat down and the lid up. Most toilet training experts say measure the rim of your toilet then buy a bowl just slightly larger. The idea is you lift the seat, put the bowl in the toilet, then lower the seat on top of it, leaving the toilet lid open.

Karawynn Long, whose website for toilet training cats is the most visited site on the Internet for this subject,suggests avoiding plastic bowls and opting for metal instead. She said most kitties start out actually sitting in the bowl and plastic can’t sustain their weight.

But I had a giant plastic chip bowl sitting on top of my refrigerator collecting nothing but dust, so I decided to try it. Because it was larger than my toilet and plastic, all I had to do was wedge it down really good into the bowl. Voila! No way it could fall in. I put a bunch of litter in the bottom and lowered the toilet seat.

Then I raced into the bedroom to grab Kumo, plucked her up and raced back with her to the bathroom where I deposited her on the toilet seat. I held my breath. Kumo just blinked at me, jumped down and slinked back to the comfort of my bed. She probably just didn’t need to go. I left for work, worried about Kumo home alone for four hours with nothing but a chip bowl wedged in the toilet.

I walked in the door that evening to a curious sound. What is that? Then it hit me. That was kitty litter being pawed around a giant plastic chip bowl wedged in the toilet! I ran to the bathroom just in time to see my little Einstein doing her business right where she should.

Kumo, however, had all four paws in the bowl. I remembered from Long’s website that I was suppose to gently reach in and place her front paws on the toilet seat, then give her lots of love and reassurance and maybe a treat. Ok yes, there is a little bit of a cringe factor when reaching into your toilet while your kitty is there doing her business. But the thought of scooping dirty kitty litter for the next 15 years gave me the courage. Kumo seemed unaffected. Just kept doing her thing and she left her paws on the toilet seat.

When she was done I gave her lots of praise and affection and yes, a treat. Then I emptied the chip bowl and put two more inches of clean litter in it. From then on, whenever Kumo used the toilet, she did so with her front paws on the seat, so after a few days I started pulling her back paws out and putting them on the seat too. This is where we ran into our first bit of trouble, but more on that next week . . .