a little hole!

Well, Costello has been doing very well in the last couple of days!  Today not only did he use the toilet tray while I was out, but he patiently waited for me to clean it out after I got home so he could hop right up and use it again.  I am so impressed with him that I decided I would try to put the first small hole in the middle of the tray right away so he might start to get used to the sound of liquid falling in the bowl.

You may also notice that I have started to make the amount of litter in the tray a bit more sparse (mainly because I think it's important that I clean out everything after each use to make it seem like a very clean and appealing option).

I didn't punch out the whole middle perforated section just yet since I want to take it nice and slow and see how he reacts to this first, but if all goes well it may be out before the end of the week!  My main concern with the next step is the fact that he will soon need to start adjusting his stance.  So far, he hasn't been using the seat of the toilet at all, but instead sits with all four legs in the litter tray.

One issue so far is that, with the sparse litter and him sitting right in the tray, he tends to get pretty pee-covered feet with which he then hops onto the seat, the edge of the tub, and then tears out through the apartment.  Hopefully there's not much left by the time he gets out of the bathroom as I don't think there's much I can do about this until he starts using the seat.  Other litter would probably absorb faster and avoid this but I know from experience that trying a different litter is probably asking for trouble with Costello.

So here's hoping he moves on quickly from here!

A note about poo: so far, all poos have taken place outside the toilet and mostly on the floor since this experiment began.  Twice I have seen him investigating the toilet option and trying to position himself to use it, but both times he gave up and snuck into the bathroom again after I had left to relieve himself on the floor instead.

POIB (Poo in box) = 0 / 2
POIT (Poo in toilet) = 0 / 0                         
POE (Poo elsewhere) = 0 / 2
PEIB (Pee in box) = 0 / 3
PEIT (Pee in toilet) = 2 / 7            :)           
PEE (Pee elsewhere) = 0 / 4.5   :)