Litter box blues

[JJensen]

Hi All,

My family and I are at our wits ends. The 9th of November, we adopted a sweet kitten from PetSmart via an Animal Rescue; she is a black DSH with a white streak on her chest and what look like four white stars on her tummy. Now please understand, we love Twilight and she has turned my wife who hates cats into one that actually will pet her and buy her treats. Buried in her adoption paper work, I found out that she was just shy of her four month birthday when they put her at PetSmart. She was supposed to be litter box trained, chipped; nope... We limit her to three floors of the house, a littler box on two of those floors; no other other cats or animals in the house. We have gone through four different litters, I even contacted the shelter where she was raised and asked what they used; they use the pine litter that looks like the pellets I used to use in a pellet stove.

Darling Twilight has not ONCE pee'd in the litter box, it has always been outside it on the floor or anywhere else. She pees once a day or sometimes twice. I took her to the vet and no sugar or signs of infection or UTI, no crystals, etc, etc; they can not find anything wrong so they are saying behavior. She rarely poops in the litter box, we lock her in a laundry room at night as I can't trust her to roam the house at night. So if she is her room, and she will sometimes use the litter. I have wiped up pee with a paper towel and buried it in the litter, didn't work. I have put her in the box and used her paws to act like she is digging. NOTHING we have tried short of hiring a Cat Whisperer has worked. This now has gone on for a month and a half. Tonight I have changed her littler to World's Best Cat Litter, it was in one of the other boxes outside of her night room. Our thoughts is that she was either not litter trained, or the stress of being adopted at almost four months was way traumatic. On the stress, she does not seemed stressed as she plays, more like attacks everything that moves, runs around the house; she is adorable but very tired of picking up poo and wiping up pee.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated

 

[JJensen]

Sorry need to add that she has been spayed/neutered. I use a bacteria spray and she never pees in the same place. She seems to like dark places like behind the TV / Bookshelf / under daughter's bed / closet / or any place quiet and dark.

 

[verna davies]

Try putting sheets of newspaper on the floor, sometimes cats will pee on it. If it works, move the paper nearer the litterbox then put it on the box. You could also use sand or earth in the box as the litter.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ I have noticed that my kittens seem to learn about the litter box from the other cats. It takes a few months. Maybe your cat is lonely and another cat using the litter box would help ? I have a few cats that like to go outside and use "nature's toilet" - others like a clean litter box.
I hope your kitty gets used to the litter box soon !

 

[Maria Bayote]

Are the litter boxes open or closed types?

Some cats do not like the closed ones.

If it is open litterbox, maybe your cat does not want to hop on it for some reason. Try using a large tray first instead, and see how it goes. Once she realizes that it is where she should pee/poop, then you can slowly change it to the normal litter box.

You can also try teaching her. Only when you sense she is about to pee/poop, carry her to the box immediately and teach her also how to cover her pee/poop.

Hang in there. My suspicion is that she was separated from the mama cat way too early and never learned the basics.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

All of the above are good options. If I was you I would confine her to one room where it is easy to clean, no carpet. And see if there's a spot she likes to go if there is place the litter box there until she's been in it a few times then move it slowly to were you want it. If you can open the house up to her slowly a room or floor at a time it's easier to keep a eye on her. Like others have said sounds like she hasn't been taught by mum. Good luck.

 

[JJensen]

So I have an update. Things are a little better, we found a litter that she seems to like...kind of.

So bought World's best Cat Litter and at night, she is doing BOTH in her box. YAY! I went around and cut up Amazon delivery boxes and blocked her path to many of her favorite pooping places. So when I see her sniffing around there, I immediately put her in her room and she will go in her box. She was not peeing in the box, but if she is in her room she is doing both as I mentioned. I learned the wiping up pee and putting it in the box and forgot I had been doing that since the first couple of days.

Now we are making progress, however...if she is not near (meaning in that room) any of the litter boxes we have put around, she will NOT seek one out. I have to pick her up when I think she is wanting to go and put her in the room. There is some herb stuff I found on Amazon and have put it into the box, I think it has helped. All but seeking the box and not using the house as her toilet. I would love to get another cat, but my wife being a fan of having one cat pooping/peeing everywhere is afraid she would have two doing that. I have found another young kitten (about the same age as Twilight, now almost 6mo) but am wondering if I should look for maybe an older cat?

Thanks for all of you inputs.

 

[Twylasmom]

Could you try a kitten attract litter? I know Dr. Elsey's brand has one. It is kind of expensive but you could just add some to your regular litter

 

[rubysmama]

I'm just now seeing this thread, so welcome J JJensen to TCS. And congrats on the new kitten. She sounds adorable. Well, except for her litter box issues.

Glad to see Twilight is starting to use the litter boxes. How old is she now? Is it possible to limit her to just one area of the home until she is totally litter box trained? Or temporarily put out more litter boxes, so that she doesn't have to go look for them.

