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Rebecca Rescate
(917) 573-7673
rebecca@citikitty.com

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"Cats can be trained to use the toilet, too"

The Bucks County Courier Times - Ocotober 2006

I get calls from people who want me to shill for their products. Usually, I duck them, but not last week. Last week, I received a call from Rebecca Rescate of Yardley, who said she created an unusual product which, she assured, is “changing the face of cat care.”

Since we have a cat, I listened. And what is this product? I asked. “A toilet training kit for cats,” she said. A what? “Most people don’t realize that you can train a cat to use the toilet.” I had no idea. “Oh, yes. You may have seen the movie ‘Meet the Parents.’ Robert DeNiro teaches his cat to go to the bathroom. It’s actually something anyone can do.” Really.

“The process starts with purchasing a toilet training kit from CitiKitty, which is the product I sell. Included in the kit is a specially designed training seat that fits on your toilet. Through a series of stages, your cat will become accustomed to using the toilet, aiming its waste into the water.”

Aiming?

“For the water, yes. That would be by the fourth stage.”

Does the cat learn to flush, too?

“You can teach a cat to flush, but we don’t recommend it. Cats don’t associate going to the bathroom with flushing the toilet like people do. Many cats find that flushing the toilet is a form of entertainment.” Like my kids. “Yes, a cat will have fun flushing and then your water bill goes through the roof. But you can install an automatic flusher so that after your cat goes, the toilet flushes.”

Tell me how you got the idea?

“I was in a completely unrelated field, working for a software company. My husband and I were living in Manhattan. As you may know, rentals in Manhattan are real high, and apartments quite small.

“We didn’t even have room for a kitty litter box for our cat. So we put our heads together to come up with an alternative. I had a family member who had a friend whose cat actually trained itself to use the toilet.”

Smart cat.

“Actually, you hear lots of stories like this. Cats prefer to completely cover their waste from predators, and water is the best cover for odor. Much better than kitty litter.”

How so?

“Well, no matter how many times you clean a litter box, it still smells. Even without the waste, there’s still that dusty smell, the clay. You can smell it anywhere. People walk into your house and ask, ‘Oh, where’s your cat?’ That can be embarrassing.”

So how did you invent this contraption?

“I created the kit myself. When my husband and I decided to toilet train our cat, I couldn’t find a complete kit. Oh, I could find success stories on the Web about toilet trained cats, but not a comprehensive toilet training kit. I had to do all the research myself. It took a long time, but that’s how I created CitiKitty.”

How many of these kits have you sold?

“Ten thousand.” Holy kitty! “And it saves money. The average cat owner spends $175 a year on litter. A cat lives 16 or 17 years. That’s a lot of money. Toilet training makes life with your cat a lot more comfortable.” And less smelly. “Absolutely. Less messy, too. When a cat uses the litter, it’s stepping in its own waste. Then the cat jumps on you, your furniture, steps on your pillows. Eew! “Yes. Think about it.” I did. I bought a kit. I will let you know how it works.

By J.D. Mullane

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