First Time Cat Owner Advice

[mazie]

Are you ready to get her a little kitten friend to help keep her occupied when you two can't be home?  A kitten that is a little older, therefore "calmer" than your little one would be ideal, and would help serve as a "role model" in getting her to  behave  better.   I need to go back and read more thoroughly your thread, but I missed her name.  What is her name? 

 

[DreamerRose]

She must not be covering up her poop. It's not normal for cat to omit that. If she covered it up, it wouldn't get on her paws even if she steps on it. How much litter do you have in the box? There should be 2 to 3 inches of it.

 

[joelh]

To be honest we aren't ready for another cat. Personally, we have things coming up in the next couple weeks that will be hectic. There's other factors too that rule out getting a second cat.

Her name is Dova. We decided for something unusual.

She does cover her poop, her litter is plenty deep too.. I've watched her, she circles it and tosses litter over it but in doing so she stomps on it. She does the same with her urine, less obviously, then she'll jump up on my lap and she'll be all wet.. I just don't get it because a few weeks ago she didn't seem to have as much of a problem with it.

So basically she is covering everything up, but stands in it as she covers it. Normally only one paw gets dirty but that's all it takes.

Also, as what happened the other day, she will bury it then keep burying it and fling her poop around.

I think on the weekend I'll give her another bath, she's starting to smell like a dog!

 

[joelh]

IMG_20170131_183424044.jpg

• joelh
• Jan 31, 2017

There's the stinky girl chilling

 

[tiptopper]

Darling!

 

[mazie]

I am not an expert on different types of kitty litter, but I know we do have those who can advise as to the type she should have in her box.  I would say she  is having a problem with the litter that is in her box I would say.    Changing the brand any maybe "type" of litter.  Example, "clumping to non-clumping type.   Someone will chime in here. 

Darling picture of Dova.   The little "devil horns" have rescinded in that picture.  

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

To be honest we aren't ready for another cat. Personally, we have things coming up in the next couple weeks that will be hectic. There's other factors too that rule out getting a second cat.

Her name is Dova. We decided for something unusual.

She does cover her poop, her litter is plenty deep too.. I've watched her, she circles it and tosses litter over it but in doing so she stomps on it. She does the same with her urine, less obviously, then she'll jump up on my lap and she'll be all wet.. I just don't get it because a few weeks ago she didn't seem to have as much of a problem with it.

So basically she is covering everything up, but stands in it as she covers it. Normally only one paw gets dirty but that's all it takes.

Also, as what happened the other day, she will bury it then keep burying it and fling her poop around.

I think on the weekend I'll give her another bath, she's starting to smell like a dog!

Have you tried a larger-sized litter box? Or even two litter boxes (one for poop, one for pee)?

Very active, young and curious kittens can get too involved in the "fun" of litter box duties, in my view, and spend a ton of time covering "stuff" and stomping around (she's very industrious, like my kitten was!). Maybe a larger cat box will help give her some more room and she'll be less likely --with that extra space in the box-- to step on what she is trying to cover up.

Just a thought!

 

[caseydoll]

I think trying a larger litter box may help too. Also, what kind of litter are you using? I'm sorry if you already told us but I couldn't seem to find it. I'm sure she will grow out of her enthusiastic litter box romping but I bet it's a nightmare to deal with now!

 

[shapopo]

Hello. So I've been reading through your updates and I don't have much to share but I was also a first time cat owner recently. My cats are now 7.5 months old. I don't know if this will be at all helpful to you, but my male cat started to pee everywhere and it was really difficult to get him to stop, but thankfully after he got neutered he stopped. BUT then the female cat started to pee right before she got her spay surgery at 6 months and continued about a month after the surgery. The day after the surgery I found a horrific mess over the bed. Luckily I had one of those waterproof mattress toppers. You might want to consider it.

I suspect that she might have been starting to get in heat (though the vet said she wasn't in heat). She continued peeing in various spots for about a month, which drove me crazy since I thought it was going to be all good now that my male cat stopped. I thought it was so ironic that just when my male cat stopped, my female cat started to have pee issues. But it seems ok now (hopefully it continues). I think her hormones are back to normal (crosses fingers).

One thing from the ordeal I found that you might find useful was this It deterred her from going on the bed when I wasn't around.

