How do I stop kitten from eating resident cat's food and using her litter tray?

Thanks to the articles and forums, Sugar (resident) and Spike the newbie are getting along fine and now play together. I have set up 3 litter trays and 3 food areas for the two of them but he wants hers. There is always plenty of kibble in the 3 food stations and I notice she will eat from all 3 too. But when it comes to the main meal I have to take her in my room and lock him out to stop him from eating hers first.

She used to be a grazer. Now she keeps looking over her shoulder and if he appears anywhere she won't eat any more and tries to "bury" it.

As for the litter, whichever one she tries to make hers he uses it. And the others I might add.

Any ideas please?

Cats uses scent to mark their territory and the litter box is where their scent is the strongest. 

I am guessing that Spike uses the box after Sugar as a way to "show" his dominance. Is this causing any litter box issue? If not, I would not worry too much.

The rule of thumb of one box per cat is mainly to make sure that the box is not overwhelmingly dirty in between clean ups. Sharing a litter box is normal and every cat has their own preference. From reading your other posts, sounds like they are still adjusting to coexist so I believe mixing scent is healthy.

However, if Sugar refuses to use the litter box after Spike, then it is a different story. Litter box avoidance is usually because the cat associates the box with a negative experience (being "ambushed", etc.). 

How quickly cats can sort things out when they want to. She always uses the litter first. Once he goes in after her, she moves on the next time to a clean one. And so it goes on. A win-win situation.

Thank you for your help because I stopped worrying so much and let things take their course.

zandi said:

Thanks to the articles and forums, Sugar (resident) and Spike the newbie are getting along fine and now play together. I have set up 3 litter trays and 3 food areas for the two of them but he wants hers. There is always plenty of kibble in the 3 food stations and I notice she will eat from all 3 too. But when it comes to the main meal I have to take her in my room and lock him out to stop him from eating hers first.

She used to be a grazer. Now she keeps looking over her shoulder and if he appears anywhere she won't eat any more and tries to "bury" it.

As for the litter, whichever one she tries to make hers he uses it. And the others I might add.

Any ideas please?

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We have 3 cats and all three use 1 large litterbox just fine (it gets cleaned/scooped multiple times a day though). Sometimes as soon as I clean it, one will go and use it immediately after I get done scooping.

Some cats are more picky about their litter though, and your kitties are still getting used to each other. I wouldn't worry about it.

We have to feed one of our cats accross the room from the other two because if we don't, the other 2 will eat all of her food (and she just walks away and lets them, its the strangest thing). I always have to supervise them during meal times to make sure the other 2 don't sneak over and try to eat her food.

Because the litter tray issue was resolved peacefully by one smart Siamese and an adoring admirer, I had a think about the food situation. Spike won't eat raw meat and not keen on cooked either unless she's been eating it. I started feeding her first then taking the same thing on his plate into the other room without locking him out.

Sugar has a sniff and a nibble at hers then while he's having a snack at it, she races into his room and gulps down the lot. She is no longer a grazer but she's very good at adapting to a situation pretty quickly.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.