Kitten Refuses To Poop In The Box

[Mmobley11897]

I’m not sure if this is the correct section to post this question but I couldnt seem to find anything specifically discussing poop. Let me know if there’s a better place to ask this. Either way, I have a approximately 10 week old kitten named Jelly Bean. Why I say approximately is because she was dumped with a friend of mine at about a weekish old and I decided to take her in as my friend didn’t have the time for the round the clock bottle feeding. I have small kids so Jelly lived in a cat carrier until about 5 weeks old. I’d started putting her in the litter box around 3 weeks old just to let her get used to it, but she’s had no interest which I thought was fine for that age. When I did start letting her free roam the house she immediately took to pooping beside the litter box. Which I thought was great! Because she was too small to jump in so at least she knew where to poop right?! Well. Fast forward to now and I’ve tried about 10 different litters and 3 different boxes and she WILL NOT poop in the box! I have to keep puppy pads laid down around it so my floor isn’t caked with poop. I’m bleaching and scrubbing my floor daily. I’d just love to know if anyone had any tips on how to help this? I love this cat but it’s getting out of hand. My house smells putrid from all the uncovered poop. Why does she hate the box? She doesn’t poop OR pee in it. WHAT DO I DO?!?!

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. And thanks for taking in this little kitten. I love her name, btw.

About her litter box issues. Here is a TCS article on How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box that hopefully will have some tips for you.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Just an odd thought...consider having your vet make sure she doesn't have a load of parasites or some such. They are common in kittens, and can have an effect on their toilet habits.

 

[GoldyCat]

You could try putting a puppy pad in the litter box without any litter. Once she starts using that (assuming she does) you can add a small amount of litter and gradually increase it until she gets used to the litter.

You could also try Dr. Elsey's Kitten Attract Litter. It's kind of expensive, but you don't have to fill the entire litter box with it. I was told by a Dr. Elsey's rep that just a layer over the top of your regular litter works just as well.

 

[Wile]

Just a thought, but does your kitten know to poop in the box? Have you tried putting the poop in the box and covering it so the kitten learns that this is where it goes?

 

[Luckytheordinary]

Just a thought, but does your kitten know to poop in the box? Have you tried putting the poop in the box and covering it so the kitten learns that this is where it goes?

Yep I agree with this, it seems that mommy cat wasn’t there to teach JB the proper place to poo. Try doing what Wile said to do and see if anything happens. Maybe you can run your kittens paws through the litter and see if her instincts come into play.