New Kitten (6 weeks old)

I just got a new kitten about 5 days ago. She is so loving and adorable! When I first brought her home, I put her in the cat box and she used it. A couple days later I noticed that there was a urine stain on the bathroom rug (right in front of her food). I blamed it on my male cat who is 1 year old. I washed the rug and cleaned the floor underneath it. I went home today at lunch and found that she had deficated on the rug in the other bathroom and urinated twice. Then I went back to the rug next to her food and sure enough, there was fresh urine. My older male cat was not inside at the time, so I know that it was the kitten. She still uses the litter box, too, so I don't understand! Any suggestions?

Add another litter box. Sounds like she may be intimidated by him- if he is blocking the box she'll go elsewhere. She could also prefer to use only clean litter- in which case the second box would help too.

Originally Posted by penthilisea

Add another litter box. Sounds like she may be intimidated by him- if he is blocking the box she'll go elsewhere. She could also prefer to use only clean litter- in which case the second box would help too.

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This is great advise..

My kitten was going in two spots in the kitchen so I put litter boxes (disposable lasagne tins) precisely in each of those spots and that was the end of that problem. After a few weeks I pulled one and he just uses the remaining one. I plan to move it to where it's more convenient for me (which *isn't* in front of the stove in the kitchen) but that will have to wait until after vacation.

Well first off is she actually littertrained? At 6 weeks she should still be with the mother and that is a very crutial time for her to learn social and behavior type skills like how to use a litterbox from her mother.

Since you have her this young though, realize she may not actually know how to use the box and not know how to hold it until she can get to the box. Plus intimidation from the male is going to factor in also. How is he around her? Do they get along well? Is he neutered? Make sure he isn't bullying her, he is probably going to want to show that he is the alpha cat at some point so keep that in mind.

Add more boxes is my first suggestion. Confine her to a smaller space too until she is perfect with the box and you know she can make it there on time. Buy some cake tins and scatter a few through out your house and a few int he room she is in while you are away.

Originally Posted by Jen

Well first off is she actually littertrained? At 6 weeks she should still be with the mother and that is a very crutial time for her to learn social and behavior type skills like how to use a litterbox from her mother.

Since you have her this young though, realize she may not actually know how to use the box and not know how to hold it until she can get to the box. Plus intimidation from the male is going to factor in also. How is he around her? Do they get along well? Is he neutered? Make sure he isn't bullying her, he is probably going to want to show that he is the alpha cat at some point so keep that in mind.

Add more boxes is my first suggestion. Confine her to a smaller space too until she is perfect with the box and you know she can make it there on time. Buy some cake tins and scatter a few through out your house and a few int he room she is in while you are away.

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I got the kitten from a neighbor of mine. The mother left them about a week ago. They were already eating kitten food, but they were outside only, so they did not get any litterbox training.

She uses the litterbox most of the time, but for some reason she goes on the bathroom rugs, also. Last night I put all of the rugs away, and have confined her to only our bedroom and bathroom. I was thinking about confining her to the bathroom only, but I don't know if that's TOO small of space to be all day while I'm at work.

My male cat seems to get along with her fine. In fact, they are usually either playing together, or licking eachother...

Once I allow her in the rest of the house, I will put a couple more litterboxes.

Thanks for your suggestions!

I got my male kitten at 6 weeks and he was not litter trained. I confined him the bathroom with his bed and litter box until he was consistently using the box and then I slowly enlarged his area. After I fed him I would put him into the litter box and scratch the litter with his paws and most of the time he would go. There were a few accidents when I had him out of the bathroom and he was busy playing and didn't make it back to the litter box in time, but all babies make mistakes! He learned really quickly and hasn't had a problem since.

She may also need a box with shorter sides. He legs aren't very long and sh may have a hard time getting into the box. Try a shallow cookie sheet or cake pan. More boxes, too will help.

Stephanie

At six weeks kittens are usually not completely litter box trained. It may take a while for the kitten to adjust to this new idea. Is it always possible for the kitten to access the litter box? Does the male cat intimididate the little one so that she avoids this area?

Originally Posted by Mollysmom

At six weeks kittens are usually not completely litter box trained. It may take a while for the kitten to adjust to this new idea. Is it always possible for the kitten to access the litter box? Does the male cat intimididate the little one so that she avoids this area?

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Yes, she always has access to the litterbox, and he doesn't seem to intimidate her in that way. I have seen her use it right in front of him. I removed the rugs from the bathroom, and she has not gone on the floor at all since then (2 days). So, I'm hoping that it was just something to do with the rugs!

Thanks for your input!

That's why its a lot better to adopt an older kitten - like 10-12 weeks old. How did you aquire a 6-week old? While they might be cute at that age, they are barely weaned and properly trained in litter box/house rules.

You'll have to confine your little kitten to a bathroom while you are not supervising her until she is consistant.

And get some Nature's Miracle cleaner to get the spots she's wet on. Or she will return to that spot (plus your older cat will use it too).

How often to you clean your pan? The kitten may not like the litter or its too "dirty". Some cats don't want to use a pan that is used by another cat. Try getting a 2nd pan with a different litter. Also the pan may be too awkward to climb in and out. A smaller pan might work better for such a young kitten.

We bought our barn kittens in at 5-6 weeks old to litter train and wean them before going to new homes at 12 weeks old. We confined them to the bathroom till they were consistant and only let them explore the rest of the house when supervised. In a month they were consistant enough to socialize and allow a lot more freedom. But they always slept in the bathroom at nite....just in case

When we were raising kittens, I used a shallow cake tinfoil pan - it was not too deep for the kittens to climb in/out. As they got bigger, they started using the normal litter pans.