Say your cat is sunbathing in the yard, but then comes into the house to pee in its special box. This can be frustrating because cats will litter your home, especially if you have children who are still crawling. If you're just getting rid of the litter box, it's likely that your cat is pooping more in the house instead of going outside. You can retrain your cat so that it goes outside, but first you have to make the cat want to go outside instead of inside the house.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Preparing the Right Environment
Step 1. Install the cat door
Although cats can hold their bowels for hours, a trained cat is used to going to the bathroom as much as they want. By installing a cat door, your pet will always be able to get out of the house easily when you start getting rid of the litter box.
If this doesn't work, be prepared to get the cat out quickly and often. You need to remove the cat immediately after waking up, after eating, and before going to bed so that the cat can always pee outside
Step 2. Determine the location of the cat toilet outside the house
While cats usually defecate where they choose, you can make certain locations seem inviting and logical for cats to defecate there. Try to choose a place with the following characteristics:
- Loose soil where the cat can dig and bury its waste (make sure the child's sand pool is covered so the cat doesn't defecate there).
- Enclosed premises with one or more walls/fences. Cats are reluctant to defecate in the open, so a place blocked by one or more walls seems more comfortable to them.
- Cover over the head, such as a bush or tree. Your cat will also feel more comfortable if it has some sort of protection on it. This cover can be a bush or a small canopy. It also makes it easier for the cat to defecate in bad weather.
Step 3. Choose a quiet area
If your cat has to share space with dogs, children, etc., it's a good idea to choose a location far enough away from the crowd so that the cat can defecate in peace. Cats won't choose a place where they can startle them while they pee.
Step 4. Add some of the toilet litter that cats like
Cats that have been trained can be very picky in determining where to defecate, even sometimes they only want to defecate in one type of place compared to another. Take some of the litter from the cat's toilet and spread it over the area of your choice. This is very useful in helping your cat understand that the sandy area is her new toilet.
Part 2 of 2: Persuade Cats to Pee Outside
Step 1. Let the cat explore its new place
The following steps can take weeks and lots of repetition until the cat is completely comfortable with its new toilet location. Start by bringing the cat to this place and let the cat sniff it. The cat will understand that the sand there is the same as the toilet sand. However, it takes a long time for the cat to understand that this is where her new litter is.
Step 2. Place the dirt from the sandbox at the point you selected
To help your cat understand that she now needs to go to her new toilet, take the new litter from her litter box and place it in the new toilet location of your choice. Bring the cat back to this location and let her sniff it. This makes the cat more aware that this is where the new toilet is located.
Step 3. Take the cat to its new toilet after eating
Food in the cat's stomach stimulates bowel movements. Therefore, the cat will urinate within 20 minutes after eating. Immediately take the cat out of the house and close the door to prevent the cat from coming back into the house. This will increase the chances of the cat using its new toilet location.
- Do not hold the cat, or continue to put it in its new toilet, and praise the cat after urinating in the right place. Cats don't respond to positive support like dogs do, and will irritate a cat who wants to have a bowel movement.
- If it's been 20 minutes, your cat may still be holding back in order to use the litter box. If so, let the cat back into the house because you just want the cat to start choosing to use its new toilet.
- Take the cat outside after eating a few times a week to see if the cat has begun to understand.
Step 4. Try adding soil from the new location to the cat's litter box
As mentioned earlier, cats can be very picky when it comes to where to urinate. Your cat may feel uncomfortable with a mixture of sand and soil in the place you specify. To smooth this transition, mix the soil with the sand in the cat's litter box, about dirt and sand. The cat will still use the litter box and that this new mix is a new litter box.
Continue to take the cat out after eating for a week
Step 5. Move the cat's litter box
If your cat still doesn't understand, then you can move the litter box slowly to help with the transition. First, move the litter box inside the house, near the door leading outside. If you don't have a cat door, place a litter box near the door you will use to take the cat out of the house. Make sure the cat is watching as you move the litter box so that the cat is not surprised when the litter box is no longer where it was.
- You may also want to place furniture or other objects that block access to the previous litter box location. Your cat may try to pee on the floor where the litter box was previously.
- Leave the litter box in its new place for a few days and continue taking the cat out after eating to a designated location. The combination of the soil in the litter box and the new location will hopefully be enough to get the cat to use the toilet outdoors.
Step 6. Place the litter box outside
If your cat still hasn't changed the location of the toilet after all of the steps above, it means that you can pick up and place the litter box outside. Place it next to the cat's door (or the door used to take the cat out) so the cat doesn't have to go too far to pee.
Again, make sure you show your cat the new location of the litter box so he can find it when he needs to go to the bathroom instead of using the floor
Step 7. Move the sandbox to the specified place
Once your cat is used to going outside, you can move the litter box further away from the door, until you can finally place it in the designated toilet location. If you do this within a week, your cat will get used to going further and further away from the house each day she uses the litter box.
Once you are able to place the litter box in the designated place, add another 10 days to gradually mix the sand in the box with the soil. When the cat litter box is finally filled with dirt, try to pick it up and place the cat litter in the designated toilet location. This method should work for your cat
Warning
- Never punish a cat for doing something wrong. This method is wrong and does not work for cats. The only effective way for a cat is to direct it. Point out the error, and immediately take it to the designated place. Cats are very intelligent animals. Trust that the cat will understand what you are teaching. Cats will learn to pee outside naturally.
- Be aware that when the weather isn't favorable even a trained cat won't go outside to defecate. Try not to give up, but don't be surprised when your cat pees in the house. If the cat doesn't come out when you open the door, it's a good idea to have a litter bag ready where the litter box was in advance to prevent the cat from littering the house.
- Remember that cats can face dangers including, thieves, cars, dogs, sadistic humans, predators, bad weather, and disease. Think carefully before deciding to train a cat.
