How to Toilet-Train Your Cat: 21 Days to a Litter-Free Home | 
 enlarge | Author: Paul Kunkel
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Category: Book
List Price: $6.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 100990
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 96
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.2 x 0.4
ISBN: 0894808281
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.80887
UPC: 019628018281
EAN: 9780894808289
ASIN: 0894808281
Publication Date: January 6, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Cover wear and may contain some marks or writing. Keen Northwest ships in 2 business days or less. Refunds for any reason if item returned within 30 days of shipment.
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Product Description
Paul Kunkel, who toilet-trained his first cat while in college and who has continued to train his own and his friends' cats ever since, presents a foolproof, 21-Day-Program for teaching any litter-trained cat between the ages of 6 months and 10 years to use a toilet instead of a litter box. (Older cats can still be trained, but the process will probably take longer.) Requiring nothing more than magazines and/or newspapers, masking tape, heavy-duty plastic wrap, and a supply of fresh litter, the plan begins with you placing the box next to the toilet and, after gradually raising it to the height of the seat, ends with the cat--well, using it like any other member of the family. For life.
Along the way, concerned owners learn why toilet-trained cats may be happier and healthier cats. In well-researched, fact-filled text, Kunkel traces the history and behavior of this barely domesticated animal and proves why the box is bad for cats; why many cats equate the smell of a litter box with danger; and why the fragrances, deodorants, dyes, and disinfectants found in most litters are detrimental to your pet's well-being.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 skip this book! January 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
i just bought this book last night and i read it cover to cover. granted i already did a few hours of preliminary research on cat toilet training methods and available training products online, the book was overly simplistic and i was appalled by some of the methods the author suggests.
first of all, only 33 pages of the book are actually dedicated to the training process itself which is 27% of the book. the majority of the remaining pages covers litter box training, a subject that i can probably safely assume that most of us have already addressed. the author does not address questions related to correct toilet seat posture, training multiple cats, getting your cat to use other toilets, and traveling with your cat.
the 33 pages of applicable material covers a 21 day process: the first 16 days consist of moving the litter box to the bathroom (1 day), gradually elevating the litter box to toilet seat height (12 days),and gradually moving the litter box from the stack of newspapers directly onto the toilet seat (3 days). on the 17th day, the author instructs you to remove the litter box altogether and give your cat the next 4 days to use the toilet seat itself. equipment needed? just heavy duty plastic wrap, adhesive tape, and newspapers. wow! lift the toilet seat, take a sheet of plastic wrap and attach the plastic across the toilet's porcelain rim leaving a slight indention in the middle. fill the middle with a cup of kitty litter and lower the toilet seat. the last 3 days instruct us to cut a small hole and then larger holes each day in the middle of the plastic wrap while at the same time using less and less kitty litter. on day 20, voila, get rid of the plastic wrap and litter! day 21, congratulate yourself. so in actuality, this is a 20 day training process.
the author's instructions are much too simplistic and give more weight to the height adjustment the cat will have to make (jumping up to use the bathroom) than the changes associated with posture and balance on the toilet seat, the removal of kitty litter, and the water in the toilet being exposed as the barrier disappears. most importantly, i'd like to know how many cats the author has actually toilet trained using his methods b/c i don't understand how heavy duty plastic wrap and adhesive tape can support the weight of anything larger than a 3 lb kitten. if the cat doesn't feel safe on the training contraption, it is probably going to refuse to use it. if the cat were to actually fall in, i'm pretty sure the cat will rebel against any other attempts at toilet training.
also, unless you have a spare bathroom, you may give up on toilet training before the cat. i imagine it will get really annoying removing, repositioning, and reattaching flimsy plastic wrap to your toilet everytime someone in the household needs to use it. or reinstalling and cutting holes in plastic wrap each time the cat soils the plastic wrap. i suggest buying one of the commercially available toilet training plastic pans, such as citikitty or litter kwitter, or just finding a metal bowl with the same diameter as the inside of your toilet bowl or aluminum baking pan that will sit securely under the toilet seat.
in all fairness, the book does address two topics that were completely new to me. in the first, the author states that you should not even attempt to train an unaltered cat. however, he does not address why this is true. secondly, he suggests that many cats can be "hooked" on the smell of chemically treated litter, so they should be slowly weaned off the scent by mixing the old litter with a new unscented (flushable) version.
i bought this book at half price books for $2.98. it wasn't even worth that.
