The Discovery

I had high hopes for my cats, Max & Ollie. They know how to sit, wave hello, beg for snacks, come inside, and give me kisses, so why wouldn't they be able to be potty trained to use a human toilet? Sure they are gifted with feline intelligence, but could they tackle the seemingly impossible? My answer was yes.

While at the OC fair last month, I spotted the Kitty Kamode, a pet potty training device that attaches to a human toilet and has been proven to potty train cats. Their semi-professional booth featured plasma TV's, which showed off cats carelessly doing their business on the toilet. Meanwhile, the staff laid claim to how easy it would to train my own, that all cats pick up on it. Hating nothing more than cleaning out my cats litter box twice a day, I jumped at the offer. I willingly shelled out 25 bucks, anticipating how much less poop I would be forced to scoop, and how much I could save on my high cost green tea leaf litter.

The Introduction

I arrived home, eager to try the device and came across the following, BASIC, poorly written instructions:

1.       Remove old litter box from premises – check!

2.      Pick up the toilet seat, set the rim down to hold the rim insert which holds center piece. Place and adjust insert. Put bowl in Center – check!

3.       Fill bowl approximately half way with your favorite litter – check!

4.        Set your cat on the KITTY KAMODE, make sure he or she can see the litter (see & touch) – check!

My trial ends here, but the rest of the directions are as follows:

5.     Reduce the amount of litter daily by about a handful. Each day reduce litter in bowl. Make sure you clean the bowl each day.

6.      Once the cat has used KITTY KAMODE, approximately 6 or 7 times then remove the litter bowl. Cat should return to toilet and use without liter bow.

7.       If this does not work, go to step 6 and repeat again…

The Trial

 My impulse buy seemed simple enough…

Unfortunately, we didn't make it past step 4.

After a few hours of the Kitty Kamode introduction, my kitties were helplessly pacing around the bathroom, meowing in search of their litter box. I repeatedly showed them to the kitty kamode, scratching around the litter to get their attention, but they were less than interested. At about 6 hours past its setup, the kitty kamode was yet to be used. I went to bed in hopes that I'd find it used in the morning, but to no avail. It had now been over 15 hours since my cats had gone to the bathroom, or had it? I was headed to the gym minutes later and was disgusted to find my gym bag & its contents soaked. Well, it didn't take more than a few seconds to realize that my bag had magically transformed into my cat's litter box overnight…

The Disappointing Conclusion

After continually directing my cats to the kitty kamode throughout the day without an ounce of luck, I decided it was time to ditch the device and bring back their original litter box.  Unfortunately, now that Max thought it was ok to pee throughout my entire house during the kitty kamode training, the scent was now causing him to continue, despite the fact that the old litter box was back. Not only am I out 25 dollars, but I continue to lose hours of life cleaning areas of the house that Max now thinks he can pee on, like the kitchen & bathroom floors, my hamper, clothes, his cat bed and my gym bag, yet again.

The Good & Bad

Pros

1.        In the event that the device works for your cats, the 25 bucks it'll cost you is nothing compared to the tremendous payoff you'll get in not having to purchase litter

2.        No more scooping poop … enough said :)

Cons

1.        Made of a rather cheap plastic, with nothing to secure the device to the seat, cats are forced to balance through the wobbliness in training (unless it happens to fit perfectly on your toilet seat)

2.        The instructions lack detail and troubleshooting tips on how to effectively use the product

3.        You're out 25 bucks if the device doesn't work for you, as they only accept returns on unused products

4.        May result in cats urinating all over your house – leading to additional expenses (as noted above)

5.        If you only have one toilet, be prepared to wait in line behind your furry companion and expect a gift lurking in the water

In the event that the device works, you can expect the following results: