Litter Training Problems

nekopie76

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We got a kitten, Sophie, yesterday. She is so precious and tiny. We got her from a home not a shelter. If I wasn't already in love with her, I wouldn't have taken her. The people didn't know how old she is (6-8 weeks they think - I am thinking no more than 6 weeks - too young to be away from her mother). They were feeding her human junk food (chips and ice cream). And they didn't know if she was litter box trained. IDIOTS!! We get her home and I show her the litter box and she doesn't care. She doesn't scratch/dig at it. Nothing. So I turn to the internet. I read that 30 minutes after she eats, I should put her in the box. I start doing that. 24 hrs later and nothing. She has been in my sight the whole time so I am not sure if she is sick or if she went someplace else. My friend suggested I rub her tummy with the warm cloth, put her in her box. Nothing. Minutes later she started to scratch the living room rug, I sprayed her with water and I don't know if I scared her or what but she peed on the carpet. I can't handle this again (our old cat would often pee on our bed). I started to cry. I put her nose to the wet spot and then brought her to her box so she would know.

I am going to call the vets and maybe they will have a suggestion. I also thought that I could call our local shelter. They might have some ideas too. But if any of you have ideas, please share. Please!!
 

rad65

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When she started scratching you definitely should NOT have sprayed her. Normally yes, but she is a 6 week old, poorly-looked-after kitten! Pick her up, put her in the box, and watch to make sure she does her business. Scratching is a sign of picking out a spot to pee, so nistead of scaring the pee out of her, take her to an acceptable place to dispose of her waste. And rubbing her face in it is definitely not the course you want to take. Cats don't respond to negative rinforcement, you'll just get a scared kitten who slinks away to hide her 'business' from you, or she may become afraid of you in general. She is a tiny kitten, she WILL make mistakes. You said yourself how irresponsible her previous owners were, so she is going to need a patient, understanding owner now. You will very likely have to close her off in a small room with the litter box to train her to use it. She has no idea what that box full of sand is for, and you shouldn't punish her because of that.
 

bastetservant

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First of all thank you for rescuing this kitten from the environment where she wasn't given proper care.

She was removed from her mother too young, and that can be a problem. But it can be overcome.

I haven't had a kitten in many years, and I'm sure people will be posting to give you advice. But I wanted to say please, please don't spray your little kitten with water again. She has no idea why you did this, and doesn't know what is expected of her. If you do this she will become scared of you and you can create more behavior problems than the peeing. Sounds like you have experience house training a puppy. But kittens are entirely different.

For now, until you get some advice, put her in a small room, like a bathroom, with the litter box, food and water, comfy bedding, and maybe a radio playing very softly soothing music, and a night light. Then, if she doesn't use the litter pan (because she doesn't know how) she can't do any damage.

I think calling the shelter and vet for advice is a good idea. Actually, you should get her in to the vet in the next couple of days for a look over and to start vaccinations. Don't expose her to any other animals until you do this - for their sake and hers.

Advice from those with more experience will be coming from here. What I'm suggesting is just for tonight, until you get more advice. She needs canned kitten food, too.

Robin
 

bastetservant

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Also, see the sticky threads on this sub-forum regarding kitten care.

Good luck, welcome to tcs, and we would love to see pictures of the little baby cat!


Robin
 

my4llma

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Instead of spraying her when she started scratching the rug. You should have picked her right up and put her in the litter box right away. You should also take her to the vet, to make sure she is healthy, and that everything is ok with her. The vet will also be able to tell you how old she is.
 

Willowy

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Keep her in a small, easily cleaned area with a litter box (and food, water, and a bed, of course) when you can't supervise her. A reasonably-sized dog crate will work, or a small bathroom/laundry room/etc. She doesn't know what a litterbox is for yet, but covering her waste is instinctual, so if the litterbox is the only place with diggy stuff, she'll naturally go there. It needs to be a very small area, though, or she won't get the point. I'd really recommend buying/borrowing a dog crate if at all possible. I always crate baby kittens when I can't watch them. It's the best way to solidify good litterbox habits, IMO.