Also, you might want to get a black light to ensure you've found and cleaned all the areas where she has peed.

 

[She's a witch]

So I have an update. Things are a little better, we found a litter that she seems to like...kind of.

So bought World's best Cat Litter and at night, she is doing BOTH in her box. YAY! I went around and cut up Amazon delivery boxes and blocked her path to many of her favorite pooping places. So when I see her sniffing around there, I immediately put her in her room and she will go in her box. She was not peeing in the box, but if she is in her room she is doing both as I mentioned. I learned the wiping up pee and putting it in the box and forgot I had been doing that since the first couple of days.

Now we are making progress, however...if she is not near (meaning in that room) any of the litter boxes we have put around, she will NOT seek one out. I have to pick her up when I think she is wanting to go and put her in the room. There is some herb stuff I found on Amazon and have put it into the box, I think it has helped. All but seeking the box and not using the house as her toilet. I would love to get another cat, but my wife being a fan of having one cat pooping/peeing everywhere is afraid she would have two doing that. I have found another young kitten (about the same age as Twilight, now almost 6mo) but am wondering if I should look for maybe an older cat?

Thanks for all of you inputs.

Can you temporary place more litter boxes, in every room if possible,or at least where she spends most time, so that she could always find one near her? After she start using them consistently you could reduce the number of the boxes, but the general recommendation is having one on each floor.

6mo kitten would be good for her. But with your kitten’s issues I would just make sure that new kitten has good litter box habits, tested in the home environment- the kitten held in the foster home would be perfect. Share your concerns with his foster cat parent. Hopefully your girl will pick the good habits up in a most natural way.

Are you using enzyme cleaner to clean the spots that she peed on? If not, this may be one of the reasons she still goes to places outside of the litter box. And I second the idea of black light and Cat Attract, it can really make a difference

 

[danteshuman]

Assuming she is spayed: Besides confining her to one room when she is not supervised. I would try cat attract litter in two boxes on the opposite side of the room from her food. Also put a litter box in the living room, your bedroom & on every floor. Also try using pee pads because hey it beats cleaning it up and if she uses them then you can slowly train her to use a box. When she poops in the wrong places, show her you placing her poop in the box and burying the poop in the clean unused litter with your hands. Also in her room give her a box of the exact same pine pellets that she used before.

Heck desperate times, desperate measures. I would soak up some pee from one of her puddles with some cat attract litter, scoop it up with a ziplock baggie, then bury it in a litter box (then clean up her mess.) That way her scent is in the box as a ‘mark here’ sign.

Lastly they make Prozac (in cream form) for kitties if nothing else works, You might try looking on the outside of your home to make sure that no other kitty is marking your home.

 

[Leausername]

Hi All,

My family and I are at our wits ends. The 9th of November, we adopted a sweet kitten from PetSmart via an Animal Rescue; she is a black DSH with a white streak on her chest and what look like four white stars on her tummy. Now please understand, we love Twilight and she has turned my wife who hates cats into one that actually will pet her and buy her treats. Buried in her adoption paper work, I found out that she was just shy of her four month birthday when they put her at PetSmart. She was supposed to be litter box trained, chipped; nope... We limit her to three floors of the house, a littler box on two of those floors; no other other cats or animals in the house. We have gone through four different litters, I even contacted the shelter where she was raised and asked what they used; they use the pine litter that looks like the pellets I used to use in a pellet stove.

Darling Twilight has not ONCE pee'd in the litter box, it has always been outside it on the floor or anywhere else. She pees once a day or sometimes twice. I took her to the vet and no sugar or signs of infection or UTI, no crystals, etc, etc; they can not find anything wrong so they are saying behavior. She rarely poops in the litter box, we lock her in a laundry room at night as I can't trust her to roam the house at night. So if she is her room, and she will sometimes use the litter. I have wiped up pee with a paper towel and buried it in the litter, didn't work. I have put her in the box and used her paws to act like she is digging. NOTHING we have tried short of hiring a Cat Whisperer has worked. This now has gone on for a month and a half. Tonight I have changed her littler to World's Best Cat Litter, it was in one of the other boxes outside of her night room. Our thoughts is that she was either not litter trained, or the stress of being adopted at almost four months was way traumatic. On the stress, she does not seemed stressed as she plays, more like attacks everything that moves, runs around the house; she is adorable but very tired of picking up poo and wiping up pee.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated

I had a cat that WOULD NOT use the litter box. They were going to put her to sleep because no one would take her. Try Dr Elsey’s Cat Attract cat litter. It worked for her!!!

 

[Leausername]

I had a cat that WOULD NOT use the litter box. They were going to put her to sleep because no one would take her. Try Dr Elsey’s Cat Attract cat litter. It worked for her!!!

You may have to use it for the long haul. When I thought she was trained now and tried to go back to regular litter, she reverted back to the floor.