New Kitten - Litter Box Woes

[dulcetdahlia]

I took in a stray kitten that was dumped on my family a week ago and she's been great, for the most part. She has been to the vet (2x) and gotten a clean bill of health other than a small URI and her 2nd fecal showed a singular egg in the slide so she's gotten dewormer for that but poops are 100% normal. She gets canned food 3~4 times a day and we think she's about 8~12 weeks old - both vets she's seen had different ideas of what end of the age bracket she fell on. Super playful with a HUGE appetite, lil lady gained 5oz since she got here.

Since she got here, she's had a penchant for pooping 1x a day behind her litterbox. I have two litterboxes but she only poops behind the one. All other poops will be in the boxes and, up until last night, all pees were going in the boxes too.

Last night I moved the litterbox that had been in my room for a couple of days into the 2nd bedroom because I really don't like the general smell of cat litter. My nose is very sensitive and it gets SO stuffy in my apartment that it feels cloying, especially in my bedroom that seems to have the least amount of air circulation. So deciding I really couldn't deal with it in there, I moved it back to its original location in the 2nd bedroom. Within 30 minutes of moving it, Mitzi peed on a towel I'd left down in the bathroom (I picked her up mid-stream and took her to the litterbox. I know when you train dogs you're supposed to do that but I wasn't sure about kittens.) and then this morning she peed in the bed - and on me!! I quickly stripped the bed so it wouldn't soak into my mattress itself (its memory foam so hard to clean in my experience).

I thought maybe the moving of the box brought this on so I brought it back into my bedroom and she trotted on over and peed in it.

Has she developed a preference for having a box in my bedroom? Is there anything I can do to encourage her to use the box in the other location or use both if I move it back? I really wouldn't mind the box in there if my room didn't get so stuffy, the air is very stagnant in there for whatever reason, it always has been, so it's hard for me to keep it in there but if I must then I will and I'll try to figure out what I can do.

What can I do to teach Mitzi where she should go? I've never had issues with kittens using litterboxes so this is all new for me!

I appreciate any and all help with this as I am determined to make this work. She and resident big boy get along so well and he doesn't normally get along with other cats this well, this quickly. Had planned on a Ragdoll in a few years but fate had other ideas.

Side-note: I scoop at least 1x a day. I work a pretty demanding job with long hours so I don't always have the energy to scoop 2x but if it'll make her potty habits better, I'm all for it.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I'm thrilled to hear they're getting along!!
Are you using unscented litter?
There's a litter additive that's a "cat attract", and there's actual litter itself that has cat attract in it.
She's still just a baby, and young enough that she needs a litter box close by so she can get to it in time, so hopefully you're able to find a litter that doesn't bother your nose, until she's older and then you can try moving it again.
...would a small fan help?
Anyway, if you can, try scooping the box thats located where she's going outside of it more frequently, and see if that helps.
Hang in there!! Let us know how things go

 

[Jem]

It could be that the placement of it in your bedroom is what she likes, and moving it caused the issue.
I would get the cat attract litter and place that litter box where YOU WANT it to be. Then, every other day, move the litter box that is in your room ONE INCH over until it's in the room you want it. Yes, it's long and tedious, but I've done this myself and it worked to change the placement of one particular litter box in my home. Once the litter box is out of your room completely, and if she has not used your bed or anything else in your room to pee on, and hopefully she has used the one in the optimum location as well, you may be able to just put the old bedroom one in the same location as the other one. I would recommend that you still keep 2 litter boxes, as some cats don't like to pee and poop in the same one, or if it has already been used a couple of times, and you can't clean it right away, she'll have more "clean space" available with two litter boxes. If at any point she pees inappropriately while you move the litter box, just put it back a few inches (you don't have to go right to the beginning), then start up again.
Hopefully the cat attract litter works and she'll want to use it exclusively, then you can slowly start mixing (just a bit at a time) whatever litter you would like to use on a regular basis.
In the mean time, I would get an air purifier for your bedroom. It will help with the stuffiness.
I hope I explained myself OK, just ask to clarify if not .

 

[dulcetdahlia]

Thank you both so much!

I'll try some litter attractant and slowly moving the box. The litter I use is Arm & Hammer Glide or something like that. All other clumping litters I've tried haven't worked well with clumping and this one does. My male cat pees a LOT so it was its own circle of hell trying to scoop pee clumps when he would go with other litters. To me the scent is very, very mild as it aims to more neutralize smells than cover them up.

I would definitely never have less than 2 boxes. I'll start scooping 2x a day and see if that helps at all. My schedule is going to slacken a little this upcoming week so maybe I'll have enough wits, and energy, about me to remember the extra one.

I'm hoping she will get this litter box thing down pat. I may have to keep my A/C on 'fan mode' or something while I'm working on getting her used to having the box in the other room slowly. It circulates the air a little better; if it would cool down outside a bit, I could open a window. Right now it's like middle of summer here so it makes it so much hotter/stuffier to have my windows open.

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how things go, we're rooting for her! I think she has it almost 100%, she just needs a little bit of extra help