Help With Pooooooo!

HEEEEELP!!!

I just adopted two adorable little 3 month old kittens and they LOVE using the litterbox for all their bathroom needs. So what's the problem, right?

Well, the "younger" of the two loves spending so much time digging around in the litterbox that he ends up stepping in his own poop and drags it all over my apartment!

HEEEEELP!!!

I'm not sure if he's just not covering up his poop appropriately, but he does refuse to acknowledge that he has poop all over his feet while he wanders around on my bed. I thought cats were supposed to be scrupulously clean? So far I've been very patient throughout this entire process because I certainly don't want to discourage him from using the litterbox, but I'm also tired of cleaning up poop-trails. I've also resorted to wiping his butt and paws for him as there is usually crystal litter cemented to his fur with poop.

HEEEEELP!!!

How do I begin to encourage my beautiful kitten to get a little bit more anal-retentive and clean himself up, fer chrissakes? He is otherwise extremely well-behaved as he does only use the litterbox for all his pooping needs. His older brother ROCKS THE HOUSE when it comes to pooping and peeing and is always the epitome of cleanliness when leaving the litterbox.

Should I even attempt to modify behavior or just wait until my little kitten learns to be clean on his own?

HEEEEELP!!!

Thanks for any help you can give me on the smelly subject of poop.

-Andrew

Hi Andrew and welcome to TCS!

I hope you'll stick around and introduce yourself and your sweet kittens in the New Cat on the Block forum!

I don't have an answer for you, sorry, but I can understand how you feel! When Willow arrived, he wasn't much of a cleaner either and when he would pee, he would sometimes be in too much of a rush to go and play that he would pee on his leg and drip around the place!

(he has been checked by the vet and has a full bill of health)

Now that he's older, things have improved, but we do still get the odd spots of pee on the bed etc! He also cleans himself much better now too!!

I hope someone will be able to give you some more helpful advice!

Okay, take a deep breath. Now, get yourself some carpet cleaner for petstains.

Here are my suggestions- if you are using a smaller box, you may one to get another box, and perhaps get a much wider box, so he has more room to manauver and avoid stepping in it. I'm not sure if a covered box would help you much with this problem, but the booda dome has "stairs" to get in and out, and the poo may come off as he walks down the stairs. You could also try putting in a deeper layer of litter.

The other suggestion would be to get a litter mat. I have a nifty one I got a petsmart for about 25 box, it catches the litter and may help wipe off kitties feet.

The other suggestion would be to try another kind of litter- you mention crystals so I assume you are using the clear crystal kind. I personally use clumping and have never really had this particular problem- maybe he doesn't like the way the crystals feel on his feet. Try setting out a box of a different style litter while leaving the other one out in case he doesnt like it.

The last suggestion would be to change kitties diet. The higher quality the food, I think the less runny the poo may be. I have also noticed that as my kittens got older the firmer poo seemed. (and no I didn't stick my finger in it to test it!) You aren't feeding kitties milk are you? The only time I had a cat step in poo was the time Zakk decided it was a good idea to drink some milk and got the runs.

I've no idea how to make him clean himself- sometimes my older cats will groom the younger one's and give them some "very personal cleaning".

This is a kitten thing and most times they will grow out of it.

I definately agree with getting another box and having deeper litter

I have had to do the run after the cat and wipe their feet thing, but it only happened a few times and then they got the idea of things.