Litter training my kitten

D3lphine3

Hi All,

I feel a bit silly asking this as I've had plenty of kittens before but never this situation! lol!

Basically I am a landlord and my tenant left my property in May leaving behind a mother and her 4 kittens.

They were left to find food for themselves etc. They were left with a small litter tray which appears to have become full pretty quickly.

The mother was able to access the outside but the kittens weren't and they had been going to the toilet pretty much everywhere within the house.

None of them have had no litter training. I think they are between 10 and 12 weeks.

So far 2 of them have been rehomed, I have one and the other has gone to another tenant. The other 2 have not yet been caught, floor boards are up in the property, but they are being fed, watered and litter changed regularly.

What would be the best way to approach litter training?

I already have a litter down as we have another cat and have not long moved so haven't yet put a cat flap in, but the kitten has not made any attempt to use it yet.

Thanks

Fire_Fox

Welcome: lucky kittens having you find them! No need to feel silly, I've had a fair few cats but never an unneutered/ unvaccinated one so am learning 'on the job' with my current ex-stray.

Did you report the tenant to the RSPCA for abandonment? Best way to catch the kittens is to borrow a humane trap from a local rescue, you may have to ring around otherwise post on Purrsinourhearts or CatChat forums where many rescues are represented. The kittens will need socialising ASAP as well as litter training, and are not safe under the floorboards especially unvaccinated and with perhaps with parasites. Has mum been neutered yet or does she also need trapping?

You probably need to provide several litter trays so that the kitten is always near one. The general guide is one per cat plus one extra and/ or one per floor of the house whichever is greater. Put a little of their 'doings' in the tray and keep it a little dirty at all times so they can smell where to go. Some cats won't poop where they pee and some cats won't use a tray used by another cat, which makes life more complicated. Food, water and toilet facilities should all be separated, you may want to try a litter with small grains as it can be more attractive to little paws, not clumping clay. Any area that is not to be used as a toilet must be cleaned with an enzyme-based product so that it no longer smells to cat noses. If you are with the kitten all the time you can watch for subtle signs of being about to go and swiftly move them to the nearest tray, some people confine the kitten(s) to a pen to make this easier.

Good luck!

D3lphine3

Hi,

Thanks for you reply

With regards to the tenant, haven't reported him yet. I was kind of in shock after seeing the state of the place and trying to figure out how to rectify the damage! :mad:

I will have a look at the sites you have mentioned, I've already done some research into the humane traps, only found them yesterday and unfortunately I live 60 miles away so I'm relying on the nieghbours a lot at the moment.

The mum hasn't been spayed yet, though I have someone willing to take her in to be done and then home her. She doesn't need trapping as she is one of the sweetest cats you've ever met and is constantly by your side! The only reason she hasn't been taken yet is due to the other remaining kittens. Didn't want to leave them to fend for themselves.

I am trying to limit the kittens movements within the house at the moment, ie kitchen bathroom and backroom.

The other cat in the house doesn't tend to use the tray unless she's been in during the day, even then she seems to just cross her legs till she can go out! lol!

There is generally someone around most of the time to watch her, when we've figured out where she's hiding that is :rotfl:

Fire_Fox

Sorry to read you had so many problems with this tenant - have you searched the 'House Buying Renting & Selling' board? This kind of stuff happens only too often, sadly, and there is a lot of advice on tracking down the tenant and trying to get your money back.

If mum cat is in and out she is likely to be pregnant again or at least coming into season, she can be spayed whilst in early pregnancy. If at all possible it would safer for her not to go through back-to-back pregnancies or risk contracting cat STDs, plus rescues are bursting with kittens at present. I suspect rescuers would say to get her done ASAP as the kittens are fully weaned but do post on CatChat or Purrs if you want confirmation or further advice: both are very friendly sites. As you are so far away rescues will help with trapping if at all possible, I imagine they will be relieved you are willing to take responsibility for the kittens.

D3lphine3

I've looked on there but not posted yet , I tend to get distracted and start reading other thread and forget why I came on here :cool:

The police have already got a warrant out for his arrest for Criminal Damage and Theft relating to the property. He's also very well known in the area and is known to be still local so it shouldn't be too difficult locating him, I hope :eek:

Have now reported him to the RSPCA as I know that he has 2 more cats, one male and one female that he breeds pretty much constantly from what his sister told us and for abandoning the ones in my house. I've got no idea why he decided to leave these ones behind!

We have locked her in now, so hopefully there won't be anymore kittens! The girl that's willing to have her is on holiday at the moment but is back sometime next week and will be getting her done asap.

Have signed up to the other sites, just wait for my confirmation emails to come through :T