this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2026
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My childhood cat figured out very quickly how to use the toilet, and would only do her business there. She was a smart kitty.
Edit: more context - this was in Russia in the 90s, and kitty litter was not a thing. We had to use shredded newspaper for her litter box, and she clearly hated going in it. So she watched us using the toilet, then we put some newspaper shreds into the toilet (one of those European toilets with a “shelf”), and she just went. She seemed much happier with this arrangement.
I had a cat who would do this when I was a kid!
Well now it's just a dominance thing. They CAN use the toilet. They just prefer watching us clean their poop for a half hour, and then IMMEDIATELY poop again to ruin all the work we just did.
Dogs domesticated themselves. Cats domesticated us.
Learned a thing or two from Charles Mingus?