kittens wont stop eating their litter

purplexxpassion

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Hi..I have Five 5 week old seal lynx point snow bengal kittens that I am trying to litterbox train..I have litterbox trained 3 litters of kittens before but this litter is proving difficult. I'm using Tidy Cats clumping litter and they won't stop eating it! and they dont even go potty!!! I was worried this was bad for them so I took away the litterbox and looked up online how to deal with it and found multiple sites saying to only use CLAY litter, so I tried clay litter and they still ate it, but that made me even more worried because the pieces are so much bigger.
I read tonight that them swallowing litter is harmful and can cause death!!
The site said to use "Swheat Scoop" since it has tiny particles and is 100% natural and is completely not harmful to kittens - is this true? and has anybody ever used it with kittens who ate litter?

How can I stop them from eating the litter?
even if I move their paws around in a digging sort of way they ignore it and keep eatin the litter.
Thanks for any suggestions! I'd really like to get them potty trained now so they don't keep peeing on anything they'd like
 

white cat lover

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NO to scoopable litter. Big
.

Clay litter, erm, it's OK.

I'd go for something natural, Swheat, World's Best, etc.

At 5 weeks, eating litter seems to be normal. I can't tell you how much litter my bottle babies ate.
They grew out of it on their own, though.
 
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purplexxpassion

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NO to scoopable litter. Big
.
Why is scoopable litter bad? I used it with the other 3 litters and never had any problems.....but I didn't know it wasn't good to use with kittens.

We use scoopable litter our big cats cause we can't stand clay litter.
Did you have any health problems with your kittens at any point from them eating the litter?
 

white cat lover

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I saw no health problems, but I always used natural litters knowing they'd eat it.

Scoopable litter....when it gets wet, it expands, right? Imagine that in a tiny kitten's belly or intestine. It can cause massive digestive issues & other serious problems.
 
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purplexxpassion

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oooooooooh right, I forgot about the expanding part and yeah that definitely wouldn't be good for a kittens tummy..geez!
okay. was there a certain natural type brand you liked best? or were they all kinda the same?
thank you so much, this helps me a ton!
 

white cat lover

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Well, like Arm & Hammer makes a natural litter, but it's so....scented, I'd avoid it.

Try like World's Best or Swheat, depending on what you can get(I can get Swheat in the grocery store, WB is hard to find).
 

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Um, are they still getting kitten formula? There could be something in the litter they're craving, (ie, pregnant women craving dirt and ice) Maybe try the pine stuff, they cant eat that! Good luck and good for ya!

keep us posted, and uhh, I really like pics! hehe
 
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purplexxpassion

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okay WCL, I will probably get Swheat then since I'm going to the grocery store!
thanks!

yep they are still getting kitten formula right now. LOL ewww dirt and ice, GROSS. what if they did manage to get the pine stuff in their mouth to swallow it? couldn't the choke?
 

glitch

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Hmmm didnt think about that! Aren't you smart!! Ive never really had my cats eat litter before, Ive had dogs eat it, poop and all! yup, when pregnant women crave ice, they're anemic, when pregnant women crave dirt, they're low on pottasium! Weird and Gross!
 
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purplexxpassion

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lol!! thanks! ha, how interesting! ya learn something new every day! Ew though, the dirt part sounds like what my horses do in the summer when they need more minerals
 

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Clumping litters should NOT be used with kittens, especially those who might eat or sample it. I would go with the Sweet Scoop or Pine Litter pellets till they grow out of that stage.

I know a lot of people use regular clay litter - but I hate it - the litter retains too much of the urine odor no matter how often its cleaned out.
 
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purplexxpassion

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well I'm back from my adventure..I could only get Worlds Best - I went to 3 different pet stores and none of them had Swheat Scoop
well PetSmart had it but they were out.

I know a lot of people use regular clay litter - but I hate it - the litter retains too much of the urine odor no matter how often its cleaned out.
no wonder our litter boxes get stinky so fast
we might just switch over to worlds best for all the LBs in our house cause it seems like really great litter
 

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Our kitty ate litter. We took him to the vet. He said eating litter doesn't mean anything. After about a month or so, we noticed he had become very listless. We took him to the vet. He was VERY anemic - they tested him for various things, and sent us to a specialist. We mentioned the symptoms to the specialist, and the first thing he asked us - "Was your kitty eating litter?"

Turns out he has an autoimmune disease. We fought it for two years. We almost lost him twice. Thankfully, he's doing great now.

I don't mean to frighten you - especially because so many kitties apparently eat litter (though none of our other five or any fosters ever did). But please do keep an eye on your kitties. Especially pay attention to the color of their noses (if pink) or gums or pads of their feet. If they do not look bright pink after any play, please take them to a vet and get a blood panel done.

You may also want to consider a liquid supplement - or because they're still so young, maybe continuing to provide them with some KMR. Because of our experience, I am convinced that eating litter by a kitty is like PICA with children.

Laurie
 

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I'm trying to train my 5 week old kitten and he also keeps eating his litter. Help please what else can I do I have never seen him go pee or poop my momma Cat still cleans him. Any advice please
 

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For my two orphan kittens (found in a bunch of bushes), they started out piddling ad pooping all over their room; so I've set up a fairly small litter box and tried putting litter in it, but they immediately tried to eat the litter. So I took that away and have been just putting paper towels in it (they're about 4 weeks old). I have to pay attention and replace the paper towels frequently. I hope that someday they'll figure out about an actual litter box, but better safe than sorry.
 
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