Litterbox: Kitten just not getting it?

[plan]

Hey everyone,

I adopted a 7-week old kitten and have had  him for three days. He's adjusted really quickly and is very affectionate -- in fact, he's sitting on my shoulder and taking a nap as I type this, and I have heard him purring softly several times as he's sat there. I thought there would be an adjustment period where he'd be sad, confused or just anxious, but he's been really good.

....Except for defecating. The people I adopted from told me he was litter-trained, but he doesn't seem to want to use the litter or understand what it's for. Either they weren't telling the truth, or his littermates were all using the litter and they may have assumed he was using it too.

Right now I have him in my bedroom, and he poops and pees in two dark corners underneath/near my bed. He poops on the hardwood floor, but not the carpeted area of my room. I have tried:

- Moving the litter box into a more "private" area.

- Removing the cover from the litterbox.

- Creating "steps" to the front of the litterbox so he can get in more easily. (He's a little guy.)

- Immediately locating any and all poops and urine, removing them, cleaning the area thoroughly, and spraying with Lysol disinfectant to remove the smell.

- Catching him in the act (several times) and gently picking him up and placing him into the litter box.

- Catching him in the act, picking up the poop, and putting it in the litterbox with him in it.

- Moving the litter box right near the area he likes to poop.

- Putting him in the litter box, physically taking each paw (gently), and "kneading" the cat litter in the hope that he gets the message.

- Putting him in the litter box immediately after a meal.

I've done a lot of reading on this and I'm at a loss as to what to do. Am I expecting too much too early? Is there another way to get him to understand that he should use the litter? Often, when I put him in the litter box, he just jumps right out and resumes whatever he was doing -- climbing, pawing at his scratching post, etc.

And if it helps diagnose the problem, he seems to meow quite a bit before taking his illicit poops in dark corners. It's like he's looking for a spot and isn't quite sure where to go, so he chirps his little kitten meows, which has become a give-away for when he's going to drop a deuce.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[shadowsrescue]

Have you tried Dr. Elsey's Litter Attract?  It works really well to help cats adapt to using the litter box.  I usually just get a large bag of it and use it straight. You can also get a small container of it and mix it in with your preferred litter.  It has some herbs in it that attract cats.  I have also taken the poo and buried it in the box and left it there for a day or so.  You also may need to get another litter box.  Sometimes having two boxes helps.  Possibly changing the style of box may help as well.  Keep the lid off too.  I use a large sterlite container instead of a traditional litter box.  The sterlite containers are longer and give the cat more room.  I know this can be really frustrating.  Is he urinating in the box? 

 

[plan]

Thanks for the reply, Shadows!

Unfortunately no, he's not urinating in the box either. Last night I was watching him closely and stopped him twice when he was just starting to go...moved him into the litterbox, gave him lots of encouragement, gently took his paws and kneaded the litter, etc.

I thought he finally got the idea, 'cause I watched as he sat in the litterbox and seemed to do his business. I gave him some love for a good job, but as soon as I went back to my computer he dashed underneath the bed again and dropped another deuce.

This morning, it looks like he definitely did use the litter box at least once, but there's also a stray turd next to it.

So maybe I'm making progress, but still not there yet. I will try the Litter Attract, thanks for the suggestion. Right now I have the litter uncovered and moved to a place where he was doing his biz before. I'm gonna have to watch him closely again today to reinforce the lessons. Thanks again for the help.

 

[catwoman707]

I highly suggest getting this under control fast, as he is developing his future habits for life now at his age.

Despite how much you don't want to do this I'm sure, he needs to be contained in a very small space, a cage type size.

Only room enough for a bed, food/water dishes on one side, litter box on the other side. No floor space to potty on.

He will quickly 'get' it. ALL my kittens are fostered in cages, and they end up with perfect, lifelong litter box habits. I've even been told by a former foster of mine's owner years later how amazed she was/is that not only does her cat (now a 4 yr old) sleep during the night like he knows it's bedtime, but has never once gone outside of the box.

Happy owners mean a happy cat

This is due to being caged, lights go off at night in the cat room, on in the morning, which makes an ideal night sleeper

If your kitten were younger I would tell you he has too much space, because at a younger age, despite using the box, if they are able to have a large area to play and run around, when the feeling they have to go hits, the box needs to be damn near right under their noses to get to it soon enough, but at 7 weeks, one room shouldn't be too big. Unless it's actually a huge room.

