tail-less cat problem

Howdy everyone! I know I'm popping in and out in weird spurts, but I have my hands a bit full. I am fostering a stray momma and her kittens, who are now about 6-7 wks old. One of the kittens, just like the momma, does not have a tail. HOWEVER, my problem is that this kitten, we call him 'Bunny' does not know when he needs to use the bathroom, so he pees on the floor and does his poop whenever, and everywhere BUT the litter box. It's not that he's not litter box trained, he just doesn't realize that he needs to go. I took him to the vet and they had him checked for worms, etc, they have him on antibiotics but the vet said that this is common problem with cats born without tails. I can't fathom a long life with this cat doing his peeing and pooping everywhere? So are there any others out there who own cats w/o tails that have similar problems, if so what solutions, etc. The momma is litter box trained, but her baby does not have any feelings of knowing when he is going, he goes in his sleep, in his play and isn't aware at all that he has 'crap' hanging out of him LOL! Anyway...long winded plight...

Take care everyone!

Wow, that sounds like a toughie. Nyla, a little female kitten that was born to the feral cat in my old back yard had that problem too...her whole digestive system was messed up, something to do with the genetic thing that makes her have no tail (even though her mom did) that confused the rest of her body parts and made them not work right.
Eventually, she started being able to control it and gained some weight too, but then we let her out to play and she ate the neighbors slug poison and died, poor thing.
I'm gonna assume that perhaps your kitten will learn to control himself a bit better when he's older...hopefully...if not, is there any way you can fashion him a diaper so that he doesn't make a mess of your house?
Best of luck!

For quite some time, Joey, my Manx-mix was prone to diarrhea & gassiness until he was about 5 or 6 months old. Now at 10 mos., he does just fine. I noticed that he missed the box alot more often than JC, who was nearly the same age. Your Bunny is still very young (I got Joey at supposedly "8" weeks - the vet said he was more like 5-6 weeks) so I guess your only recourse is to keep him confined to a easy-to-clean area. Oh, yes, Joey had to be on a boiled chicken & rice diet with some hard-boiled egg yolk, and graduated to Eukanuba Kitten until he was about 3 mos. old. Good luck on your sweet crew - they are so precious, but they can also be so much work!!

I had to euthanize a 6 month old kitten who was born without a tail, she had no sphincter control at all. We tried steroids but it didn't work she would just leak everywhere as she walked. We tried making a diaper for her but thet didn't work very well either. I was bathing her daily but she was getting urine burns down her back legs not matter how much we tried to keep after it. She was a severe case, I am hoping your little one will be able to gain some control with age, good luck.

I started to type, but my experience was with a pet I found as an adult and at some point had lost part of its tail. So my thoughts aren't relevant to a young kitten who was born without a tail.

You are in a difficult situation so I hope this guy somehow adapts so he can enjoy a semi-regular life. Some cats are very clever so perhaps this guy can figure out a way to overcome his physical handicap -- but I don't know if there is anything that you can do to help him.

Thank you everyone for your replies! I really love this kitty, Bunny, he is super sweet and my other cat Chumchum loves him and plays with him more than he does with the other kittens. Anyway....so far the antibiotics are working on him and the others, he hasn't left any trails and this time I was able to let him and the others stay out in the rest of the house and I didn't see any trails or pools of diarrhea, so it is working for that part of the mess and smell. This morning though, he fell from the window sill and is limping, so I don't know if he's injured anything, he always plays on the windows, the kittens jump on the chairs and get on the curtains and reach the window, its about a 3-4 ft fall, so I don't know if it's serious. Poor guy

we have a tiless simemese and she has the same issues.  ( pee burns, unable to poop on her own etc etc.) we shitched foods , switched to  bottled purfied water only and   got her bedding that  can be washed daily.  we also   bathed her  and changed foods to a UT fomula that helped  reduce any  urine acid

I have a pair of Joybies cat diapers for Gizmo that work well. They're shaped like little adorable overalls with a bow.  You can either buy their special washable inserts or pop a ladies pad in there. If you think it's manageable, try ordering a pair for him when he's older?