Litter training flunkies ! Save me !

[julieh]

I am in serious need of your help with my 5 kittens who can do everything EXCEPT for pee in the right place !

The kittens are 10 weeks old as of yesterday and still clueless about the litter box. Sometimes they pee in it, sometimes right beside it (lots of time, right beside it). They don't seem to get it ! I have litter boxes all over the house - about 10 in different corners - sometimes 2 side by side because they decided to pee 6 inches beside the first box. They now pee 6" beside the second box.

I have scattered "pee pads" in their most likely accident spots to sop up some of the mess but they're just as likely to pee on the pads than in the box.

Most of the time, they will poo in the box, but sometimes not.

I am at wits end ! My house is saturated in kitten pee ! Good thing these little guys are cute cause I'd be way more upset otherwise !

Here's a summary of their day: in the morning, I let them upstairs and they pretty much stay with us all day. If we're not there, they will stay upstairs. There is 1 litter box upstairs. At night, they are put back downstairs to sleep, they have the run of the basement (finished). There are 7 litters down there with pee pads all around them boxes. Today, 2 pads in different corners were completely saturated and there is pee in the litter boxes so it's not always. I clean the litters daily and mop up any mistakes with Hertel followed by "Out! cat urine cleaner" from Walmart then put another pee pad down. There are 5 kittens and I'd say 5 "accidents" per day.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. These guys sure are slow learners !

Julie

 

[familytimerags]

All is not lost.

I would recommend placing them in a more confined space with at least 2 litterboxes. You may even try a litter that has a urine extract or something that attracts cats to urinate in the correct place.
Confining them should help a lot.
Also, when they either urinate or deficate in the wrong place, clean it up with a tissue and place the tissue in the litterbox. When cleaning the area, make sure to use an enzyme cleaner to rid the area of the entire smell. It will prevent the kitten from going back to the same area.
After the kittens eat, it seems only a few minutes later they need to go in the litterbox, so after they eat, place each one in the litter box and wait to see if they go, if you start to see them go in the wrong area, pick the kitten up and place him/her back in the litter box.
I am sure you will get many other great suggestions. Good luck.

 

[pami]

Are they low enough for the kittens to step into them ?

 

[beckiboo]

One of my foster litters seemed to prefer to pee beside the litterboxes, and poo in a corner. They were confined to an 8x15 ft room, but still were going outside the litterboxes. I think you definitely need to confine your babies to a smaller space! They need one room, so they don't feel they can pottie then just leave the area.

Mine had 2 specific areas where they went. I put a litter box in one area, and a big plastic cover with the food and water in the other area. They got the message real quick.

I would quit using pee pads. Confine them to a bathroom if necessary. Put them in the litterboxes after meals. Always leave a little pee or poo in the litterbox so they know that is where it goes, but otherwise keep the boxes very clean.

Good luck.

 

[julieh]

More confined space, check ! At least there will be less corners to pee in... I like having them upstairs during the day cause then we can see them more and play with them without making a special trip to the basement (where we never go) but this litter problem has to be fixed !

And yes, they can get into all thelitter boxes with no trouble. I do have one that is a bit tall (has a snap on border to contain some of the litter that gets kicked around) but I have made them a step and they can use it no problem. Matter of fact, that is the one that has the least accidents beside it.

I think tonight, I will confine them to their original room with the baby gate where they were up until age 6 weeks.

Any other suggestions ? Keep them coming ! I'll take all the help I can get at this point !!

 

[beckiboo]

At 10 weeks they will probably be over the baby gate in no time. Just close the door! And unless you correct this problem, they will be very annoying pets! LOL! It won't take forever, but for now they need to be in their room, or come out one at a time while supervised one on one. It should only take a few days for them to learn to be more cat-like!

 

[commonoddity042]

I have the same issue with my foster, but she is too young for mom to have begun potty training.

She pees in her litterbox, but poops next to it, no matter how many pieces of her poo you've put in it (and I confine her to a large dog crate when she's unsupervised).

I'm going to put another small box in there and see if she's just one of those cats who likes to pee in one and poop in another.

 

[catk102]

I found a litter like this before,I ended up buying a gazillion little (9x9 or 8x8)disposable bake ware made by glade I think and in literally every corner in the house I put one.About 2 minutes after every meal I would put a kitten in a box EVERY SINGLE time even when they just ate a bite.Each kitten in a different box or rather baking thing lol,altho not always the same one(sorta reminded me of potty training my kids and with them I had even more doubt that it ever was gonna happen lol).Sometimes it would happen and sometimes it would not as soon as it was done or if it was not gonna happen I took them out and let them go on bout being catly.Of course thruout the day I keep a good eye on them to look for any potty cues and off to the nearest box the went (hey it worked for the kids why not the cats right?

.
After being very consistent qith the help of the aofrementioned kids they got and my house is no longer littered with cat pans.
Altho none of them can stand a dirty litter and if its deemed not good enough they will use the bathtub.
This usually happens when one or 2 go over night and the third doesnt like it at all.
Kat