Litter Box question

[bfmay]

I have recently brought a 4-yr-old semi-feral/stray cat into the house after he was almost killed by a dog. His is living, for now, in one room and uses his two litter boxes like a champ. My question is, when he eventually moves into the entire house, do I need to put litter boxes in multiple rooms? Or will he return to his current room to use the litter box that he knows? Thank you!

 

[Kris107]

Assuming your cat is perfectly mobile, he should find his litter box wherever you put it. For a single cat, more than one box seems luxurious! Just think about where you want his potty going forward/full time. Some people find somewhere out of the way (basement, mud room, or spare room, etc). If your house is multi-level, some put a box somewhere on each level. Up to you!

 

[iPappy]

I have recently brought a 4-yr-old semi-feral/stray cat into the house after he was almost killed by a dog. His is living, for now, in one room and uses his two litter boxes like a champ. My question is, when he eventually moves into the entire house, do I need to put litter boxes in multiple rooms? Or will he return to his current room to use the litter box that he knows? Thank you!

I personally wouldn't, because you might find out his preference is the litter box in the room you wish there was no litter box to begin with, and moving it could be a challenge.
Is there any way you can introduce him into the house one room at a time? Give him a new room to explore, and leave the door open to "his" room with his boxes and remind him that his boxes are in that area and no where else. And then gradually add more rooms until he is free in the house and knows where his bathroom is.
If he acts stressed about the move inside, this article might help.
How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats) - TheCatSite
I'm very glad you brought him inside. He will be so much safer, and so much happier under your care than fending for himself. He's a very lucky guy.

 

[bfmay]

Thank you so much! That's a great plan that I will try. Allowing him access to the house one room at a time makes so much sense. He's wary of everything inside anyway. I can already see that this is going to take a long time. He has hidden under the couch for almost two weeks now, coming out only to eat and use his litter boxes. Bless his heart! This must seem completely overwhelming to him. But he loves to be petted and held for a few minutes, so I have high hopes! He was such a lively, cute fellow outside. Thank you!

 

[iPappy]

Thank you so much! That's a great plan that I will try. Allowing him access to the house one room at a time makes so much sense. He's wary of everything inside anyway. I can already see that this is going to take a long time. He has hidden under the couch for almost two weeks now, coming out only to eat and use his litter boxes. Bless his heart! This must seem completely overwhelming to him. But he loves to be petted and held for a few minutes, so I have high hopes! He was such a lively, cute fellow outside. Thank you!

You are so very welcome! Kwik brought in a feral cat a few months ago and his progress has been excellent over the past few months. It's great that he's so receptive to being pet and held, that's very encouraging!

 

[freoblue]

I think patience is the key here and doing what you are doing seems to be working. We have recently moved and we contained the girls to one room only for a long time, but when they did start to explore the house, we left the box in the room they knew, until they were happy wandering around, and then moved it to the garage.

 

[Kwik]

Hello WELCOME to TCS

Very nice to meet you,what is your little guys name? Wonderful to know you have opened your heart and home to this fellow so he can have a home of his very own- God Bless you!

So the rule of thumb is a litter box per cat plus one - I think it's great you've given him 2boxes in his room because outside cats never go in the same place twice,they have a million places to eliminate and instinctively do not want to leave their scent as survival greatly depends on remaining hidden....urine " marking" is something different,since you have no other pets it's highly unlikely you'll have any marking issues- is the boy nuetered?

I'll move on to your question - you don't HAVE TO put boxes in other rooms with a single cat ,yes he will know where his litter box is BUT you should not let him wander to far into the house to start with, iPappy has suggested proper ways to introduce your boy to more unfamiliar territory which is one room at a time- if he is too far from his safe room,too soon he can get confused and eliminate elsewhere - this can happen with ferals & semi ferals so you really want to prevent this from happening because it's easier to prevent than it is to correct

Having said all that hoping to give you a better idea of the " why's" I suggest multiple boxes....I have 5 cats,7 litter boxes,one in every room and in the common living space there are 2.... When I had one cat I had 3 boxes,each bedroom had one and one in the living room and I'll tell you why - firstly ,I adore animals but I do not like to smell odor - more options ,less smelly,lol

,I clean some of the boxes several timrs s day and usually 2 boxes are used more frequently than other onrs-:the reason I'm so crazy & fanatical is because of my newest member of the household who was a 7yr old true feral- cats are meticulously clean as it is so now here's this boy that's had 7yrs of eliminatinng wherever he chose probably in a half mile territory- I would not risk him avoiding a box simply because someone else was there! You see?

