The most important acquisition if you do not want clogged pipes. I changed from a clumping clay to an organic flushable one (it looks like the saw dust we used for cat litter when I was a child). It seems silica – at least some kinds – can be dissolved in water and, so, it is also flushable. I cannot attest to this. The rest of cat litter types are to be avoided. Important: change the cat litter to the flushable one before the toilet training. And do it gradually, mixing the old one with the new one. I tried to do it all at once and Ziggy did not accept it. I ended up doing the mixing during the training, in the plastic bowl, and it was not a good idea. He did not like the new one because it smelled too good (like pines or forest) and it did not have the tracking quality of the clay one.
Sitz Bath
The sitz bath (3.75 Euros) is the best bet since it is supposed to fit al toilets. It is a form of bidé, and since all toilets in Portugal have a ceramic one it is difficult to find the plastic version (for small toilets that do not have the space for a proper bidé). I only found one quality of sitz bath, of very good and thick plastic that was difficult to puncture or burn. So, after a while I had to go looking for a normal bowl...
Plastic Bowl
I had one for the linen that fit perfectly the toilet and that I used in the beginning. However the plastic was too hard so I bought a thinner one in a Chinese shop (1 Euro). You make the holes on it with a hot iron. I began with five small holes that I transformed in one the size of a cent coin, and so forth.
A transparent bowl it is probably a good idea, since the cats can see the water in the toilet and get used to it. I found one but it was to big.
Alternatively you can use a paper roll, water pipe or any plastic round container, sticking them into the hole to stop the litter to fall into the toilet.
Micro-Wave Cover
If you toilet seat is not too big – like the one I have – a micro-have cover may fit, on top of the cover, instead of underneath. I tried with an old cover (90 cents?) but went too fast – while the hole was small they used it, but when I made a huge hole, the cats went right to the dinning room floor, both of them!
Bare in mind that the amount of litter is very small in the micro-wave cover, so, cats that are more attached to burying – like Ziggy – may have trouble with it. That is one of the problems with some of the commercial kits: they do not allow for much litter as they are too shallow, and the cats quit...
Colander
You can try the colander (1.20 Euros). My cats accepted it but the saw dust like litter I use was going down through all the small holes. If you go this way check the Chinese and Brazilian commercial kits I linked to on this blog. I guess you have to use thick silica litter (flushable) and decrease it little by little. The cats get used to the sound of their pee hitting the water and, if the holes are not too small, they can see the water. After a while, you either make a hole in the centre of the colander or just plainly remove it.
Cake Tin
You can make your own system with cake or pudding tins (5 euros) and cardboard. My cake tin worked very well for both cats. My pudding tin was a drawback for Ziggy – he could not accept so few litter and such a big hole. You may cover part of the hole in the beginning and uncover it little by little.
Water containers
In this method you keep the bowl or sitz bath full of litter (no need for the dissolvable kind since there will be no holes) and add ever increasing containers of water. These ones should have a wide bottom so they do not turn. I began with a sturdy whisky glass. You can also decrease the amount of litter little by little.
