Day 74 -- Back to basics

So how far of a step back have we taken?

On Day 72, I put the bowl back in the toilet with a small amount of dry litter. He was able to pee into it like a trooper -- peeing was never a problem. But he did not seem to find it a particularly attractive place for pooping.

All it took, though, is a little more litter. Once there was enough for him to dig into, he started pawing the litter happily (according to some, the digging action stimulates pooping activities), and proceeded to poop. Unfortunately, by then he had forgotten to stand on the toilet seat, and is back to pooping while standing in the litter.

After constant corrections in the past few days, Kratos is getting better now at peeing and pooping on the toilet seat (thank God it didn't all go away!). I'm going to keep him on the litter for another week before adding some water; that should be enough for him to get used to the pooping action.

Did you know that cats use very different stances when they pee and poop? Compare and contrast peeing:

and pooping:

When cats poop, they have to stand significantly higher off the ground than when they pee. The posture is clearly more challenging to pull off on the slim edge of the toilet seat, which might explain Kratos' initial anxiety and ultimate failure in pooping in the toilet. Hopefully, this time around, he will be able to get used to the squat, and all the canned food he's eating will make the transition that much easier.

I know what you're all wondering -- what's the consistency of his poop like? I'm happy to report that it seems to be softer and a lot smellier now. Signs of a healthy dump? Maybe; at least it doesn't look like a painful one anymore!

Day 71 -- Back to the bowl

Kratos has won this round.

I let Kratos roam freely in the house on Day 69; he pooped on the carpet on the next day. I locked Kratos in the bathroom on Day 71; he pooped in the bath tub. Instead of risking him forming a habit of pooping anywhere and everywhere, I am going to bring back the popcorn bowl in the toilet, with litter.

A few steps backwards, to be sure; but this time, I'm going to do it more properly. Kratos will be on a moisture-rich diet with mostly canned cat food to prevent constipation. I will try to be there to give him treats every time he uses the toilet, to make sure that the positive reinforcement of using the toilet far surpasses the initial discomfort. And I'm getting proper pet odor-removal supplies and eradicating any remaining traces of Kratos' poop from our living room.

I can only hope that the litter is enough to lure Kratos back to the toilet.

Day 68 -- To lock or not to lock

Today, I locked Kratos in the bathroom again. And today, Kratos pooped and peed properly again.

Tomorrow... Another day, the same dilemma... Sigh. So cruel, yet so effective...

Day 67 -- Kratos poops again... kind of

On Day 65, I waited all night for Kratos to poop. He did not. On Day 66, during the day when I was at work, he did. On the carpet.

I was especially sad (infuriated?). I had just gone cat food shopping, and picked out some yummy-sounding canned food (without words like "by-product" or "meat" in the ingredients!). I was going to surprise Kratos with some delicious, fancy dinner, and together we were going to relax and enjoy a night of successful pooping. Instead, when I swung the door open, I was met with a pile of poop on the floor -- exactly where Kratos was going to poop before I lifted him onto the toilet a few days ago.

This morning, I did not want Kratos to form a nasty habit of pooping on the carpet. I stepped out the door, and then went back in. I moved his favorite basket and his scratching post into the bathroom, and then did the unthinkable -- I locked him in there. I know, I know. I felt terrible all day.

Thankfully, Kratos did not seem to be distressed when I got home, and held no grudges. And, indeed, he also left a load of poop in the toilet for me! That is great news -- Kratos still knows that he should poop in the toilet! But it's also bad news -- he simply prefers the carpet.

Now I don't know what to do. I can reward him if he poops in the toilet while I'm watching, but I can't correct him when I'm at work. Should I lock him in the bathroom again tomorrow?

:'(

Day 65 -- Way too early to celebrate

One thing is certain -- Kratos does not like pooping on the toilet. Since I last posted the video of Kratos using the toilet, Kratos has pooped on the carpet. Twice.

Something about the last pooping video bothered me -- Kratos kept shifting his weight around, something that I'd never seen him do. He looked... uncomfortable. Almost... in pain.

A thought occurred to me: could Kratos be constipated?

According to some research online, cats in toilet-training are more prone to constipation; they are uncomfortable with their new set-up, and so they tend to hold it in a little longer, making their poop drier and potentially more painful to excrete. I also looked through his cat food's ingredient list, and found an extremely constipating culprit -- dried beet pulp! I didn't want him to associate the discomfort of constipation with using the toilet, so I went out and bought him some new, more fibrous cat food, and switched to feeding more wet food as well.

It worked, kind of. Kratos pooped once in the evening, and immediately again the following morning -- way more often than normal, but both times on the carpet. The new diet made it easier for him to poop, but Krats did not forget the discomfort of pooping on the toilet. He can still pee just fine on the toilet, which, I guess, confirms my theory.

Worried that Kratos would start forming a habit of pooping on the carpet, I started an intensive watch on his every move over the weekend. It was excruciating. After his two accidents, he refused to poop, no matter how much he ate or how many times I placed him on the toilet. Eventually, it was pushing past 2:30am, so I gave up and headed into my bedroom to catch some sleep.

And then I heard a long, mournful meow. And then another.

Curious, I went out, and saw Kratos pacing around the living room. He was walking in circles, sniffing and stopping almost randomly, until I realized that it was not randomly at all -- he was paying a visit to every place on the carpet that he has ever pooped before. Kratos had never pooped in the same place on the carpet twice, so I always thought he was not keeping track of where he last pooped. As it turned out, he remembered every single one of them.

He circled around for a while, meowing, sniffing, pausing. Eventually, he came upon a new spot -- one that he had not pooped on before. He scratched the carpet a little bit, and then sat down. Suddenly, I recognized that the scratching motion is the same as what he used to do to litter, and saw that his back was starting to arch. I yelled out his name; "Kratos! Kratos!" Normally, he would turn around or run away, but this time, nothing. He was clearly concentrating, and it was clearly happening! I ran up to him, picked him right off the floor and placed him immediately on the toilet seat. He positioned himself quickly on the seat, and started pooping. Whew! A crisis narrowly averted.

Obviously, this worries me greatly. Just before the incident, I had locked him in the bathroom with myself in an intensive pooping session, and he barely even tried. Right after I let him out, he clearly became distressed, looking for a place to poop without even considering the toilet. Does Kratos dislike the toilet that much?

I don't know. It is 1am, and Kratos still hasn't pooped yet today. I need to be able to convince him that pooping on the toilet is unrelated to constipation, and indeed, that it is quite a joyous and pleasant thing. But I can't do it if the only time I can get him to poop on the toilet is right before he poops on the carpet!

Sigh. Clearly, it was way too early to celebrate.