Potty-Training Your Cat

You can do it yourself, with household items.

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Retractable Litter Bowl Device

My wife thinks that this was the breakthrough device for for our potty trials. The transition to water was, by far, the toughest one for our kitties to make. I was trying to think of a way to trick the cats into using the water when they thought they were going in litter. This simple device came to me as a eureka moment in the night. I got up and proclaimed to my startled wife that I needed to find the duct-tape . . . . It is basically a way for a person to pull the litter out from under a kitty who has "committed" to going potty. You just quickly/gently pull the bowl foreward, to under the platform, using a piece of fishing line that is attached to the hanger hook. When they realize that they have, in fact, gone in water, they eventually realize that it is not so bad. When you are not around to perform the switch, this device provides a good way to gradually expose kitty to more water and less litter. If you follow these directions, it is pretty easy to make and not end up with a mess of duct-tape. . . .

A wire hanger will be thin enough to slide better between the platform and rim; moreso than a plastic one. If you can find a plastic/rubber-coated hanger, that will reduce your chances of getting rust stains on the rim, but it is not necessary. A whipped-topping or large butter container works well for the bowl. Mine was close to 6" in diameter and maybe 5" deep.

First bend the hanger open a little to about the size of the bowl top. Line up a couple of relatively long pieces of duct-tape, sticky-side up, across from each other, and place under the hanger as seen below. Then put the bowl, open end down, on the tape, inside the hanger. Pull the tape onto the ouside of the bowl.

Turn over the hanger/bowl and hold the bowl to keep it flush with or slightly below the hanger plane. This is important because if the bowl edge sticks above the hanger, it will get caught on the platform edge when you try to pull the device foreward. Still holding the hanger and bowl in place, push the other ends of both pieces of tape down to stick to the inside of the bowl. Lay down two more strips of tape, turn the hanger/bowl over and repeat the process. If the other two pieces of tape were still laying on the table, the four would form an "X".

This is about how it will end up looking ------> . . Next . . .--->