Customer Reviews

CitiKitty Cat Toilet Training Kit

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(30)
1 star:		(58)

 

 

I have been using CittiKitty for a week now and I will continue to update this review as I go through the process. All you have to do is read a few reviews and you should catch on to the fact that this product will not work on every cat. Some cats are stubborn, picky, stuck in their ways, or simply do not have the brain power to make the transition. So I will not be basing my rating on whether or not it works on my specific cat, but the actual product itself and how well it functions.

I skipped some of the opening steps because my cat was already used to having its litter box in the restroom. I simply moved the litter box onto the toilet for one day and then switched to CittiKitty. I have to give fairly high marks for the product construction. It fit my toilet perfectly and is pretty stable. I started using the same litter I have always used, basic Fresh Step clumping litter. My 1 year old cat had no problem using it and never missed a beat.

I recommend switching to flushable litter first and then switching to CittiKitty. I did it in reverse order and it isn't that big of a deal but it is definitely much easier to clean with the flushable litter.

Trust me when I tell you they are not over exaggerating when they talk about how big of a mess will be made using this product. You need to clean it pretty much after every use and litter gets everywhere. My cat is average I suppose when it comes to digging but if you have a cat that likes to throw litter around you better keep a broom and dustpan handy. You would also do well to invest in one of those cans of pressurized air which you can get at best buy. They are usually used to blow dust out of computer components and keyboards but it can also be used to blow litter out of toilet crevices (yes litter will end up in every crevice your toilet owns).

The only other thing I have noticed after a week's use is pee sticking to the bottom of the tray. It isn't that big of a deal but you definitely need to scrape the bottom of the tray frequently.

That is my experience so far and at this point I have rated the product a 4. I took a star off because it is definitely not perfect. It is doing exactly what it is supposed to however, you just have to hope your cat is willing to play ball.

UPDATE (Week 2): Punched out the first half ring. It is a little difficult to punch out but I don't see why there is so many complaints on this. I used a pocket knife and it took a whole 2 minutes to punch out the first hole. This didn't phase my cat so I removed the insert which left the first full ring open. So far my cat has not even batted an eyelash. She still is standing in the litter to go and has not yet aimed for the hole but hopefully that will work out naturally over time. This is still the easy part. There is a hole there but at some point the cat has to learn to stand on the toilet seat and aim for water instead of litter. We will see how it goes. Updates will continue as results come in.

UPDATE (Week 3 - Lost Count): I stayed on the last step for a very long time because the cat seemed to wait until it really had to go before it would use CittiKitti. I didn't notice it at first but she was moping around all day looking for a better spot until she couldn't take it any longer and then she used CittiKitti. Never had an accident but it took her a while to get used to it with the hole in it. But after what seems like an eternity, I saw her start going frequently so I knew she was used to it. I think she even started aiming for the hole because I saw some business go right down into the water several times. So I moved to the next step which leaves a gaping hole in the tray. Today my cat used it after sniffing around a little bit. She has 2 paws on the toilet rim and back to legs still standing on the litter but everything is hitting the hole which is so nice. I plan on staying at this point for a good while. Once she is used to this I will move on. So far the training has been completely natural and I have not had to interfere in any way. It has just taken a little time. So far so good.

UPDATE (3 months from start date): Cat finally got completely used to cittikitti. I think I finally got her to where she is actually preferring to use the toilet. Like I said previously, she was reluctantly using it but after 3 months of using cittikitti, and a good month on the same step described in week 3, she is doing awesome. I removed the next ring a few days ago which leaves nothing but a small rim of litter and a huge hole. As far as I know the cat didn't even notice the change. She just keeps using it. I really don't see why I couldn't just remove the pan outright but I am going to give it a few more weeks before I do that. I will update one more time whenever I remove the pan to let you know how it goes.

The product is fine, but the issue falls with the punching out of the rings. The instructions state to punch each out as your cat seems ready to move on to the next level, BUT if you went too fast and need to go back to the previous level, naturally you cannot replace the punchout! Also the package insert advises you may want to punch out a half-ring if your cat is slower to catch on. There are no perforations to do a half-ring. Anyway, since cats cannot talk, if you misjudge their rate of progress and punch out the plastic ring, you cannot go back. This product can serve as a cheaper alternative to the more expensive kitty toilet training rings of various sizes. Obviously with those, you are paying for more sturdiness and the ability to back up to the previous size/level ring if needed.

