I am terrible at training them to use the litterbox :(

Hey everyone! Well, Nyx's kittens are over 6 weeks old now, but I still haven't been successful in training them to use the box (it's a shoebox lid with some litter stuffs in it). They have peed and pooped in it a couple times, but only because I put them in there when I saw them sniffing around. Sometimes I don't catch them in time and they've already peed all over the floor Or, I'll put them in the box but then they run off to do something else.... then they'll pee somewhere when I'm not looking. I've been cleaning up the spots (both are near the doors that lead outside) but they keep going back there. Then today one of them peed on the blanket my little brother was sleeping on!!!! D:

Do you guys have any advice? When I looked online a lot of sites were just like "They'll use it instinctively!" and stuff like that... but it doesn't seem the kitties are taking to it I feel really terrible because it seems like everyone else has their kittens trained to use it at 4 weeks.

A shoe box is not big enough nor shallow enough. Try using an aluminum cake pan with litter (get one about 1-2 inches high). I always start my kittens out with the cake pan till they are big enough to climb in/out of a normal litter pan (usually by 8-10 weeks old).

And confine the kittens in one small room with the pan. By allowing them a lot of freedom, they don't have the maturity to hold or to get back to the pan in time.

extinctosaurus is using the shoebox LID, but I agree that it's too small.

Like GK said, confine them to one room if you haven't already. Put Nyx and her box and the kittens and their box(es) in that one room. They need to observe her using her box too. It will help.

If you have a room with a hard floor, that would be my first choice. Usually it doens't matter that much but if they've already gotten in the habit of using the carpet, then it will help to keep them away from anything absorbent until they get the hang of it.

What kind of litter are you using?

What an interesting thread! I never realized that kittens were litter trained - I always thought they learned from the mother cat!

Originally Posted by lnbandcats

What an interesting thread! I never realized that kittens were litter trained - I always thought they learned from the mother cat!

Click to expand...

The ones I've had did...but extinctosaurus is having some troubles.

Momma's litter was in our bedroom from birth to weaning. It was cute, they used their "cake pan" box for just a few days then they insisted on using her box...which seems like no biggie but it was an 8" deep Rubbermaid tub. They put their paws on the edge and just pulled themselves up and "fell" in. Did their business and got right out the same way. They were so tiny and the box was huge.

Also, you should make sure you clean the other areas where they've peed with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle. If they still smell even a little in those other spots, they'll keep going there.

I don't have my kittens trained, and they are 4 weeks!! So don't feel bad. I am going to start though, I wish you much luck with your babies, they will get trained! Don't worry! They are just babies right now.

Thanks for your input guys, I put them in the kitchen and barricaded it with one of those baby fence things (Eris figured out how to climb it so we had to cover it with tape!! O_O), got a cake pan for them to use etc... and amazingly I have yet to discover a pee spot or random poops lying around :O I was shocked!!! They actually even climb into Nyx's litterbox and use that one too (worried that they'll land on a poop one day...). I put a little cat bed in there but it looks like one of them keeps peeing in it even when I spray it with one of those cleaners and stuff.... I don't know if I'm just not getting the smell out of the foamy part of the bed or something.

For litter I'm using some thing called Cat Attract kitty training litter or something like that..? Or maybe it was Cat Attack. Something like that!

I think that with Nature's Miracle, you can pour it on the spot to soak it after you clean it, and just leave it to try. It's supposed to penetrate the area and take away the smell. Try that?

I couldn't find the Nature's Miracle (I was at Walmart) so I got this Resolve for Pet Stains thing instead... Where do you usually find Nature's Miracle?

Usually at pet stores...Petsmart, Petco, or small mom/pop type places too.

hi i am a ragdoll breeder and found out that by putting them in a confined walkin closit with a baby gate acroos with mom and kittens and all there food and litter box in it the started using it all on there own since they turned 4 weeks it is vary good to confine them to a certin area or they will do there business everywhere

when i trained Icis's kits, all i did was put some non clumping litter in a shallow alum cake pan. i would stimulate them like mom does, then set them in the pan.

for the stubbern ones, ( TMI) i took a ppooy from moms litter and a pee clump, and added it to their litter. once they smelled it, they knew what to do and where. Good Luck!!!