how do you teach an orphan?

As my little baby comes close to 3 weeks old I have a few questions.

How do you teach a kitten how to use the litterbox?

How do you teach a kitten how to groom herself (and keep her clean in the meantime)?

Thanks!

With Lucky I wiped her down with a slightly damp cloth after every feeding. To teach the little box, I sat her in and showed her how to dig. Then when she was around 4 weeks, I would wipe her bottom and place her in the box she would do her potty and I showed her how to cover it. She has never had an accident and she keeps herself very clean.

Originally Posted by mbjerkness

With Lucky I wiped her down with a slightly damp cloth after every feeding. To teach the little box, I sat her in and showed her how to dig. Then when she was around 4 weeks, I would wipe her bottom and place her in the box she would do her potty and I showed her how to cover it. She has never had an accident and she keeps herself very clean.

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this is what I do as well, I also put the cloth I used that they soiled IN the box as well. They are really fast, so much easier, and quicker then dogs.

With cleaning themselves, take a damp cloth and use small short stroke to wipe them down, again they are pretty quick studies.

that is why I love cats! (Don't get me wrong, I love dogs too). The love of a cat is on their terms so it seems more sincere than a dog. And they are so smart and independent,

I used a variation of others techniques. I wiped their behinds while they were sitting in the litter box, then I covered it by scratching litter over it when they were done.

I never tried anything specific to teach them how to groom themselves. I washed them regularly, but I think they picked that up from the other cats in my household.

But a funny story about my orphans: 2 of the kittens from Muddy/Koko's orphaned litter were adopted to a friend of mine. My friend has a fenced back yard and she lets them outside (under supervision) when the weather is nice. She has 4 cats. The 2 orphans have to run inside to use the litter box in the event that they need to go. The other 2 will just dig in her gardens. Orphans can get really anal retentive (pun intended) about using a litter box.