Litter training kittens.

Gigervamp · 15 October 2014 at 1:27PM

We took in a stray and she had a litter of 4 kittens. They're 5 weeks old tomorrow and we started weaning them a few days ago,

The weaning is going well, but I've just discovered that they've been weeing under the sofa.

I'd read that mum would pick them up and put them in the litter tray, but she's not doing that. Also, one of the kittens seems to like the taste of cat litter! As we've been using Felight which is anti-bacterial, I'm a bit worried about that.

But if mum's not teaching them, and we've not actually seen them weeing, how do we go about training them?

dandelionclock30 · 15 October 2014 at 1:43PM

Keep puting them in the litter tay and get their paws and help them scratch the litter.

fairy_lights · 15 October 2014 at 2:33PM

Are they only peeing under the sofa, or are they going in other places as well? If it's just under the sofa then in a sense they are litter training themselves, they're using one place as a toilet, just unfortunately not the place you'd like! would the tray fit under the sofa, so they can get used to using it in a familiar place?

Gigervamp · 15 October 2014 at 2:55PM

It looks like that's the only place. The litter tray will fit under there, so I'll give that a try. Also going to use a different litter that's just clay based without the antibacterial stuff in it. We've got a bag of Tesco's low dust litter which has smaller granules, so hoping the one that keeps trying to eat it will stop.

I'll also try Dandelionclock's idea too.

Thanks both.

paddypaws101 · 17 October 2014 at 8:54PM

It is not a good idea to use any clay based or clumping litter if the kittens are trying to eat it, it could cause serious blockage in the gut.
make sure there are several trays in various areas easy to access, and make sure the trays are shallow enough for kittens to easily climb into them.

gettingready · 18 October 2014 at 12:14AM

How many trays do you have?

Try to put a few more around the place.

BUT - WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS???????

:d

Gigervamp · 18 October 2014 at 12:56AM

They've got the hang of it now and also stopped trying to eat the litter.

Afraid I can't post pics as my phone is old and I can't get a photo sharing app to work on it.

splishsplash · 18 October 2014 at 5:25AM

Aww baby kittens:happyhear

I put down plastic boxes as litter trays for them but I always find they like flat surfaces to wee on, so I use the lids as wee trays with paper towels on.

The good thing is that they sort of train themselves, given half a chance. Try putting 'wee trays' under the couch and leave the litter trays elsewhere. I find mine use one area for wees and another for poos.

I also second the advice to stay away from clumping or clay litter until they're about three months old. They do like to eat it_pale_

Cinderellie74 · 19 October 2014 at 2:59AM

Hello,
When my cat had kittens ages ago some of her kittens did the same thing. She was a pretty good mom and kept them safe and corralled but when it came to potty/litter training they were a bit slow to get the hang of it.

I took a shall baking tin and covered it with a small layer of litter. Then I placed it where the kittens seemed to go potty the most. Within a couple of days they were using the slightly small little pan in the normal location.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

mtbbuxton · 19 October 2014 at 10:38PM

You also need to try and take advantage of the times they would usually toilet. Lift them onto the litter tray when they wake up and after each feed. Obviously this is much easier with a single kitten than a litter, so you may need some extra hands to help.
Well done for taking Mum in when she needed a safe haven.

M x

Gigervamp · 20 October 2014 at 12:18PM

Thanks everyone. They're now litter trained and no longer eating the litter.

Litter training kittens.

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