Right now she's just an infant, and even in a small room, the litterbox is very far away for those little legs. DO NOT use any kind of punishment, such as scolding, putting her nose near/in her waste, or spraying her with water. She will learn to distrust you and hide her waste, and that's a very bad way to start off. Just put her in the litterbox if she seems to be scratching or sniffing around, and praise her when she does use the box. If you're consistent with keeping her crated when unsupervised, and watching her carefully when you are around, she should pick it up quickly.

I second the advice to get her to the vet ASAP. She probably has worms, and that can cause potty problems.
 

goldenkitty45

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Nek you are doing several things very wrong with training. This is what you SHOULD be doing with the kitten.

1. Confine the kitten to a washable room - like the bathroom with litter box, food and water bowls. Keep the kitten in there and only take her out to play a little but do NOT let her run around the house till she is trained.

2. This will take several more weeks - kittens are not reliable with the pan till closer to 3 months old so she has a ways to go and will keep making mistakes for awhile.

3. Be sure the litter box is not too deep and she can get in it easily. You may want to buy a bag of the Cat Attract litter to use for awhile - it will help draw her to the pan.

If she goes outside the box, pick up the poop and put it on top of the litter and if its pee, then clean it up with a tissue and put the tissue in the litter box.

4. Get some Pet Stain Cleaner and clean the carpet where she peed.


Now I will point out what you are doing wrong. First NEVER spray the cat with water, she will learn to fear you and she will not connect peeing with the water.

Second, NEVER put her nose in where she went - that is the worse thing you can do to a cat. And don't hit or spank her either. She is a BABY - babies make many mistakes, but she will learn in a few weeks.
 

darlili

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The manufacturer of Cat Attract also makes Kitten Attract - you might try that as well. And bless you for taking this baby and for trying to hard to find the right way to make sure she's healthy and happy and learns how to use the litter box. I know from experience how upsetting it can be, but I bet this little one will learn with the love and patience you're giving her. But, yes, try not to yell at her or spray her if she makes a mistake - she'll only think it's bad to go to the bathroom and she'll try harder to hide when she needs to go.
 

taryn

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I trained 9 outdoor kittens using kitten attract. They all lived outside and used the box without issue. When I moved 2 of them inside they have never gone outside of the box.

Keep her confined to one room and use kitten attract in a litterbox she can easily get in and out of. Expect accidents and mistakes, she's a baby. Use an enzyme cleaner to clean any accidents.

When she has an accident put the tissue if it was a wet accident or poo if it's a poo accident into the litterbox and put the kitten into the box as well(if she hops out immediately, let her.) Eventually she will get the point that this is where she goes potty.

Punishment won't work and training a puppy by rubbing it's nose in it's mess doesn't work any better than rubbing a kitten's nose in it. In other words, it doesn't work at all. If anything it reinforces that they use the bathroom in that spot.

Taryn
 

jazzmin_flower

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Some kittens simply take longer than others to get into the box. My kittens, Tris and Julius, didn't use the litter box until they were 10 - 11 weeks old. I was picking up their little poops for weeks and blotting with Viva and white napkins.

Also, some of the kittens tend to sample the litter by eating it: watch out for this as it isn't a good idea. And the others are correct: do not try to correct a tiny kitten for tinkling outside of the box by spraying it with water. This tends to make them hide their "mistakes" behind or under furniture.

I put down puppy pads with inexpensive white napkins a top those. Most of my kittens took to that right away.

Litter Attract for Kittens looks to be a good, altho costly, product. If you can try it, let me know how it works out as I am curious to find out if it is worth the price.

Try Lavender scented litter or adding the Lavender herb buds into the box. And kittens also can manage deep boxes -- they enjoy climbing up into them and jumping out.

Do take your kitten for a well-baby check up at a friendly veterinarian right away. Whenever I find a kitten that's what I do, especially if you already are questioning the health of the kitten. -- Jazzmin Flower


these kittens are mine: Kuromi and Starbuck
 
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