Potty Training - 8-weeks old

madpiano

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Ok, we have a new kitten. I have no idea where she came from, she was bought at a pet shop. At the pet-shop she was in a little cage with newspaper on the floor and was basically sleeping in her own toilet, allthough it's a good pet-shop and he cleans the kitten cages several times a day (and he also assured me that they are from private breeders, not kitten farms). Now I have to toilet train her. I currently have her in a small room with food and a cat-toilet. She will only pee and poo next to the toilet, but not in it. She obviously knows where it is and allways makes it into that corner, but doesn't use it. I can't let her out of that room before we have her trained.... what can I do ?
 

michelle325

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Are you using the same type of litter that they were giving her in the store? If it's something really different, maybe she doesn't understand what it is. When we switched our cats to wood based litter we had to cover the top with their old stuff before they would use it.
_________

Edit: Sorry, I just realized you said she isn't actually trained yet.
 
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madpiano

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she was on newspaper in the shop, maybe I just put newspapaer in the box ?

she does didg in the box, but then goes outside it..... sigh
 

michelle325

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You might want to try laying some newspaper in the box. I don't know if it will work or not but I don't think it can hurt to try. Maybe that will get her to realize she's supposed to be using the box and then you can take it away.
 

cearbhaill

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he also assured me that they are from private breeders, not kitten farms
They lie. They lied to you to sell you a kitten.

What responsible breeder would put their heart and soul into a litter only to turn the kittens over to a retail establishment weeks before they are ready to go?
And even worse- to a retail establishment that hasn't the faintest idea how to house kittens? One that keeps kittens in conditions that are actually detrimental to their learning how to be a good house kitty?

I would keep this kitten confined in very close proximity to a low litter box until she has demonstrated that she knows where to go potty. Make steps into the box with old books if you need to while she is still tiny. Place her in the box after she wakes up from naps and immediately after meals. When she is in there scratch around in the litter with a litter scoop- sometimes the sound of scratching the litter actually stimulates them to go.

And if she goes on the floor again put some of the poo in the litter box- urine too if it is possible. And clean the floor really well with an enzymatic cleaner designed for potty mistakes.
 

3babiesandme

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I put the poo in the box with her when she went on the bed. She hasnt pooed on the bed since. It really helps to put them in a lot. I use the box with a bag liner with newspaper and then litter on top. It really helps and I dont use a lot of litter and its easer to clean. Yes we (the baby not me
)are still wetting the bed at night but no accidents during the day!
 
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madpiano

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Update on the litter training. We have one it already !

He (found out at the vets, that "she" is a "he") only needed 1 day to get the hang of it. I went back to the petshop an asked if he had any of the stuff what he had in the kitten cage. It is a Rabbit Litter made from recycled paper and soaks up urine really well, it's really soft and he gave me a bag for free. Put that in his litter box, and my daughter and me spent one day watching the cat in half-hour-turns. Every time he looked like he needed to go, we placed him in the box and also left some of it in there instead of cleaning it. He now goes to the box himself, no problem. He actually had the hang of it after the second time, but we kept watching him all day, just to make sure(I never knew how boring Saturday afternoon TV is, as my daughter's room has no satellite TV.... I had a choice of horse racing, darts, Formula 1 or an ancient film.....LOL)

Thanks for all your help though, now I just need to get him used to normal litter.The rabbit stuff is good for urine, but terrible for the other stuff....

Congrats - to my no-name-yet-cat for being so clever!
 

charmed654321

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The way to get him used to the regular litter is to add some regular litter to the rabbit stuff each day, a little more each day (or every other day depending on how they react and use it).

Eventually you can omit the rabbit stuff completely once they're used to the litter.

Ad it's not hard to do, once they "get it" it's usually a done deal.

Good luck!
 
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