Well,now 6 months later and it's pretty safe to say he is a reliable litter box user and he's sharing boxes well.... Back to you,since he's newly transitioned I would have a box in each room- why not? If I had to go I wouldn't want to have to go 3 houses away to do it,lol.I think they deserve to live a life of luxury( my 2 cents)

You said this is " recent",may I ask when you brought him in? You'll want him contained in his safe room roughly 30 days ,that's enough time ( minimum)to establish that room as HIS territory so that when you allow him to start expanding his territory he will not have " accidents" or if he gets started he will retreat to HIS territory and not find another hiding spot in unfamiliar space,make sense?

If you are interested in meeting Timmy the House Cat - my darling sweet boy who was a challenging ,as everyone said " unadoptable" F1 feral .... I worked outside with Timmy one year,he has been indoors 6 months and I'm proud to say he is a proper House Cat now
Timmy,7yr old TNR true feral! COLD TURKEY!

 

[bfmay]

Hello WELCOME to TCS

Very nice to meet you,what is your little guys name? Wonderful to know you have opened your heart and home to this fellow so he can have a home of his very own- God Bless you!

So the rule of thumb is a litter box per cat plus one - I think it's great you've given him 2boxes in his room because outside cats never go in the same place twice,they have a million places to eliminate and instinctively do not want to leave their scent as survival greatly depends on remaining hidden....urine " marking" is something different,since you have no other pets it's highly unlikely you'll have any marking issues- is the boy nuetered?

I'll move on to your question - you don't HAVE TO put boxes in other rooms with a single cat ,yes he will know where his litter box is BUT you should not let him wander to far into the house to start with, iPappy has suggested proper ways to introduce your boy to more unfamiliar territory which is one room at a time- if he is too far from his safe room,too soon he can get confused and eliminate elsewhere - this can happen with ferals & semi ferals so you really want to prevent this from happening because it's easier to prevent than it is to correct

Having said all that hoping to give you a better idea of the " why's" I suggest multiple boxes....I have 5 cats,7 litter boxes,one in every room and in the common living space there are 2.... When I had one cat I had 3 boxes,each bedroom had one and one in the living room and I'll tell you why - firstly ,I adore animals but I do not like to smell odor - more options ,less smelly,lol

,I clean some of the boxes several timrs s day and usually 2 boxes are used more frequently than other onrs-:the reason I'm so crazy & fanatical is because of my newest member of the household who was a 7yr old true feral- cats are meticulously clean as it is so now here's this boy that's had 7yrs of eliminatinng wherever he chose probably in a half mile territory- I would not risk him avoiding a box simply because someone else was there! You see?

Well,now 6 months later and it's pretty safe to say he is a reliable litter box user and he's sharing boxes well.... Back to you,since he's newly transitioned I would have a box in each room- why not? If I had to go I wouldn't want to have to go 3 houses away to do it,lol.I think they deserve to live a life of luxury( my 2 cents)

You said this is " recent",may I ask when you brought him in? You'll want him contained in his safe room roughly 30 days ,that's enough time ( minimum)to establish that room as HIS territory so that when you allow him to start expanding his territory he will not have " accidents" or if he gets started he will retreat to HIS territory and not find another hiding spot in unfamiliar space,make sense?

If you are interested in meeting Timmy the House Cat - my darling sweet boy who was a challenging ,as everyone said " unadoptable" F1 feral .... I worked outside with Timmy one year,he has been indoors 6 months and I'm proud to say he is a proper House Cat now
Timmy,7yr old TNR true feral! COLD TURKEY!

