Cat Litter Woes

scaredofdebt

Hi, hopefully I can get some advice.

We have two kittens, both now around 6 months old, male and female, siblings.

At first they happily shared the same litter tray, but in the last few weeks the female won't use the same tray as the male, so we bought another.

Now the male is using both litter trays (we think) and the girl is just pooping next to the new litter tray, how can we resolve this please?

We have tried moving the second litter tray so it is not close by but that hasn't changed anything.

Litter is changed most days.

Any advice welcomed, thanks.

Emmia

Hopefully you've had one or both of them neutered given they're of opposite genders? 

Have you thought about a litter box that is RFID accessible but letting only one cat have the chip needed for access?

scaredofdebt

They were both neutered and chipped recently, in fact that may coincide with them not wanting to share.

I'll have a look at the RFID litter boxes thanks.

FlorayG

Usually things like this are either stress related or have a reason that is clear to the cat but not to you. You say they were neutered recently - how recently? The female may have been very sore afterwards and climbing into the tray painful. I would try a very shallow tray for a while ( less than an inch sides) - yes she will kick litter out, but better than not using it, and once she is happy using it again you can revert to a higher one. Cats can be weird about their toilet preferences; I once adopted a feral cat who would use a litter tray only if it had a bare handful of litter in it (meaning I twice daily had to clean a wet soggy tray)

scaredofdebt

Thanks, it's been over a month now, six weeks or so.  She did use the same tray initially after being neutered but has stopped in the last 2-3 weeks.

I have read that some cats like a tray with no litter in it, she was using it fine before with a "typical" amount but I may experiment as the RFID ones are £200+ which is a bit pricey.

Thanks

Mnoee

If you currently have two identical trays, maybe get one that's radically different? Like if you have lidded plastic with clay litter, try an open metal one with corn or wood litter. Metal 1/1 gastronorm cooking trays are a great size for a litter tray, and much cheaper, if you're in the market for one! They come in different depths too. 

My cats show a preference for different litters and tray types- you might luck out and one will love the new configuration, and leave the other kind alone. 

Brie

And buy some puppy pads to put under the litter trays so that when she misses the tray it's easier to clean up.  Needed to do that when our Ariadne got ancient and would only put her front paws in the tray (!!!)  Her intentions were good but not the end result.

TripleH

Do the trays have lids?

When our rescue arrived, he started pooping next to the trays after a few weeks.

He did initially use the enclosed tray but also went outside luke a dog.

We think it was because he hated being enclosed (ours had lids)

We took the lids off and that problem went away.

We have 2 girls and 2 boys so it might be a boy wee (smell) issue?

scaredofdebt

Sorry slow response, yeah we have tried open litter trays to no avail.  Still stuck for ideas, I can't find one that allows you to program them to scan the chip so only the one cat has access, anyone seen these anywhere?  The one I saw on Amazon doesn't seem to be available now.

Murphybear

I bought a litter tray with a cover but if it is not cleaned very quickly the smell can get quite bad.  I had a flat with a balcony, I put a cat flap in the door and the litter tray on the balcony (it was covered).  I noticed that the cats were not using the tray  so I had a messy balcony.  The problem was solved when I got rid of the cover.  

As I am sure you cat owners know, cats can be very fastidious