One step forward, two steps backward

Since the last time I updated our progress, things have been going pretty smoothly....until today.  Last Friday (Aug 19), after both cats were using the toilet consistently for a few days, we decided to move to the next step.  I took a pair of scissors and made an oval shape whole in the roasting pan.

In hindsight, the hole should have been smaller, at least in the beginning.  This is where things took a dip.  There were accidents on the couch (urine) and on the floor (feces) and neither of the cats went anywhere near the toilet.  While we never caught them in the act to know which one it was, someone was peeing on the bathroom rugs and in the empty (former) litter box.

Eventually, Tom started using the pan at this stage.

To protect the couch from being used as a litter box, we covered it with a plastic shower curtain and closed off the living room except when we were sitting in there.  Even with this, Jerri peed right on top of the shower curtain one time.  On Monday (Aug 22), as my husband and I sat on the couch, she jumped up and got into position to relieve herself.  We quickly stopped her and took her into the bathroom and sat with her and encouraged her to use the toilet.  It seemed that the hole was too large and too big of a step to take, so I replaced the pan with a new one and cut a smaller hole.

We had to leave the house, so we left her shut up in the bathroom for about 45 minutes.  When we returned, she had used the toilet for both pee and poop!  This continued Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with no problems.  Both Tom and Jerri were using the toilet to relieve themselves every time!  I saw Tom use it several times and after he was done with his "business", he pushed all the dirty and clean litter into the hole and jumped off.  I caught Jerri using it one time and got a picture.

Before I grabbed my camera, I saw her with four paws on the commode to pee, then dropped one foot in the litter to poop.  The ultimate goal is for both cats to have all four paws on the commode every time they go.  From what I have read, this can be difficult to train cats to do this.  I will continue to monitor to see how these two cats do.

For the past few days, we were getting excited that we were headed in the right direction, then this morning when I woke up, I immediately smelled poop.  I started searching around the house and couldn't find it.  When I went into the bathroom, the toilet lid was closed!  NO!!!  Eventually I found the feces and urine, and oddly enough....litter to cover up the urine.....several feet from the bathroom near a wall.

We have NO idea how the litter got to this area of our apartment!!  After I found this nice surprise, I cleaned up the feces and hurried to get ready for work.  Before I left for work, Jerri went over to that area and scratched at the floor several times.  For this reason, I shut her off into the bathroom when I left for work and explained to my husband to leave her in there until she relieved herself.  About a half hour later, my husband sent me this picture of where she finally relieved herself....

Yuck!  Then later tonight, someone used that same exact spot to relieve themselves again!  We are now wondering how to stop the backward progression and keep moving forward??