Norman man invents five-step cat toilet training system

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Kevin Rymer's cats, Toonces and Tiddles, don't bother with pawing holes in a litter box.

The two fat felines spring onto Rymer's toilet and use it like people, sort of.

The cats learned to use a potty in no time at all with their Norman owner's five-step cat toilet-training program. No more messy litter scattered on the floor. No more smelly cleanup duty.

Rymer's patented invention starts out as a litter box and ends up as a toilet seat humans and cats can share. Since March, he's assembled and sold nearly 700 from his Norman business -- Evolution.com.

"This is the only device of its kind," Rymer said Wednesday.

"We've had a lot of success. One woman in St. Petersburg, Florida, trained her cats in only nine days."

Mr. Jinx, who played Robert DeNiro's spoiled kitty in the movie "Meet The Parents," gave Rymer's business a huge boost. Mr. Jinx does his business in the toilet bowl.

When Rymer saw the cat bathroom scene on a movie preview, he freaked out.

"I thought, 'Oh my God!"' he said. "I was just floored because Robert DeNiro gives a speech about how to train a cat to use the toilet. We had one of the top Hollywood actors doing a commercial for our program."

But using the pot obviously isn't just for cat movie stars.

Actually, cat owners have been trying for years to toilet train their pets. Rymer bought a cat-training toilet seat years ago from a pet store, but could never get his cats to use it.

Toonces' paw poked through a plastic liner under the seat and touched the toilet water. Never again would he perch on that bowl.

But Rymer, who took in his two cats when they were homeless, wasn't going to give up on his dream of a home free of litter boxes. So he designed his own potty program and marketed it at a cat show last spring.

Now cat-loving customers from all over the world are calling him and visiting his Web site (www.catseat.com).

This is the Rymer system of potty training a cat.

Step 1: Fill a tray with litter and put the toilet seat on top.

Begin elevating the seat gradually over several days.

Step 2: Mount the seat on the toilet and replace the litter tray with two small ones that have shelves for kitty feet.

Step 3: Gradually separate the two trays over several days, exposing more water and less litter.

Step 4: Remove litter trays. Leave the shelves for the cat's paws.

Step 5: Press a paw-shaped button on the contraption to retract the shelves whenever a human wants to use the toilet.

The toilet-training system, which includes a video, is $99.95.

Rymer said it takes the average cat about two weeks to learn to use a potty.

The seat is designed to support big cats. Toonces weighs 30 pounds and did just fine on it.

Rymer, a former banker, said orders increased 30 percent after the release of "Meet the Parents" this fall. He believes many more of the 60 million American households with cats will try to civilize their pets.

Even though business is booming, people still make fun of him sometimes.

It's not nearly as bad as it was when he was still experimenting, though. He hated going to small-town hardware stores looking for a part.

"I dreaded them asking what it was for," Rymer said. "After I told them, ... they'd call everybody in to laugh."

Rymer says almost any cat, no matter how stubborn, can learn to use a toilet.

Cats' owners, obviously, still have to flush for them -- at least until Rymer comes up with an invention for that.