We were told when we got Emmett that she was 8-10 weeks old, most likely closer to 10 weeks. They just said she was a runt. I didn't see any of the other kittens b/c she was the last to go (so they said). Come to find out she was most likely only about 4-6 weeks old MAX. We've had/are having a few issues with her but we are trying to stick it out.
The current issue that we are having is that she thinks every box she sees is a litter box, whether it has litter in it or not. She pees in cardboard boxes, she pees in rubbermaid containers, she pees in wicker baskets, she pees in bowls...etc. She even peed in the little nylon pop up house that she loves to play in. She did this when we first got her and we thought she had stopped. For the first month we had her she "lived" in the powder room. She had her crate, a litter box, food and water, and some toys in there and was only allowed out when she could be supervised. Otherwise she lived in that room at night and when we had to leave the house. We thought never being allowed to pee in anything but the litter box had broken her of this habit.
There is nothing physically wrong with her, we (and the vet) think it just has to do with being separated from her mother and siblings too soon. I don't know if she has started this up again b/c we have recently let her be out of her room most of the day now, but Nora has been helping SOOO much with the other "leaving mom too soon" issues we've had so I don't really want to have to start putting her in her room again. We've had to put her in her room (the litter box and food and water are all still in there just in case) a couple times recently when she has gotten a little too rowdy and hyper, just to calm down, and she has peed on the floor right next to the litter box each time we put her in there.
I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any advice?? I have NO clue how to train a kitten like this, every other cat we've had was fully potty trained when we got them and this has never been an issue. My husband will absolutely NOT allow a cat to live in this house that is going to pee everywhere, b/c he won't have a house that stinks like cat pee. Please help!!
The current issue that we are having is that she thinks every box she sees is a litter box, whether it has litter in it or not. She pees in cardboard boxes, she pees in rubbermaid containers, she pees in wicker baskets, she pees in bowls...etc. She even peed in the little nylon pop up house that she loves to play in. She did this when we first got her and we thought she had stopped. For the first month we had her she "lived" in the powder room. She had her crate, a litter box, food and water, and some toys in there and was only allowed out when she could be supervised. Otherwise she lived in that room at night and when we had to leave the house. We thought never being allowed to pee in anything but the litter box had broken her of this habit.
There is nothing physically wrong with her, we (and the vet) think it just has to do with being separated from her mother and siblings too soon. I don't know if she has started this up again b/c we have recently let her be out of her room most of the day now, but Nora has been helping SOOO much with the other "leaving mom too soon" issues we've had so I don't really want to have to start putting her in her room again. We've had to put her in her room (the litter box and food and water are all still in there just in case) a couple times recently when she has gotten a little too rowdy and hyper, just to calm down, and she has peed on the floor right next to the litter box each time we put her in there.
I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any advice?? I have NO clue how to train a kitten like this, every other cat we've had was fully potty trained when we got them and this has never been an issue. My husband will absolutely NOT allow a cat to live in this house that is going to pee everywhere, b/c he won't have a house that stinks like cat pee. Please help!!
