on to the next level!

Yeah!  We are on the final ring, and Costello is an all-star!

Most poos are currently still going on the floor, but there hasn't been a pee incident in ages.

I think he was pretty hesitant when he saw the latest change, but this good little kitty just held it in until I got home and reassured him that he could do it.  Even with a massive cone on his head, Costello is a master of peeing in the toilet.

still suffering from skin problems, hence the conehead

it's practically a normal human potty!

I think this merits an OMG!

Costello pooed in the toilet!  Almost entirely of his own accord!

I had just finished a shower.  The two of us were hanging out in the bathroom getting ready for the day.  Costello had just recently peed (in the toilet, of course - he is a pro).  Now he went over to the corner by the door and was scratching at the floor.  A sign that a poo was coming.

I picked him up and put him on the loo.

He turned around and jumped back off - headed for the hallway.

He has done this many a time before - I catch him trying to go somewhere inappropriate, stick him on the toilet, he hops off and pretends he didn't need to go after all... he waits until I leave the bathroom then sneaks back in and goes on the floor.  I expected that this is what I was in for.

And yet his next move was to turn right back around and come strolling in to the bathroom, hopped up on the toilet without a glance in my direction, and proceeded to poo straight into the bowl!

I could barely contain my excitement!  He was praised heartily.

I hardly dare to hope that there may be a repeat performance in the near future.  OMG.

on to the next level!

 The latest in the land of Costello training... a small notch into the next ring!

You didn't think we had given up, did you?

Nope - just taking things a little slower from here on.  I think the steps need to get smaller as the goal gets closer.

Costello seemed to get a little spooked by the vast expanse of toilet bowl being exposed below him as he learns that he needs to adjust his foot positioning to avoid falling in.  You will notice in the picture that I have also added a stepping stool so he doesn't have to leap right up there while these changes are happening.  He seems to appreciate that.

... and here's a picture of the smart kitty himself.

But not that smart.  He still insists on chewing his fur and skin to bits, hence the spiffy new collar (which I had to reinforce with some bamboo skewer struts so he couldn't just bend it back or flip it right inside-out like he managed to do while I was at work yesterday).

Then again, it is due to his skin problems that he has been feasting on a raw diet of kangaroo and ground turkey for the last week or so - perhaps he really does know what he's doing.

unhappy elizabethan

ok, I don't know if this is going to work in conjunction with toilet training, but tonight I decided to fit Costello with an "Elizabethan Collar" to try to stop him from chewing on himself and making his skin condition worse.

He is not impressed.

It was cool to see him walking backwards down the hallway though! :)

Tonight is a trial run to see if I can outfit him with one of these for a short time just to let his skin recover from all the scabs and things he has created.

He did adore his kangaroo meat dinner, at least!

the latest

Where to start?

Well, first, that last graduation was clearly too hasty.  Also poorly timed.  *Maybe* it would have gone alright (despite Costello staring into that gaping hole and seeming to wonder what I was thinking)... but unfortunately the trial was corrupted.  Turns out I had a couchsurfer staying with me at the time who was not quite as attuned to the delicate needs of cat training as I.

First mistake was a bathmat left temptingly on the floor right after the regular toileting option went from large tray and small hole to gaping abyss of water.  I don't blame Costello in the least for opting for the mat.

Next it was the tray being left off of the toilet after a human used it, so again Costello chose the floor.

And by then all motivation was lost and Costello reverted to his old ways.

Luckily the CitiKitty does come with a limited "undo" feature.  There is a second insert that can cover up your too-large hole with a new piece of tray containing its own set of increasingly large perforations.  So I went back a couple of steps and Costello is happily (thankfully!) back to peeing in the toilet ever since. Only today did I finally take the step of cutting away part of the latest perforation to start moving back to where we left off.

Poo still ends up on the floor next to the tub, but I'm still happy enough to let that slide.  (Luckily they tend to be fairly solid).

In other news, I ran into the owner of VOKRA (Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association) at the pet store today and mentioned to her his skin problems.  She was sorry to hear the vets had prescribed steroids (which indeed seem to have only provided temporary relief and worsened the problem in the long run) and recommended trying a raw food diet to see if that helps.  So this evening I biked by her house and was loaded up with a pack full of free samples with everything from boney chicken wings to quail and kangaroo meat.  Costello just finished off some ground kangaroo with gusto.  Perhaps he'd like to move to Australia :)  (Apparently chicken bones are fine for cats to chew on as long as they're not cooked).

Oh yes, more other news!  Costello escaped a couple of nights ago.  I was walking him out front when my elderly neighbour George came by on one of his regular walks up and down the sidewalk.  He invited Costello and I over to eat some cherries and chat.  I let Costello off his leash when I arrived and chatted for a while, but sort of wondered where he had disappeared to so fast.  George assured me all the windows were closed so I didn't worry about it too much until about 20min later when I still hadn't seen a trace of Costello.  To make a long story short, we scoured the apartment and discovered that in fact the living room window was wide open and Costello had long since left the premises.  Turns out he's a smart cat though - he was waiting for me in front of my building!  He got to devour a can of tuna for being such a good kitty so he's probably eager to go see George again now.

And so the adventure continues...

moving right along, despite a slight hiccup

So I haven't updated in a while because there hasn't been much to say.  Costello continues to pee in the potty and poo on the floor.

EXCEPT for one unfortunate incident of spraying the side of the bathtub as he used to do.  That was a couple of days ago now.  Also I had some reason to believe Costello might have been a little unhappy with me then - I think I had been away from home a lot and he had had a couple of really late dinners.

Now we are back to normal and I have decided to go ahead and graduate him up to grade 3 anyhow.  This might prove to be a mistake but well I'm not all that patient when it comes to things like this and I think he can handle it.

It almost looks like just a regular toilet now!

on the right track..

I am excited.  Tonight when Costello felt the urge to pass some solid waste, he went to his usual corner of the bathroom.  But instead of just squatting and getting down to business, he instead scratched at the floor.  A ha!  This gave me enough notice to put him up on the toilet and encourage him to let loose.  As before, he didn't seem entirely comfortable with this idea, but he went for it.  Hooray!!

In fact this is the second time, as the last time I caught him halfway through the act, I stuck him up there for the second half.

I have hope that we are making progress and will be able to live entirely litter box free soon enough.

Yippee!