Help for Henry!

We have an adorable kitten - now 5 months old - who keeps having accidents in our house. And we don't know how to help him.

When we first got him, we had a litter box for him which he used for the most part. He had some accidents at random places in our house, which I attributed to his being so little. I followed advice I read here and confined him to the bathroom with his litterbox and food to retrain him.

At 4 months, we had him fixed at one of his vet visits, and so began letting him go outside which he loves. He has had his shots and is treated for fleas on a regular basis. He did have tapeworm at his 4 month vet visit, and so was treated for worms then.

We put his litter box outside on our patio for a while to help with the transition, then we took it away and put litter in some dirt in the back part of our yard and showed it to him - putting his paws in the litter, etc.

He comes inside to nap and eat and to sleep at night. At night he sleeps in his bed in the bathroom, and seems to like it - going in there immediately when he comes in for the last time at night

But he continues to go - poop and pee - at random times and in random places in our house - the hard bathroom floor, the rug, the bathtub, etc. It's never the same place twice - and we have hardwood floors throughout our home except for one room, which I thought would be good. But he doesn't seem to mind if it's a hard floor with nothing to scratch to cover it up - he just scratches the hard floor smearing it. And we noticed yesterday that he when he goes outside he is simply pooping right outside our back door in a flower bed, but not covering it up.

So I am perplexed as to what to do. I don't want to re-introduce the litterbox since I have three little children in a small house - and there is no good place for the litterbox. I've read through posts on the site for the last 2 1/2 hours and haven't found any situation quite like ours. I clean up all his messes with the proper cleaners so that he can't smell it and repeat it. And his accidents are never in the same spot...

Does anybody have any advice?

He is so young, why are you letting him outside? Does he have litter pans inside the home? He should have at least two. Changing locations like you have will only confuse his young mind. You should keep him inside at all times at least until he turns one year old, and by then, he probably will not want to go outside.

I repeat, he needs to have a litter pan in the house. If you have small children then you make the litter pan off limits to them. But this is one confused kitty who just doesn't understand holding it till he gets outside. They don't pee and poop naturally. It is a natural stimulation brought about my the momcat's grooming abilities, they pee and poop wherever they happen to be at the time when they are with her, and taking the litter pan away from him so he can't pee and poop, just to accomodate you is quite frankly unfair to this kitten



I would seriously think of rehoming him, if you are not willing to allow him to have litter pans in the house. You took away his comfort zone in removing this pan and he will continue to pee and poop wherever he is because you offer him no reasonable alternative__________________

I thought that his age was old enough to let him outside, and he seemed anxious to be outside - dashing out the door anytime we opened it.

And I thought that I was making the changes slowly enough for him to adust.

If I have a litterbox inside and let him outside, will he use both places and eventually pick one?

They should really never go outside as kittens. There is so much danger for them out there, and they frighten easily. You could lose him in a heartbeat.

I have 16 cats at the moment. I have 8 litterpans upstairs, 4 downstairs and several more in the enclosure that is attached to the house. Even though the majority of the litterpans are in the enclosure, there is no way I wouldn't give them litterpans in the house.

Ok. Thank you for replying. I'll get his litterbox back out.

So you think that it sounds like just confusion and not a medical problem?

He's had his routine checkups and shots and flea treatments, etc...

I believe if you put two litter pans in the house for him, in an area that he frequents so he doesn't have to search for them, this problem will right itself. He is to little to have urinary tract problems really, so he is just letting loose because that is how he is programmed. Plus, he doesn't have anyplace else to go and relieve himself.

You also need to be sure to clean the spots he has peed and pooped on with a neutralizer like Urine-Off! Or he will go back to those spots and continue using them as his personal urinal.