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Heather Wagner freely admits she stole the idea behind her product.
Wagner is the founder of Portland startup The Cat Throne, which makes a specially widened and textured toilet seat for cats. But the idea came from the product’s intended end user: a housecat.
“When I was around 4 years old,” Wagner recalls, “my senior cat—a Siamese named Xanadu —taught herself to go to the bathroom on the toilet. A lot of cats do that. It’s more common than you think. You’d be surprised.”
Though still largely a one-woman show, Wagner has seen the company expand from 200 kits sold following the initial launch in 2023 to an estimated 2,000 in the company’s second year. Wagner, whose pre-Cat Throne résumé includes roles as a designer at Lane Health, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard, spoke to WW about the rewards and pitfalls of marketing a toilet adaptation for cats.
This interview has been edited for space and clarity.
WW: How’d this all start?
Heather Wagner: I was an only child, Xanadu was my sister, and by the time I was about 10, she couldn’t balance anymore on the skinny toilet seat. That always stuck in my head. I was a little girl and felt so bad. I wanted to invent something that was humane for cats of all ages. There had to be a better way. So I invented a product where specially patented clips snap on a really nice Wisconsin-made Bemis seat with an extra-wide surface area that stays on your toilet indefinitely. People always say [toilet] training a cat isn’t good because they can’t balance on a toilet seat and, well, maybe they could with something like this.
It’s just a wider seat?
There are three training trays that gradually have larger holes until it’s just the Cat Throne seat itself. That’s why it’s really safe for a kitten. The first tray snaps in so there’s no way to fall inside, and they can only be removed by unclipping their little ears on the Cat Throne seat.
It’s all premium quality and gentle and safe and really cute. Everything snaps together. Instead of a cat balancing on a toilet seat, imagine them just sitting down like they would to pee on a really wide, textured seat. The kit comes with little tongs for waste removal, a tidy-up brush, and sample flushable litter made out of tofu, which is really nice.
Are we sharing the same seat with the cat?
No. You just lift the Cat Throne seat up when you go to the bathroom—like having a boy roommate. It’s just lifting up a lid and putting it down when you’re done.
I also recommend a stool next to the toilet. If the cat’s young and agile, you can remove it altogether after they’re trained, but I keep one there for comfort now and safety later on.
No age limit?
I recommend [the Cat Throne] for every stage of life. They can just walk right up with no jumping. It’s safe for plumbing and even septic systems. You end up saving a fortune while helping the environment. Your home will be so much more hygienic, as clean as you can imagine, and you won’t have to buy—or smell—kitty litter ever again. Happy cat, happy home.
If you knew this would work, why wait so long?
This was something I knew was possible, but I didn’t come back to the concept until the tech startup I was working for laid off three-quarters of the company. So, I threw all my eggs in one basket for this dream I’d been waiting my whole life to try and do.
If it’s so easy, though...
I was always surprised nobody else took advantage. The things on the market right now are so flimsy and cheap and just awful! These plastic rings supposed to fit between the toilet seat and basin end up never going all the way down. The cat steps on the lid and falls in or jumps on it and sends litter flying. Their tag line should be “one size fits none.”
[The Cat Throne] really is the best product on the market, and there’s no competitor doing anything like this. Building the toilet seat is just a completely different experience, and the only way I could make a permanent solution to last a lifetime.
Which, you’d figure, holds its own limitations for a new business.
So, [the Throne] only works on North American toilets. I guess my next step would be creating one for Europe. Their toilets look exactly like ours. They’re just off by a quarter of an inch. People swear it’ll work the same, but the holes in the back where you’d screw in the seat are just a little bit wider. And, of course, all Asian toilets are completely different. I don’t have a solution for that. Not yet!
Guess there’s no real need for a cat bidet.
No, but you can still connect a bidet underneath for human use. Some customers do get an automatic flusher. Unless you’re going to be gone for a few days, though, I don’t mind just hitting the flush whenever I walk by. That’s another myth, by the way. They say you won’t be able to tell what’s going on with their stool or pee, but, truth is, you’ll notice everything about their bathroom habits.
Any chance of bringing along other pets?
If I could do this with dogs, I’d be a billionaire [laughter]. I mean, I’ve seen some attempts—people putting plates in the bathroom—but dogs, my dog, anyway, isn’t as smart as my cat. Rather than learn how to use the toilet, I think he’d just go swimming.
CHECK IT OUT: To learn more about the Cat Throne, visit thecatthrone.com.