In your first post you asked about toilet training and I have been toilet training my cats. They are about half way through now. It was easier to get the bigger holes started after they had their surgery. They had no aversion to using the toilet litter box. I had to get two for the two cats so I got both the Citti Kitty and the Litter Kwitter. I would say my cats preferred the Litter Kwitter because the change in the holes were less drastic. Every time I see them pooping and peeing right in a hole I get very pleased. They seem to have no issues with it (knock on wood). The litter I used was the toilet flushable one, swheatscoop. I never leave the litter sitting there but would clean it every time I am home and they go, especially when I see poop. Now that they've taken to going directly in the hole, I've been using less kitty litter and needing to clean it less.

My cats are odd they don't play with the typical cat toys, though they love lasers, something like this and one bright yellow wand toy but that's it. Mostly they just love batting zip ties and straws around or just about any small thing. So I found buying toys mostly not of much use since they lack interest. I almost forgot. They do love the flashing fish toys. The ones you put in water and they swim around. They can stare at it for a very long time.

I hope any of that was helpful

 

[joelh]

Thanks for all the advice again.

She's still awful when it comes to the toilet.
Almost every time she poops now we've to clean her and clean the mess up. It means that she's still restricted to the bathroom when we aren't in and is never allowed in the bedroom, I'm not risking getting sick.
Twice today we've had to clean her. And you can imagine how difficult it is when you're getting up for work in the morning..
Yesterday she targeted a bean bag cushion in the living room and peed all over it, that was a good cushion wasted. That so far has been the only time I know of at least where she has gone outside the litter box, I guess she considered the bean bag to be litter like.
Just there now she got poop all over herself again. I'm just thankful she's doing it in the confines of the bathroom.

I've changed her litter to a kinda clay based one which is actually easier to clean, she still kicks it around just as much though.

The whole poop thing really is revolting and it's getting really old and tiresome now to be honest.

Her behaviour is okay and more predictable now, she's calming down a good bit.

If she would just stop getting crap all over herself and my apartment I'd be a lot happier. I never thought cats can be so dirty. I'd rather share my bed with my outdoor dog than this stinky kitten!

 

[shapopo]

Thanks for all the advice again.

She's still awful when it comes to the toilet.
Almost every time she poops now we've to clean her and clean the mess up. It means that she's still restricted to the bathroom when we aren't in and is never allowed in the bedroom, I'm not risking getting sick.
Twice today we've had to clean her. And you can imagine how difficult it is when you're getting up for work in the morning..
Yesterday she targeted a bean bag cushion in the living room and peed all over it, that was a good cushion wasted. That so far has been the only time I know of at least where she has gone outside the litter box, I guess she considered the bean bag to be litter like.
Just there now she got poop all over herself again. I'm just thankful she's doing it in the confines of the bathroom.

I've changed her litter to a kinda clay based one which is actually easier to clean, she still kicks it around just as much though.

The whole poop thing really is revolting and it's getting really old and tiresome now to be honest.

Her behaviour is okay and more predictable now, she's calming down a good bit.

If she would just stop getting crap all over herself and my apartment I'd be a lot happier. I never thought cats can be so dirty. I'd rather share my bed with my outdoor dog than this stinky kitten!

I've had my fair share of dealing with pee and poop issues fairly recently and I recommend that you get rid of anything that she's peed on. Clean it well with an enzyme cleaner and then move it out of sight if possible. My cats will still be attracted to the spot/area even after a thorough cleaning. If it's an area of the house, I got a silver crinkly product to put over it that they hate to step on because it makes too much noise. I got it from Amazon. It has worked really well. I put it over my bed when I'm not around and they have stopped going on my bed. Amazon also sells scat mats you might be interested in. I used a mat in an area on the floor that one of my cats kept coming back to to pee and now they don't go near anywhere with the mat, even if it's not turned on. I would link you, but I learned that I can't link anything in my post or they get tagged.

Also, after a few months of them peeing in random spots, like you, I finally went back to square one with isolating them in a room where they had no choice but to pee in the litter box. I isolated them in the bathroom for a few weeks and it worked out well, though I did have to put a big plastic tub of water when one of them started peeing on the floor in the bathroom. So it might require a bit more time. Every chance I got, I gave them a treat and petted them when they went peeing/pooing in the litter box. They love treats. So you might want to add some positive reinforcements to any good behaviour, if you haven't already.

Do you have something like a feliway diffuser? It might help. I know they sell a pheromone collar you might want to try. It didn't really work on my cat though but I only tried it for a week and I don't use it anymore since she's been good.  Also, I think things will get better once she's been spayed. It took about a month after my female cat was spayed before she calmed down with the peeing.

