Cat litter - merged

spookylukey

Whilst they are little I would be inclined to go for one upstairs, one downstairs. If I were you I would start them using a hooded tray from a very early age, when they get a bit older they might object to the change and not want to use the tray.

With regards the actual litter I would use whatever they have been using where they are at the moment, cats/kittens can be very fussy and a sudden change in litter might make them go elsewhere. If you don't get on with whatever they are using at the moment then gradually mix in the new stuff to the old so that they get used to it over time.

I recently adopted two kittens and what I did was leave the hood off one of the trays for the first few days until I was confident they knew where it was and were using it happily, I then put the lid on without the flap and a week or so later put the flap on. They haven't had any accidents, but then they are the best kittens in the whole wide world

you_wicked_gay

I'd go for two, one upstairs and one downstairs. As they grow they will let you know where they prefer their litter tray to be.

As for litter - I'd advise the recycled paper stuff, or the tree bark stuff. When I had cats - we started off using the clumping clay usual stuff - and hell that was messy. Cats have a tendency to scratch the litter up and with the clumping clay bits stuff, it goes everywhere, and leaves a stubborn white powder on your floor/carpet/clothes etc. Pain in the !!!.

knithappens

thanks so much for the replies, I just ordered two covered litter boxes form pet planet so hopefully they will be here by weekend, until then i will just have to use the trays i already have. I also ordered a wood litter from there too.

Secret1234

Hi, i've got a kitten which is 12 weeks old, we've had her since birth as we adopted a stray pregnant cat and raised the kittens.

All the other kittens seemed to use the litter tray before we found them good homes, the mother cat has always used the litter tray even though she was a stray for months and my 2 other cats are litter trained too. Why doesn't she copy?? She goes anywhere she feels like it, for both number 1's and 2's.

If i catch her getting ready to go i will pick her up and put her in the tray (which is always clean) and if i persist she will eventually give up and go in the tray but i'm obviously not with her 24 hours a day so she never uses it when i'm not making her!

My sister is coming cat sitting next week, i feel awful expecting her to clean up her little suprises, and to be honest its not so fun for me either.

Any suggestions? x

FBThree

Do you know if she's got any pattern for going to the loo? My little 10 1/2 week old boy always walks straight into the litter tray after eating. If you could set her up a routine of feeding, then toileting that might help.

Another thing may be that she doesn't like that particular litter. My SIL had the same problem with a boy cat, and a change of litter-type sorted it out. It was almost as if the sound of the litter scared him!

Oh and maybe you need to introduce another litter tray into the house. Some people say each cat needs one (although I haven't found that). Perhaps the smell of the others in the tray are putting her off.

elite_2

Try to identify a pattern as FBthree says - just wanted to add after sleep is also common...

If you catch her in the act, give a firm "no", correct the behaviour (pick her up and put her in the litter tray), if you discover it after the event - just ignore it as she won't understand what you are telling her off for

I'm sure if you persist it she will get the idea in the end

Secret1234

Blimey you guys are fast

Thanks for your comments, will buy some new litter today (currently using wood chippings stuff) and will be on guard for any naughty behaviour, fingers crossed we'll get somewhere!

mich_city

good luck jenkelly, know what your going thru.. one of my cats was like that as a kitten.. got him from the CPL at 12 weeks, was a feral kitten and was told he used the litter tray.. he did sometimes, but preferred to go anywhere else first!

had a nightmare few months cleaning up after him, was on shoes, pc cables, behind the tv... uggh!

with some perseverance doing what everyone else has mentioned he grew out of it thankfully and now goes outside, but will use the tray if he cant get out..

our cats prefer catsan.. one of the dearer cat litters but worth it IMO as does absorb pee and odours the best..

Secret1234

Yeah, my OH wasn't too pleased when he woke up to find his work pants covered, the last thing you need when you're running late!
the joys of having pets eh! will give catsan a go, thanks

Raksha

elite wrote: »

Try to identify a pattern as FBthree says - just wanted to add after sleep is also common...

If you catch her in the act, give a firm "no", correct the behaviour (pick her up and put her in the litter tray), if you discover it after the event - just ignore it as she won't understand what you are telling her off for

I'm sure if you persist it she will get the idea in the end

I'm not a cat expert, but with puppies if anything unpleasant happens while they are 'going', they can learn to go in hidden places - and that really ain't nice Sometimes even just a 'firm 'no'' is enough to send them scurrying off.