There are many advantages to having a cat which is toilet-trained. Once the cat learns to use the toilet, there will be no need for a litter box. That means less money spent on litter, less smell in the house, and, of course, less work (no more cleaning the litter box).
There are a few steps you can use to to help the cat make the switch from using a litter box to using the toilet. Before you even begin making the switch, help the cat become accustomed to the fact that the bathroom is now the place they should go to relieve themselves. In other words, the best chance of success comes if the cat is already used to going into the bathroom to use the litter box.
First, you need to find something called a litter bowl. Get a bowl, like a large mixing or salad bowl, that fits inside the bowl of your toilet. You might need to use a metal bowl which you can then shape (by bending and pounding) to fit. Set the bowl inside your toilet, and fill it with litter. (Obviously it helps if you've shut the water off to your toilet tank and flushed the toilet first.) Put the seat down, but not the lid. You may need to secure the lid in the upright position to keep the cat from knocking it down on themselves (and sealing the litter bowl shut, leading to accidents!) Remove the old litter box, as this bowl now becomes the cats litter box. Be very proactive about removing any clumps right away so the cat feels comfortable using it (they don't like messy boxes, and a messy bowl won't help).
Once the cat is accustomed to the litter bowl, the next step is to have the cat get used to standing on the seat, instead of in the sand. To do this, you need some heavy-duty cardboard, or a piece of plastic, strong enough to support the weight of your cat, and large enough to cover the bowl and toilet seat. Cut a small hole, about six inches in diameter, in the center of the cover. This lets the cat paw the sand, but won't let the cat actually sit in the litter when using it. The cat may miss a few times, but they are getting used to trying without sitting in the sand. Continue to remove the dirty litter, but do not refill it, as you want the level of the litter to get lower and lower to help make the next transition.
After the cat is consistently standing on the cover and going through the hole (or close to it), you are ready for the next phase. Continue to decrease the amount of litter until there is almost none. Then, on a day when you will be around all day, or better still, an entire weekend, fill the bowl with water instead. This stage is not pleasant for you or your cat, and it is the most difficult part of training the cat. However, just remember how close you are to saying goodbye to the litter box forever!
Once the cat is comfortable using the hole in the cover into the water in the bowl, you can remove the bowl completely. Then the cat is using the toilet itself, but still with the aid of standing on the platform you've made. At that point you can begin increasing the size of the hole, little by little. Make the hole an inch in diameter larger, and let the cat successfully use it. Then increase the size again. Repeat until the hole is almost the size of the bowl. At that point you can remove the cover altogether, and the cat should be using the toilet seat to stand on, going into the toilet. No more litter box changes, you can just flush the toilet. (And yes, you can actually train your cat to flush as well!)
Pamper your toilet-trained cat with a heated cat bed. Since you are removing the privacy and snug feeling of a litter box, provide a small, cozy bed, with a cat heating pad to help them stay warm. They will love it, and have a place to relax and snuggle. If they are using the toilet instead of the litter box, they deserve it!
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