Litter training problems

[pamela81]

Help!!

We got a kitten from the cats protection last saturday. We were assured he was litter trained but as we are finding out, hes not!! He likes to pee in the bath, behind the tv and also behind our fishtank table.

We have tried to put him in the tray when he miows but he just runs out of it and goes elsewhere to do it. He was doing his other business on teh floor aswell but he has thankfully started using his tray for that. We are also making sure that his litter tray is clean because we know that kittens be fussy if the tray isnt spotless.

We have still to get him neutered and are hoping that helps. Can anyone give us any advice on how we can litter trained him?

[calismum]

What a shame. It may be he is just settling in and will get the hang of it.

Kittens usually need to go when they wake up and after they've been fed.

Try to confine him to one area - that way there is less choice for him and he won't get distracted so easily. Show him where his box is. It should be reasonably private and in an area where there is not a lot of traffic.

Are you using the same litter type he was used to? If he was on wood pellets then keep him on that until he gets the idea.

When you place him in the tray make the scratching motions with his feet to help him get the idea.

Cats are generally very clean so it is probably just his settling in.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

CM

[Shelley123]

Hi Pamela,
welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new Kitten.
First of all don't panic it is very early days and he will need time to settle. It's great that he poos in the tray now and hopefuly it's just a matter of time before he uses it to wee in. Are you using the same litter that he's used to ?
It is important to use the right product to remove the smell, apparently if you use disinfectant it can smell like another cat to them and may encourage him to wee there again. The vet reccomended biological washing powder to me.
I assume he is weeing and nor spraying?

[pamela81]

thanx for teh tips, we phoned up the cats protection to find out what litter he was using there, it was the wood pellets so we have bought them for him. His litter tray is in the bathroom and also in a big walk in hall cupboard with no doors on it, his tray is near teh back so its more secluded for him.

He is defininately weeing and not spraying, thankfully that hasnt started yet with him!! When he does go on the floor, we lift im and put im in teh tray to show him thats where he goes. We have just tried putting a wee bit of catnip sprayed on it to see if it encourages him to use it. He has his booster on wednesday so we are going to ask the vet to check him over or any possible infections which may be causing him to do this as we have tried loads fo different solutions.

[calismum]

How old is he?

[pamela81]

he is just turning 6month we think. we got a rough age when we took him

[dandysmom]

Agree with Calismum and Shelley have said. Hope changing the litter will help; they can be fussy.

[calismum]

Seems like you're doing everything you can. Good idea to get him checked out for anything else whilst at the vet.

I do hope he gets the hang of it soon.

[pamela81]

thanx, hopefully after we get him neutered aswell that will help. We are hopin to keep im as an indoor cat so we really need to get a solution

[pamela81]

had harris at the vet today, theres nothing causing him not to use his tray. He has suggested however that we try different types of litter so we are now using compost aswell as the wood pellets. hes getting neutered next week so fingers crossed it helps. Thanks for the comments, they have really helped