Kitten thinking the bath is the toilet!

Both kittens (6 months old) like to jump into the bath after either of us have had a shower, and they like to watch the drips off the shower curtain.. but a week or so ago Oscar just squated and pee'd in the bath when they were both in it!! I was shocked to say the least and hoped it was a one off.

He has since done it twice more (once we stopped him before he did it), and this morning when we opened the door to our bedroom he went for a poop in the bath!

We can't leave the door closed unfortunately as the room always needs to air otherwise it gets damp.. this morning when we left, we put a cm of water in the bath to deter them from jumping in while we're out, but whether or not that works we won't see until we get home.

Has anyone ever had this before? If so, how did you stop it happening? And can anyone think *why* it might be happening?

When my boyfriend managed to stop him before he went yesterday, he got out and went straight to the litter tray and pee'd in it. They never normally go anywhere other than the litter tray.

Just make sure the litter box is cleaned regularly and it's always a good idea to have one litter box per cat and one extra (2 cats = 3 litter boxes.) As well, he may just need additional training. Be sure he can see the other cat eliminating and covering. They usually learn from their mothers but learning from another cat might be effective.

What a coincidence! My six month old Oscar has been known to do the same thing. They usually go to the toilet out of doors, but when it's very wet they don't like to and Oscar chooses the bathtub and Lily favours the sink. Still, on the bright side, it's better than the carpet or the bed... And you can pour some boiling water over after...

I agree with tsorcus; at least your kitty doesn't go behind the tv as my cat has done once or twice

As above, make sure there are plenty of clean litter boxes both upstairs and downstairs.

They have one litter tray upstairs currently and we've not had a problem with that in the couple of months that we've had them. They will soon be allowed out as they were castrated last week so we will have them off of litter trays shortly.. But, I will add another litter tray upstairs tonight. It's a bit of an odd habit and definitely one that we can't allow them to do! I appreciate the fact that it's good that it's not on the carpet etc, but as it's never been an issue before it's quite hard to see the positives.

My cats also favour the big plant in the hall...

What kind of litter are you using? The big granules can be too irritating to little kitten paws. Also, it's it's heavily perfumed that can drive them away.

The fact that they used it before means nothing. It might have been a borderline situation all along, and when a stress tips them over, they decide this clean surface is a better solution.

hi
also be sure you are not cleaning bath with ammonia based products,to a cat that smells like urine and he might think thats an ok place to go seeing as its been used before..

I wish my cat did that. It would be so easy to cleanup. Instead she's started using the middle of the bathroom floor.

Along with trying some litterbox changes I would actually make sure the bath tub is as dry as possible and maybe even wipe it down with vinegar. In my experience cats are more likely to pee and then eventually poop on an already damp surface. Something perfectly clean and dry they won't use so long as there isn't something they really dislike about their litterbox.

A small dehumidifier in the bathroom might also be a good investment. Even if leaving the door open is keeping it dry enough not to smell damp I bet some mold is growing in there. By the time something seems damp or carries a smell to humans it's usually very wet when it comes to damage to the floor and walls.

Yeah we're starting to get the tiniest bit of mould on the walls.. we only moved in here 4 months ago so I think it started long before us. I'll look into dehumidify - thanks.

As for the bath tub - i'll try to keep it as dry as possible, he has only ever gone when it's wet so that makes perfect sense. We use no ammonia based cleaning products, all cleaning products used anywhere where the kittens may go are kitten friendly.

And we use biocatelot a paper based litter, which I don't think is the problem at all as he has no problem using it at any other point.

Thanks for all your advice - I'll see how it goes! It's definitely not an every day occurence, they had access to the bath all day and there was nothing in it when we got home.

My 16 y/o cat Coco used to go over the bath drain hole & the shower outlet. I used to think it was very smart of her to squat over the holes & not get urine all over the bath or shower. At the time her litter box was in the laundry. She did it for quite a while, not every time. I think it was only when I was in the bathroom. She mostly lives outside now so hasn't done it for many years. My younger kitty, Blossom, has her litter box in the bath as we don't use it anymore & likes to go while we use the bathroom. Have you thought of getting a litter quitter? It's an Australian invention that incourages the cat to use the toilet.

I just want to re-iterate that he has only actually done it 3 times in the 2 months that we've had him, I just didn't want it to develop into a habit. He is fine with using his litter tray and I don't think that's the problem at all. Don't get me wrong.. I do appreciate the advice still though!

*edit*

By the way - the fact that Coco used to pee over the drain hole is quite amusing!