How to Toilet Train a Cat With a Litter Box

When you adopt a new cat, you need to train it to use a litter box as its toilet. Most cats will begin to use the litter box as a toilet immediately after you show it to him a few times. Other cats, possibly used to eliminating outdoors, take more methodical training. If you have a cat that has stopped using its litter box and started eliminating inappropriately in your home, you can also re-train it to use its litter box properly.

Things You'll Need

  • 2 types of litter boxes
  • 2 to 3 types of litter
  • Litter scoop
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Instructions

    • 1

      Confine your cat to a bathroom or spare bedroom with little to no furniture or other things the cat may eliminate on. Provide food and water dishes in the room with your cat.

    • 2

      Provide a litter box for your cat that allows them room to turn around and bury their waste. Use a large sweater box as a makeshift litter box for larger cats. Most cats prefer an open litter box without a lid. Fill it with just 2 to 3 inches of litter, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

    • 3

      Show the cat where you have placed the litter box so it knows where to find it. Do this a few times, especially after feeding your cat or after your cat has woken up from a nap -- times when it will likely use the litter box. If you see the cat using the litter box, give it a treat and verbal praise to positively reinforce this behavior.

    • 4

      Place clumping litter in the box. Cats normally prefer this type of litter, and you can remove waste clumps from it to keep the litter clean. For finicky cats, put two different types of litter in two identical boxes side-by-side to give your cat a choice of the litter it prefers. Monitor which box your cat appears to use more than the other.

    • 5

      Clean the box at least once a day to ensure your cat will use the box. Cats prefer a litter box cleaned regularly. You can try using a self-cleaning litter box that automatically cleans the waste after your cat uses the box, if you cannot clean the box regularly yourself. This prevents your cat from soiling outside of a dirty box.

    • 6

      Provide enough litter boxes for all of your cats if you have a multi-cat household. The ASPCA recommends having one litter box per cat plus an extra box. Place boxes in areas away from frequent traffic or noise, easily accessible to your cat. Put at least one box per floor of your home for multistory homes.

    • 7

      Let your cat out of its confined space after two to four weeks of training if it has continuously used the litter box you provided for it. Leave the box or boxes in the room so your cat can return to this location and use them.