So, how did my cat do? She is age 9, and was only partially successful. It may work best with a kitten. My cat would urinate on CitiKitty fine, but would not defecate. She held it in all week and finally went just outside the bathroom door on the carpet. I cleaned and wanted to start again, but by day 3 I knew she would just go on the carpet again. :-( I have done a lot of internet research, and this is a common problem. (The competing product even has a forum with a post dedicated solely to this problem.) I am single and at work all day, so couldn't monitor her toilet trips like I read that other pet owners have. Nor did I feel comfortable locking her in the bathroom as some did. Plus I felt so awful knowing she must be so uncomfortable not wanting to use CitiKitty enough to hold it in all week!

Bottom line, it's not just the product. It's your cat, and your dedication. This is an inexpensive alternative product if you want to try it out!

I got a CitiKitty kit last fall as a bit of a skeptic... now I brag about my toilet-trained cat to strangers in the grocery line. The kit is very straight-forward and simple to use. It sits on the rim of your toilet underneath the seat. You fill it with about a quarter-inch of litter and gradually punch out the holes in the middle so your cat will start going in the water and weaning off of litter. (You do have to get flushable litter to use with it.) I took things super slow with my cat and it was only a couple months before we had eliminated litter completely! She sits on the toilet seat and goes right in the water without any problems whatsoever, all I ever have to do is flush. Everyone compares her to the cat in Meet The Parents. I can't even imagine how I used to live with smelly messy litter in my apartment!

I read several reviews and had some mixed feelings before I purchased the CitiKitty trainer, but I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

I started off by moving my litter box near the toilet and then elevating it slowly to toilet seat level. After they were well adjusted to jumping on the toilet and entering the litter box, I made the switch to the CitiKitty and removed the litter box from the house. I brought both cats in, set them on it, and gave them so much attention I thought they were going to pur themselves to death. They now love being on the toilet. I put them in the bathroom overnight for the first night only just to help them figure it out. I used the same litter I used to use (flushable) so they would know the smell. I woke up to find several presents buried in the CityKitty and again told them how good of a job they did and gave them more praise and affection. Since then I've been letting them prowl the house and we haven't had a single accident, which is amazing considering how hard it was to train them to go in the litter box at first. I popped out half of the first ring and no one seemed to mind, so after a week I popped out the other half of the first ring and that is my current progress. There still haven't been any accidents, so I plan on working on ring 2 by the middle of next week.

Strength of the Plastic:

I was somewhat skeptical of the people who said it seemed flimsy, and it turns out I was right. I tested the shear strength of the CitiKitty at several different points with multiple types of loading, and it never popped a perforation. I set 20 pound dumbbells across it, olympic style 10, 15, and 20 pound weights, and I put point loads on each of the perforated rings. As I mentioned before, not once did it fail in any position with up to 30 pounds on it. I then put a 10 pound weight and both of my cats on it, which is much more than overkill, and it again worked fine with no buckling, shearing, or bending. There was a slight depression as they moved (10 pound weight + both cats at the same time), but even your concrete floor exhibits this behavior when you walk across it, so it is negligible. Adding more than the max weight should be sufficient to see that even with the inner rings popped out, the support structure will continue to hold the weight of a single cat quite easily. Those of you who claim it is a "flimsy piece of junk" are wrong and are giving the product an inaccurate review.


Instructions:

I can see why some people are having trouble training their cats. The instructions, if you look at it from a high level conceptual angle, take dedication, persistence, and patience from the owner. The instructions are clearly meant to be adapted to each individual situation and are just a guideline, but people seem to be missing that point. Not every cat is going to accept the change immediately. I am currently training 2 cats on mine and one is definitely catching on faster than the other, but with affection, treats, praise, and persistence they are both getting the hang of it.


Overall:

I have high expectations for this product because I am willing to put in the time to make it a success. It isn't magic - it takes work. Cats are smarter than a lot of people give them credit for, so if you want this to work, put in some of your own time and you will see results. If you buy the CitiKitty and expect to just change the litter at your leisure and spend no time helping the cats figure it out, you will more than likely be disappointed, but blaming the product for that is downright foolish.

I first purchased Kitty Whiz attracted to the lower price, well you know the old saying you get what you pay for. The Kitty Whiz seat stated it is NOT recommended for cats over 10lbs, it should say it's not recommended for cats over 7lbs it was so flimsy it would not support the weight of my 9lbs cat. So I had to looked into a number of different books and training devices and found a number of artices on this product CitiKitty. Most important -CitiKitty's training seat advertised it holds over 25 lbs which it does and the training guide and tips & tricks brochure are easy-to-follow and have good information. My cat has been litter free for over two months! Clearly the better product out there.

