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
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