Thank you so much! I wondered why Sammy was using both litter boxes! I put two in his room thinking he would use whichever he preferred, then I would remove one. But he will pee in one and then walk across the room and poop in the other, before retreating to his hiding place under the couch. Both boxes on a single bathroom trip! I have fed him outside for over 4 years, along with a pretty large group of semi-ferals/strays, and brought him inside 2 weeks ago after he returned home from a 3-week stay at the vet following a dog attack. It's been quite a tough month for sweet Sammy. I didn't mention that after he was attacked by the dog, an event witnessed by neighbors, I couldn't find him for 4 days. I had searched everywhere and started crawling under neighbors' houses in their awful crawl spaces and finally found him hiding under the house across the street. I could not physically get to him (pipes, ductwork) and he pulled himself farther underneath the house. He was terrified. A young man who in college had trapped wild animals in attics in order to make a little extra money came to the rescue and was able to crawl under the house and get Sammy using a catch pole. Sammy then spent 3 weeks at the vet, now home to my den where he has been for 2 weeks.

This morning was a small milestone. When I entered the room to feed him he came right out from under the couch to greet me! What a joyous welcome!

Thank you for your help!

 

[Kwik]

Thank you so much! I wondered why Sammy was using both litter boxes! I put two in his room thinking he would use whichever he preferred, then I would remove one. But he will pee in one and then walk across the room and poop in the other, before retreating to his hiding place under the couch. Both boxes on a single bathroom trip! I have fed him outside for over 4 years, along with a pretty large group of semi-ferals/strays, and brought him inside 2 weeks ago after he returned home from a 3-week stay at the vet following a dog attack. It's been quite a tough month for sweet Sammy. I didn't mention that after he was attacked by the dog, an event witnessed by neighbors, I couldn't find him for 4 days. I had searched everywhere and started crawling under neighbors' houses in their awful crawl spaces and finally found him hiding under the house across the street. I could not physically get to him (pipes, ductwork) and he pulled himself farther underneath the house. He was terrified. A young man who in college had trapped wild animals in attics in order to make a little extra money came to the rescue and was able to crawl under the house and get Sammy using a catch pole. Sammy then spent 3 weeks at the vet, now home to my den where he has been for 2 weeks.

This morning was a small milestone. When I entered the room to feed him he came right out from under the couch to greet me! What a joyous welcome!

Thank you for your help!
[/QUthus!

-----‐‐---------------

Oh you are very welcome,it's my pleasure.Anything you want to ask I'd be more than happy to help you and offer suggestions and explanations-knowledge is key,understanding what makes an animal tick

Yes,most kitties pee & poo in one litter box simply because they have no other options- put two litter boxes in a room and mostly every cat will use one for one & the other for the other business....so why not? Right? When we decide to share our home with a different species then we've decided to share our space and compromise- thsts how I see it

You're doing a great job,your efforts will not go without great reward- a loyal friend and companion is the end result

 

[iPappy]

Thank you so much! I wondered why Sammy was using both litter boxes! I put two in his room thinking he would use whichever he preferred, then I would remove one. But he will pee in one and then walk across the room and poop in the other, before retreating to his hiding place under the couch. Both boxes on a single bathroom trip! I have fed him outside for over 4 years, along with a pretty large group of semi-ferals/strays, and brought him inside 2 weeks ago after he returned home from a 3-week stay at the vet following a dog attack. It's been quite a tough month for sweet Sammy. I didn't mention that after he was attacked by the dog, an event witnessed by neighbors, I couldn't find him for 4 days. I had searched everywhere and started crawling under neighbors' houses in their awful crawl spaces and finally found him hiding under the house across the street. I could not physically get to him (pipes, ductwork) and he pulled himself farther underneath the house. He was terrified. A young man who in college had trapped wild animals in attics in order to make a little extra money came to the rescue and was able to crawl under the house and get Sammy using a catch pole. Sammy then spent 3 weeks at the vet, now home to my den where he has been for 2 weeks.

This morning was a small milestone. When I entered the room to feed him he came right out from under the couch to greet me! What a joyous welcome!

Thank you for your help!

Despite the trauma he's endured, he sounds like a great cat who is happy to have found His human. I am so happy you have found one another!