I have 2 cats and they are 8 months now. I started them on the citty kitty about 2 months prior and so far its great. I was fortunate to have already placed their litter boxes in the bathroom so drawing them from that to the toilet was easy. For my cats it seems they follow the litter. They also love to [...] on fresh litter especially after I cleaned and replaced it =-). I bought 2 training cats for the 2 toilets I have in my house and they use both of them well. Once I placed the kits on the toilets and poured fresh litter on it they were ready to use it. I am on the last 3 rings and am confident they will have no problems. It looks like now they are working their aim (into the actual toilet) and scraping as much litter in the hole.

The only thing I suggest is if your cat likes a clean litter ensure you clean the kit daily. My male cat got pist one time and pee'd in the corner of the bathroom. Thats the only time any of them made "mistakes".

Punching holes can be a mess too. Suggest getting disposable gloves. Also sometimes your cat may miss or splatter or what have you. I bought a bunch of those cleaning wipes for the bathroom so that before anyone uses the toilet they can wipe off any excess litter or splashes and toss it in the toilet. Lastly learn your kitty's bathroom routine. Last thing you need is both of you showing up at the bathroom ready to go!

I've got two little ones, a 2 year old boy, and a 3 year old girl. My first worry after reading many of the reviews was that most who seemed to be having success had cats under a year old. Well I'm about 3 weeks in, and so far they are adapting nicely.
The instructions in the kit stated to put the litterbox by the toilet for a week, then just take it away and put the Citikitty kit on the toilet. Well after a day of some panicked looks and panicked meowing, I decided to take a step back. I put the thing on the floor and started raising it a few inches every few days. I'm happy to say that we just graduated to putting it straight on the toilet! I'm taking much longer than the kit recommends at each step, as I am very determined to make this work, so I'm sure they appreciate that as well.
Downside: My bathroom has never looked worse...there is litter flung and tracked EVERYWHERE. But I would go through that for a year if I had to in order to ensure the next 15 years would be litter free! Another downside is, as others have stated, there is no going back in steps ones the holes are punched. I think I will be cutting my own much more gradually than the perforated ones.
I think the holepunching process is what will make or break this deal! But as I said, I'll go as slow as I have to. I'll check back in a few weeks with an update!

We've had really great success with this kit. It's plenty sturdy enough (my cat is 10lbs though so he's small) and the perforated rings are very gradual. Also, I've found that if you move too fast, it's not irreparable, just save each ring as you cut it off in case you've moved too fast and if you have (as my cat showed me by peeing in my mother's potted plant) just duct tape the last ring you cut off back in place. My cat was completely toilet trained using this kit in 4 weeks - well in advance of what the kit said. I think the key is just to see how comfortable your cat is with each step - if he's avoiding the bathroom, then he's not comfortable. My cat would examine each stage we moved to with great curiosity and was always willing to try it and only once tried to go to the bathroom elsewhere. So that's how I could tell he was comfortable enough to move him along quicker than the kit recommended. And in the 4 weeks that it took him to be completely toilet trained, we went from my apartment to my parents' house (for winter break as I'm a student) and back to my apartment and then to a new apartment so my cat had to switch and adapt to 3 different bathrooms during those 4 weeks and still managed to be completely toilet trained in that time. He is a pretty confident, curious, adaptable little guy though so I don't think all cats would have dealt with toilet training and moving 3 times as well as he did, but I really think this kit is wonderful because the rings are gradual (compared to litter kwitter), it's really very cheap if you think about what you're saving in litter (and if you compare it to the litter kwitter which was the other kit I looked at), and it's super easy to use. To cut the rings, I would use a utility knife to cut part of it so that I could then get my scissors in there and cut the rest of it. The only problem that I've run into is that my cat likes to play in the toilet water (and drink it even though he has a flowing fountain available at all times) and now that he's litter trained, I can't just close the lid to keep him out of it so right now, I have to keep a couple of teaspoons of vinegar in the toilet water at all times (cats hate vinegar so it works to deter him although it's kind of annoying because I have to do it every time I flush) but it's so much better than dealing with litter. My apartment does not smell at all anymore - even if he goes in the toilet while I'm not there, and I don't get a chance to flush it for him until I get home from classes, the water hides all smell of his waste so not even the bathroom smells even if there's his waste sitting there unflushed in the toilet. This is a huge difference from when we used litter, and he wouldn't bury it all the way, and it would smell up the entire bathroom. So basically what I'm trying to say is - toilet training is SO worth it, and I very much recommend this kit to help you get there.

This gizmo WORKS. I have two kittens, now aged 7mos. We started when they were 6 mos. We are half-way towards complete training, so far so good.

I have a number of bathrooms and wanted a cheap solution to training my cats. Citikitty is it.

This is a great product, it got my cat toilet trained in no time. I started when he was about 4-5 months old and it made toilet training a breeze. The only trouble is that he doesn't understand that he can now use any toilet not just the one I trained him on. It is an easy solution to toilet training your cat. No more litter!