Test it Tuesday: Does this toilet training device for cats actually work?

Cats are independent and fairly easy to care for, but even cat lovers would agree, one of the worst parts of owning a cat is cleaning out the litter box. However, what if your cat could just use the toilet?

The Citi Kitty Toilet Training Kit claims to teach your cat to use the potty. We took it to Daileyanne Brom in Kingwood to try it on her two cats, Rolo and Gatsby.

Product: Citi Kitty Toilet Training Kit

Cost: $27.66 on Amazon

Claims: The manufacturer says it will save you time because you won’t have to scoop your cat’s litter box. It will save you money because once your cat is trained, you won’t need to buy litter anymore.

The Test

Our test kitties live with an active family of five. Rolo is young and spry and Gatsby is older and more set in her ways.

Twelve-year-old Daileyanne Brom is in charge of scooping out the cat litter box, but she admits it’s a chore that often falls to her dad.

“It’s not a fun chore,” said Brom. “It smells really bad and it’s not very enjoyable.”

That’s why the City Kitty Cat Toilet Training Kit sounded like such a good idea. The system is designed to change your cat’s behavior and claims it could only take five weeks. Week one is simply moving your cat’s litter box into the bathroom. Then, you put the training train on the toilet bowl and fill it with litter. Once your cat gets used to using the litter, you remove a ring of the tray until eventually there’s no tray and no litter.

Does the cat toilet training device work?

Brom explained the process of getting the cat to use the toilet started out well.

“During the first two rounds, they were doing great,” she said. “They were using it, but as we went along, they stopped cooperating.”

According to Brom, both Rolo and Gatsby decided to do number two not on the pot but everywhere else.

“With our experience so far, we’ve had to clean all of our blankets multiple times and our giant beanbag had to be thrown away,” said Brom.

And even when the cats made it to the throne it was not pretty. If you have to share the training toilet with your cat it might make going yourself not so pleasant.

“We did dedicate an entire bathroom to this product and some family members would like to have that bathroom back,” said Brom.

At only two weeks in, Brom, her family and the cats are ready to hang this up. They gave the product a thumbs down.

The Citi Kitty company says any healthy cat, age three months or older that is successfully using a litter box is a candidate for toilet training. You can read reviews (and see photos) from other testers on the product’s Amazon page.


About the Author:

Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.