Barn cat retirement

[dramos]

Hello all, and greetings from Mexico! I have a 13 year old cat named Tigrillo, which means little tiger.

When I moved to Mexico in 2015 he was already living in my house and was working as an outdoor/barn cat. He was neutered when he was 3 or 4 after getting in a few too many fights. He’s calmed down a lot since. Now that he’s getting along in years, though, I would like for him to spend his retirement living indoors. He is comfortable around people for the most part, and he seems to like sleeping indoors, but I can’t get him interested in using the litter boxes. I put a covered one with clay litter outside near where he does his business, and I saw him mark the inside of it once, but he’s never sat down and done his business there properly.

How would I go about litter training an adult cat who would rather do his business outside rather than in my room?

I’m a big fan of the Flatbush cats channel on YouTube, and I found this forum through their website. I hope all is well and I hope to hear back. Cheers.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Try different types of litter boxes uncovered and covered.. put some of the dirt/soil in it also if you can find one of his poops put it in the box. This will alow hin to smell his scent and can help him to know that's what the litter box is for. You will want to do this inside outside be has all the open area where he has been doing his business so he isnt going to want to do his business in a litter box. His scent is everywhere outside..
Try different litters I would try grass litter as one option

Amazon.com

Clay litter in another box fragrance free. Not unscented it has to say fragrance free there is a difference.

And try another kind I'd recommend a wood litter

Amazon.com

I would have 2 covered and 2 uncovered litter boxes inside. If you dont need to do 4 start at least with 1 of each covered amd uncovered. Each with different litters and one with the dirt from outside with one of his poops in it. Whatever you decide on the number of boxes use the outside soil and stuff for 1 of them because that is what he is used to.

Do you have any other animals inside?

 

[verna davies]

If he is used to digging in dirt to do his business he may feel more comfortable with dirt in the litterbox. You could also try sand and as suggested above, put a little of his poop in the box.

 

[Caspers Human]

Outdoor cats often poop and pee in one spot in order to mark territory. The behavior is called "middening."

Your cat's midden (dung heap) is HIS spot. The scent from the excrement acts as a beacon to other cats to stay away.

If you can find his midden spot, dig up some dirt from there and use it to fill his litter box instead of clay litter. Doing this tells the cat that the litter box is HIS place, too. As the cat starts using the new box, remove some of the dirt, replacing it with fresh cat litter. Each time you clean the box, take out a scoop full of dirt and add more litter. Eventually, the box will be filled with litter and there won't be any more dirt left.

Our newest cat, Elliot, was brought in from outdoors. He had been hanging out by our back porch for several months before he came in. I had found his midden spot about ten or feet from out back door. Obviously, he had decided that our back yard was his territory.

On the day we brought him inside for good, we set up a new litter box for him and filled it with dirt from his midden. Once Elliot started using the box, we started removing dirt and replacing it with litter. After a couple of weeks, the box was all litter and no dirt and Elliot never looked back.

 

[dramos]

Wow these comments are all very helpful. Tigrillo is an only cat at the moment, so I’m hopeful we can bring him inside pretty soon. Thank you so much!

 

[dramos]

Wow these comments are all very helpful. Tigrillo is an only cat at the moment, so I’m hopeful we can bring him inside pretty soon. Thank you so much!

I’ll keep you guys posted

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Thanks for planning to bring Tigrillo inside for his "retirement". He's a very handsome cat.

In addition to the suggestions already mentioned, if he still doesn't get the idea to use the litter box, you could try Cat Attract litter, if it's available in Mexico.

Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract® Cat Litter - the litter cats love™

Good luck. Looking forward to your updates.

 

[Feste]

Have you tried moving him to a screened porch or a small indoor area that would be easy to clean if he missed the box? Since he is used to going outside, if you are trying to get him to use the box outside, he will probably default to what he is used to. If he doesn’t have the option to dig in the dirt, he should use the litter box and try digging in the litter. I have an indoor cat who is leashed trained. She prefers to go outside in the leaves. But when she is inside (and no leaves available), she always uses the litter box.