A few things to consider before training your cat to notify you when it goes to the box:

[cimorene]

Before you train your cat to vocally notify you when it goes to the litterbox so that you can wipe its butt in exchange for treats, here are a few things you might want to consider!

• A food-motivated cat is likely to maximize box visits. But if the cat is following the rules as it was taught, it has to receive a treat in all fairness. "No repeats within X timeframe" is likely too complicated for the cat.



• Make sure you have enough treats on hand. If you run out, you still have to give the cat SOMETHING.



• You will have to wipe the cat's butt every single time it notifies you, because if you skip this step you'll mess up the training. This may end up being a waste of toilet paper.



• A food-motivated cat can be quite vociferous when it wants treats and will not be inclined to wait for you to finish eating. You're gonna have to drop what you're doing, wipe the butt, dispense the treat, wash your hands, and go back to dinner.



• Bystander cats should probably get a treat too, out of fairness. Again, this will affect treat supply.

Comments

[torachan]

Haha, oh wow, somehow I missed the post when you originally mentioned this.

For a while when he was younger Ollie had a period when he was always having a little blob of poop hanging from his butt when he was done and we'd have to chase him down to wipe him, so I was so glad when he grew out of that. I never thought of treat training for that sort of thing, but thankfully it didn't persist anyway. (He's already pretty chonky, definitely doesn't need any more treats!)

[cimorene]

Snookums seems to have a sensitive stomach so it's pretty common to actually need it. Even eating an incredibly restricted diet isn't a guarantee with him... plus living with rabbits means they can steal hay, which sometimes causes poop connected by hay strands... which is a whole other nightmare.