Training your cat to go on the toilet like Mr. Jinx in “Meet The Parents” is all the rage right now. So is training your cat to flush but that is a whole other blog I am going to get around to writing sometime soon.

You can buy these kitty toilet training devices in all kinds of stores both online and offline, but the drawback is that they are not so cheap! Usually they consist of prefabricated plastic pieces shaped like toilet seats that you can punch strips out of to create wider holes for the cat to straddle as you go through the training process. The plastic that these units are made of are reminiscent of a plastic take out container with a big hole in the center that you widen until the cat is totally straddling the toilet. It is made out of the same material that plastic coffee cup lids are made of.

This is how it works. These fabricated plastic perforated pieces fit on your toilet seat or hook onto the rim of the bowl. The hole, through which the cat excretes, widens as pieces of it are torn out from the center in increments as part of the kitty training process.  The wider the hole gets, the more the cat is forced to widen his stance as he or she squats over the bowl. It is only a matter of time before the cat is balancing on all four legs on the top of the toilet seat because you have removed any support by tearing out those center plastic pieces.

Eventually the prefabricated tray no longer serves as a cat litter tray and becomes simply becomes just a psychological cure for the cat to jump on top of the toilet to go. Over time it too can be removed and the cat will just go to the toilet all by him or herself.

So are these kits worth it?  Many of them vary widely in quality. Some kits are just expensive sheets of plastic that you tape or clip onto the edges of your toilet. Others are the prefabricated trays with perforations that are discussed above.

You don’ have to spend a lot of money on these kits that can cost thirty dollars or more. It is quite simple to can make your own versions of these kitty liners, plastic sheets and metal tubs all by yourself at home using every day common household objects you can get at a dollar store.

Still if you are not the do-it-yourself type then buying a commercial kitty toilet training kit might be your only option. The commercial type is very effective and there is no confusion for the cat. If you make one yourself out of a bucket that is familiar to the cat in another context you might just end up confusing it. Also buying the commercial type can also be more hygienic then trying to rig up your own trays over the toilet bowl.