So, I thought my kitten had the whole litter box thing down.
Last night, around 4 AM I woke up and she wasn't on my bed. I freaked for a second at the thought of her falling off the bed, and looked around. I found her in the closet sleeping. I wasn't sure what to make of it at the time, so I put her back in bed (it's too cold in my room for her to not be covered up).
This morning, I smelled poop. I went over to her litter box and saw it had beend used. I cleaned it and figured she must have used it when she wasn't on the bed.
During the day, I witnessed her jump off my bed (which had me concerned since it's a good 2 1/2'-3' jump). So I figured she must have done that in the middle of the night to use her litter box, but couldn't get back up so she went to sleep in the closet.
Fast forward to tonight. I let her run around for a while, and when I walked in my room, I again smelled poop. I checked the litter-box.... nothing. I looked around and eventually found two little worm shaped (sorry for the details) poops. One was dried up and the other fresh. It was then that I figured out that the poop I smelled last night must have been the dried up one and that she is not using her litter box now.
My guesses as to why:
1) I may have had too many litter-boxes. I had 2 downstairs and 1 upstairs. I've been reading online that perhaps this was too confusing for her and I should have had 1 downstairs and 1 upstairs.
or
2) A few days ago I switched 2 of the boxes to wheat based litter media after somebody at work recommended it and advised me as to the dangers of clay and specifically clumping clay litter (which I was using). I noticed she would use the wheat litter, but definitely preferred the 3rd box which still had clay. I assume this is because it was of a finer consistency.
What I have done. I have put her in her little area for the night where she has to use the wheat based litter to force her to further try it out. I have also gotten rid of the 3rd box which had clay litter so now there are only 2 boxes, one upstairs and one downstairs, both of which have clay litter. Her little area is on tile, so if she wants to eliminate on something soft that she can bury her excrement in, she'll have to use the litter-box.
My question - was it (1) or (2) that is responsible for the problem or was it both? Anything else I can do to nip this behavior in the butt before it gets to be a problem?
ETA: bear in mind that she is not even 2 months old yet.
Last night, around 4 AM I woke up and she wasn't on my bed. I freaked for a second at the thought of her falling off the bed, and looked around. I found her in the closet sleeping. I wasn't sure what to make of it at the time, so I put her back in bed (it's too cold in my room for her to not be covered up).
This morning, I smelled poop. I went over to her litter box and saw it had beend used. I cleaned it and figured she must have used it when she wasn't on the bed.
During the day, I witnessed her jump off my bed (which had me concerned since it's a good 2 1/2'-3' jump). So I figured she must have done that in the middle of the night to use her litter box, but couldn't get back up so she went to sleep in the closet.
Fast forward to tonight. I let her run around for a while, and when I walked in my room, I again smelled poop. I checked the litter-box.... nothing. I looked around and eventually found two little worm shaped (sorry for the details) poops. One was dried up and the other fresh. It was then that I figured out that the poop I smelled last night must have been the dried up one and that she is not using her litter box now.
My guesses as to why:
1) I may have had too many litter-boxes. I had 2 downstairs and 1 upstairs. I've been reading online that perhaps this was too confusing for her and I should have had 1 downstairs and 1 upstairs.
or
2) A few days ago I switched 2 of the boxes to wheat based litter media after somebody at work recommended it and advised me as to the dangers of clay and specifically clumping clay litter (which I was using). I noticed she would use the wheat litter, but definitely preferred the 3rd box which still had clay. I assume this is because it was of a finer consistency.
What I have done. I have put her in her little area for the night where she has to use the wheat based litter to force her to further try it out. I have also gotten rid of the 3rd box which had clay litter so now there are only 2 boxes, one upstairs and one downstairs, both of which have clay litter. Her little area is on tile, so if she wants to eliminate on something soft that she can bury her excrement in, she'll have to use the litter-box.
My question - was it (1) or (2) that is responsible for the problem or was it both? Anything else I can do to nip this behavior in the butt before it gets to be a problem?
ETA: bear in mind that she is not even 2 months old yet.