Teaching stray to use litter box

cyclesarah

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Hi all!

If this isn't in the correct location, sorry!

In any case, I have moved Finely, the stray I have taken in, into our garage where I am keeping him locked in at night. The issue we are having now is he seems a bit confused by the litter box. I think he has been a stray for quite some time, so he has gotten accustomed to using the garden for his "private time" so now I am trying to convert him to litter. Last night he peed in the corner of my garage (not spray, it was a puddle of pee) near the box. I have filled one box with mostly litter with some dirt, and another box with dirt and just a smidge of litter. The litter I am using Arm and Hammer Multi Cat (what I had on hand with my kiddos) and I am wondering if the smell is too strong for him right now? I took him to the vet last week and he was given a clean bill of health and he is acting fine...and the funny thing is he is not crying to get outside...he seems content inside (as far as I can tell) he is just a bit perplexed by the whole litter thing.


Does anyone else have any advice or tips on how they got their stray to use the litter box?

Thanks!!!
 

feralvr

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HI!!! You are on the right track with the dirt. You can also try using an herbal cat attractant made by Dr. Elsey. It is sold at Petsmarts. It is in a plastic bottle and sold right near the Cat Attract litter and is a green colored powder mixture. You could also pick up some Cat Attract litter too. Anyway, spread and mix the herbal mixture into Unscented litter/dirt. Use about 1/4 of the bottle or more. Do not use scented litter at all. The scent will definitely send him away from the box in most cases.

Cats have such a strong instinct to bury their "business". I am sure Finley will catch on quickly.
 

bszaronos

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You can also take some of the droppings and put them in the litter box.
 

jcat

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I had the best luck with potting soil for the first several weeks. After he was using that consistently, I mixed increasingly large amounts of litter in with it. IIRC, the first litter was non-clumping, and was then replaced with clumping clay litter.
 
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cyclesarah

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Feralvr - Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I ran right out and grabbed the product you mentioned. Let's hope Fin is a fast learner and catches on quickly
I am so thankful for your help!!

bszaronos - thank you for the tip!
 
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cyclesarah

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Jcat - thank you!! I have an extra bag of potting soil leftover from this years planting, so I am try one box of that and one of the cat attract to see which he prefers. Fingers crossed!
 

feralvr

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Not to worry, your Finley is a smart boy and will naturally want to cover up his business. And who knows, if he was an abandoned kitty he might have used a box sometime in the past
. So happy for Finley and YOU
 
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