Cardboard boxes...

The past couple of weeks now,my kitties...I am not sure if it is just one of them or both of them,have been using cardboard boxes to pee and poop in.

There are two litter boxes in the house for them and they use the litter...but sometimes if there is a cardboard box around,they will use that too! I had a cardboard box close to one of the litterboxes the other night and sure enough someone pooped in it!

How can I get them to stop and leep using the proper place? They seemed litter trained and never did their buisness anywhere but the litterboxes...till recently.I now have to keep cardboard boxes out of reach.They don't do it anywhere else.

Any advice or ideas why they (not sure if both are doing it) are using boxes??

Are your kitties young? still kittens? If so kittens have accidents and may not yet understand the difference fully between litter box and cardboard box.

What is different between the boxes? Are the cardboard boxes open at the top while the litter boxes are covered? Maybe they like higher sides or are larger? (who fully knows the mind of a cat? )
What type of litter do you use? Maybe if it's scented they might like one that isn't. Some cats also like to pee and poo in separate boxes.... or you don't scoop enough for their preference.

Also, boxes that are brought in can have a number of foreign smells on them. Older kittens and adult cats may try to use them as a way to cover up those outside smells.

A lot of possibilities, but it's some ideas to start from. For now just taking the boxes away may help correct the problem (if they're young and confused). Unfortunate though, most cats love to play in boxes.

They are 11 weeks old.

I use clumping litter...I am not sure the brand.They still use the litter boxes and I scoop everyday.Just they will ALSO use cardboard boxes.They don't pee/poop anywhere else tho.

Can I ask why you have cardboard boxes around? With kittens this age, especially 2 of them, you have to keep a tidy home. Leaving a box next to their litter box only causes confusion for them, after all its not natural for them to urinate/poop in a box, we are asking them to do so. I would also suggest non clump litter till they are older, possibly an all natural litter. You want to establish the litter box as the bathroom, make sure there is no confusion, and repeat show them where they go to the bathroom. Even show them ho to dig in the litter.

11 week olds are still babies. They're confused - after all it's still a box to them.

cheylink, many people let their kittens and cats have boxes to play with. Maybe that was the intention here or the person moved recently.

Yes, Daphne had boxes to play with, still does, but she had Seb to teach her proper litter box habits. Maybe it would be a good idea to take the boxes away for a few weeks until they get it all figured out

They are soooo cute!

I've always left cardboard boxes around for mine to play with, no matter what their age. I think it's a good idea for indoor cats, tidy homes can be unstimulating and boring for them, feline behaviourists agree with me on this one, and boxes are a safe way to provide some fun.

What I would do is change the boxes to new ones for them, and sprinkle a few bits of dry food or their healthy daily treats over the bottom of each every morning - it would be a very odd cat who went to the toilet somewhere he became used to finding food. Using any dry food portion of their diet in this way by hiding it in interesting places also provides a simulated hunting environment making the cat work to find his food, and can minimise overeating or eating non food items - that advice also comes from feline behaviourists and it's why I still feed a little dry food, despite being an advocate of a mostly wet diet. Moving the boxes every few days also provides something 'new' for them to explore.

Originally Posted by cheylink

Can I ask why you have cardboard boxes around? With kittens this age, especially 2 of them, you have to keep a tidy home. Leaving a box next to their litter box only causes confusion for them, after all its not natural for them to urinate/poop in a box, we are asking them to do so. I would also suggest non clump litter till they are older, possibly an all natural litter. You want to establish the litter box as the bathroom, make sure there is no confusion, and repeat show them where they go to the bathroom. Even show them ho to dig in the litter.

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I have cardboard boxes around because I store things in them.Also sometimes before garbage day comes,I just leave them around until it is time to tear them up and throw them away.All of my storage space is being used at the moment...so really there is nowhere to stash them.

Excuse me,but when you have a 3 yr old and several pets,your home is not gonna be tidy all the time.My daughter's toys are always all over the place,no matter how many times I get her to pick them up.I keep it as tidy as I can,but sometimes you just cannot help if there is some mess.

Today I have had all boxes out of reach and there were no issues.They used the litter boxes without any incident.They ARE litter trained and know where to go to use the bathroom.Like I said,aside from their litter boxes,they ONLY would do their buisness in cardboard boxes.But since putting all cardboard boxes out of reach,there is no accidents.

Oh and as for cats liking cardboard boxes...I know alot of people with cats who LOVE playing in and sleeping in cardboard boxes.My mom sells Avon,so there are always boxes around her house and her two cats love hanging out in them!!