I hope this helps.

 

[joelh]

She has been a bit sick lately. I've sourced a vet and will take her there soon.

No change to diet or circumstance yet she's been having diarrhoea for the last 4 or 5 days straight and only eating a little.

She hasn't been peeing out of her box lately which I'm happy about and she's getting good at meowing at me to let me know when she wants something. She still stomps on her poo though. I've been trying to counter this lately by following her to the toilet and getting the shovel and showing her how to cover it, she watched me and even copied me a bit which is encouraging.

But my priority is making sure she doesn't get too sick though.
I've got her in bed with a hot water bottle, a little bit of dry food and even some nice filtered water because she's sick!

 

[joelh]

IMG_20170228_210256746.jpg

• joelh
• Mar 1, 2017

There she is purring herself to sleep.

She does this grabbing motion with her paws on my chest like she's reaching out to grab something, she only does it when she's getting comfy like that.

Her favourite spot lately has been on my neck, I get home from work and she'll jump up and make a scarf out of herself and stay there for half an hour easy until I sit down and she'll try crawl under my chin to have a nap, purring so hard it'll make my teeth chitter

 

[joelh]

Big news today.

Took the cat to the vet and he's all clear, according to the vet being dirty is just a growing pain and he'll grow out of it. He's perfect target weight etc and is now up to date with vaccinations and worming. Good relief.


Notice my pronouns?

I feel extremely stupid for never paying it much attention but this morning I left with a girl cat and came back with a boy.
I was wondering what was happening lately as his privates were getting bigger. It seems the little girl was a boy all along!
It'll take me a while to get used to it to be honest, I know it shouldn't feel any different but it does. Poor little fella being raised a girl! He can finally be himself now!

Neutering seems a necessity with Tom cats. So I think early summer he'll go in for it, I don't want him spraying my flat!

 

[joelh]

I took it on authority from the lady I got him from that he was a girl, last time I'll make that mistake.
Amazing how under developed male cats are that they can fly under the radar like that

 

[tiptopper]

That's so funny! Dova surprised you! Cute whatever sex he is.

 

[joelh]

He's still my little buddy, I swear Dova was looking at me like I was a fool!

No wonder why he refused to wear his pink collar..

 

[foxxycat]

opps sorry I answered the wrong thread!! EDIT= evidently I didn't read far enough=I was answering from this post:

COPIED

"Thanks for all the advice again.

She's still awful when it comes to the toilet.
Almost every time she poops now we've to clean her and clean the mess up. It means that she's still restricted to the bathroom when we aren't in and is never allowed in the bedroom, I'm not risking getting sick.
Twice today we've had to clean her. And you can imagine how difficult it is when you're getting up for work in the morning..
Yesterday she targeted a bean bag cushion in the living room and peed all over it, that was a good cushion wasted. That so far has been the only time I know of at least where she has gone outside the litter box, I guess she considered the bean bag to be litter like.
Just there now she got poop all over herself again. I'm just thankful she's doing it in the confines of the bathroom.

I've changed her litter to a kinda clay based one which is actually easier to clean, she still kicks it around just as much though.

The whole poop thing really is revolting and it's getting really old and tiresome now to be honest.

Her behaviour is okay and more predictable now, she's calming down a good bit.

If she would just stop getting crap all over herself and my apartment I'd be a lot happier. I never thought cats can be so dirty. I'd rather share my bed with my outdoor dog than this stinky kitten"

SORRY AGAIN!! I hope you can get to a point where you all can have an easier time-sorry for my lack of comprehension=sometimes I read a post in a thread and forget to check to see if there are comments after!

And yes Pumps digs to china and I have a piece of cardboard under her litter box to try to corral some of the loose litter.

 

[DreamerRose]

Don't worry about. It happens a lot. Kittens are hard to sex. Someone else on TCS adopted a male cat, named him Sammy, took him to the vet and found out he was a girl!

 

[maddies momma]

Don't feel too bad that happened to me as well! My family was given a kitten by a family friend and we were told it was a female. It was a long time before we realized it was actually a boy. And then we were too stubborn to change the name! So now I have a male cat named Maddie! It confuses everyone and then they always say just change it to "matty" but I don't like the name matty. At least you have a unique name and won't have to explain yourself all the time.