 Great Idea November 3, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The book was very clear and the steps are easy. My cats started off following right along, However I didn't follow the directions exactly & did have a set back. I'm looking forward to trying again & hopefull that it will work this time. I would advise anyone trying this method to make sure the rest of their house is clean though. If your cat does hit a point where they decide to resist the training, that fresh pile of clean laundry seems to be a favorite site for them to express their irritation at the new change to their lives.
It worked for us March 12, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Most of the book contains information about how to litter train a kitten, but the last 20ish pages are the key. Our cat, Fenway, was not successful in just 21 days and required the alternate method. But, we are litter free now and have been for about two weeks. Plus, we really didn't need to buy anything new for this book. We had everything on hand. It was a bit annoying at the plastic wrap time as we had to leave our apartment to find another toilet. It would be nice if it had other chapters such as "Adding a second cat to your house" and "Moving to a new home." Check out this blog for photos of our Fenway in action--baggypantsandbravado.blogspot.c0m.
Get a Citikitty Instead! January 27, 2006
35 out of 36 found this review helpful
I bought this book recently after being fed up with cleaning the cat box, stepping on litter that had fallen out, and lugging a ginormous amount of litter up stairs.
The majority (2/3) of this book is about cat behavior, even to what your cat's meows mean. In essence, why cats do what they do and how they have the potential to be toilet trained.
I did more research on the internet before I began Kunkel's method. His method, for me at least, would involve more money being spent than I was inclined to spend (new box that fit the size specifications, undeoderized litter to wean my cats off of the deoderized kind, etc.). Plus, his last few steps involve saran wrap and tape that goes over the bowl of the toilet. In other words, I feel there is a lot of potential for psychological damage for the cat - and maybe the owner, too!
Instead, I purchased a CITIKITTY (www.citikitty.com). My cats used it immediately - 20 minutes out of the box - and I am highly satisfied with the results so far. It is filled with litter and fits over the bowl of the toilet, under the seat. It is durable enough that the cats can stand in it and it is easy enough to take off when I need to use the toilet (no adhesives or other mess). A hole is made in the center that gradually gets larger so that the cat is forced to stand on the seat itself.
Toilet training your cat is an exercise in classical conditioning, whatever methodology you use. Go slow and with the pace of your cat. Good luck!
this book needs about 21 more chapters... July 18, 2005
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Well, the book got made, and I bought it. Maybe I'm the dumb one!
We are still (months later) trying, as we really want to eliminate the litter, but have had to research other books and the internet for more, MUCH more info. This author doesn't even offer info for more questions. It's as if he's covered every possible scenario in the world, now it's up to you, the reader, to do it.
All you have to do is read the other reviews of this book to see that he's left out A LOT of possibilities. The reader is left to his own devices to fill in the numerous blanks. And as much time and energy as it takes, I find it almost impossible to believe the author has spent time training his friends' cats, too. It is time consuming, messy, and so far, extremely frustrating for both me and my cat.
We have followed, word for word, every instruction in the book, and have still been unsuccessful. The Saran Wrap? Bad idea - the cat falls through, every time (even with heavy duty wrap & very light Siamese cat ) which causes MUCH consternation on the part of the cat. We finally rig it so he can go again - he'll go, but doesn't like it. He has to be contained in the bathroom, and even still, will go on the floor rather than in the pot.
The pace of the training is entirely too fast, and offers no other options. Note to publisher: if you reprint this book, it needs some serious revisions.
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