 

[tulosai]

Another thing I am wondering is are you using the same litter the family he came from was using? Particularly, is it possible you are using a scented litter and he is used to unscented (though any other variation may also be throwing him off).  Some cats are VERY picky about the type of litter they will use.  I HIGHLY recommend using whatever litter they were using at least to start, and if you want to transition it do so SLOWLY, oh so very very very slowly.  Some cats will NEVER accept certain types of litter, so I would definitely examine this as a serious possibility.

Also, you could try a bigger or smaller litterbox, a box with lower sides, and puttinghim in a smaller space as catwoman 707 suggests.

Good luck.

 

[plan]

Thanks ladies and gents.

I've been monitoring him closely. This morning, I fed him, let him run around for a few minutes and groom himself, then put him in the litterbox. He did both versions of his business AND covered them up thoroughly! I lavished praise on him to let him know he did a great job.

Of course, I have to keep monitoring him closely and make sure he's doing it right when I'm not there to supervise. I will take a look at the type of litter and will definitely consider catwoman's suggestion about putting him in a confined area till he "gets it" especially if there are more problems.

 

[catwoman707]

PERFECT!! It may be as simple as the area being too large so he doesn't seek out the box.

 

[plan]

I've got him in my bedroom, which is pretty small -- there's just a bed, a small table and an L-desk with my computer and audio stuff.

Right now he definitely "gets it" in terms of he knows what the litter box is for, but I have to supervise him to get him to go there. I feed him, give him some time to do a few laps around the room and to groom himself,and then I place him gently in the litterbox and give him lots of encouragement. When he does his business in the litter, I heap praise on him and pet him softly and all seems to be well.

But if I'm not there to supervise, it's a crapshoot. (Sorry, couldn't help myself. )

Going out to get that Dr. Elsey cat attract litter to see if that'll help. From everything I've read, it seems like a combination of solutions is usually how most people find success.

If your kitten were younger I would tell you he has too much space, because at a younger age, despite using the box, if they are able to have a large area to play and run around, when the feeling they have to go hits, the box needs to be damn near right under their noses to get to it soon enough, but at 7 weeks, one room shouldn't be too big. Unless it's actually a huge room.

Yeah, that's the thing -- I made sure to read up on that stuff and he's been in my bedroom 90% of the time. The only time he's been out is when I'm coming in or out and he seizes the opportunity to explore outside my bedroom -- the living room, hallway, kitchen, etc.

The litter is easily reachable in the bedroom. After my initial troubles I moved the litter right near my bed in the corner of the room, which is where he was doing his business. I'd rather not have it right next to my bed, but it beats having to move the bed a few times a day to get to surreptitiously dropped turds.                                                

I'll update once I get the Dr. Elsey stuff and give it a few days.

 

[plan]

Update:

I got the Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract yesterday and was ecstatic when my little guy went unsupervised to the litter!! However a few hours later he went RIGHT BEHIND THE LITTER and dropped a massive bomb. I don't know why he chose not to use the litter that time.

So far, so good today. I haven't supervised him at all, since every time I've placed him in the litter he's hopped out, but he hasn't had any accidents and he did indeed use the litter at least once when I was out of the room. Now if I could just figure out why he uses it sometimes and why he doesn't use it other times...

From everything I've read, I should give it at least a week to see if the Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract gets him fully locked in to full time litter use. Onward...

 

[plan]

Update: After getting the Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract, and dealing with one out-of-the-litterbox "accident," I'm happy to report that my kitten has used the litterbox exclusively over the past three days and is using it WITHOUT me having to prompt him, lead him there, or place him in the box after meals.

Not only that, he's started to really become thorough when it comes to covering his poop. Previously he had a strange ritual where he'd bat his paws at the sides of the litterbox, but didn't seem interested in covering his poop. Now he's fastidious about it.

So, knock on wood, it seems the Dr. Elsey's has worked for my little guy, in conjunction with the other steps I took. I hope this is helpful for anyone else reading this.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Yea!! So happy all is well and he is using the litter box!  It should be smooth sailing from here on out. 

 

[plan]

 
Yea!! So happy all is well and he is using the litter box!  It should be smooth sailing from here on out. 

And thank YOU for recommending it

After your recommendation I looked it up online, saw great reviews, and then a friend of mine who also has a cat said she's used it with great results too. So, great word of mouth from several people = better endorsement than any advertising.

TBH it's worked better than I thought it did...I can't believe how serious he's become about covering his poop lol.

Now for the next thing, which is getting him to stop biting, which I strongly suspect is a bad habit permitted by the young couple I got him from. It's playful biting, but I would like to stop that bad habit before he reaches adulthood. But that's for another thread.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[catwoman707]

Great news!! Happy mom, happy kitten

Yes, should be just fine from here on out!