[BlueAnimal]

Hey everyone,

Long time no post. I've been a member for a while but for the last month I haven't really posted for several reasons; family stuff, got busy, but the main reason is what now has lead to my problem I'm asking your advice about. Last month tomorrow, our neighbor returned from the store to find that someone had dumped a little of kittens in her car while she was gone shopping. She called my mother and I over and I fell in love with the little orange runt. I could only guess the age of course but I guessed they were around 3-4 weeks old, their eyes and ears were open but they didn't really walk around too much. It was so small I was afraid to let my older cat (6months old on the 25th) around her so I spent the first few weeks with her all the time and trying to help her learn all the stuff she would need to know when she got older. Okay, the problem you ask? Well I know there are a few other topics elsewhere about this, but I would feel more comfortable if I posted my own topic.

Problem one : The kitten was using the litterbox really well and just stopped the last day or two and has been pooping around my room. It probably would be considered an easy problem but I tried putting her in the litterbox and she just ran and went in a corner. So I read on a recent post here to put them in the bathroom etc, so that's where she is right now, and I'm hoping to correct it. (pooping on carpet isn't too friendly to the nose and isn't my idea of artwork :wink: )

Problem two: You might have guessed this one already. Kali (the almost 6 month old kitty) doesn't get along with Tevy (the kitten I figure is probably around 7-8 weeks now) It *might* be playing but if it is Kali is pretty rough, or so it seems. If I let Tevy out to roam the house Kali will chase her and tackle her and begin to flip her around and bite her and such. Tevy sort of does it back and most of the time Tevy doesn't seem hurt or anything, sometimes she'll make a noise or a little hiss or something and run away, but Kali doesn't leave her alone. I was wondering if anyone has/had similar trouble and maybe if there are ways I can help them possibly feel more comfortable with eachother. I notice if I pre-occupy Tevy with a toy Kali will seem to leave her alone a little more.

That's about all without going into too much detail, thanks for listening and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

- Randy, Kali, Tevy

 

[AngelZoo]

There are soooo many things you can do to help her litter box problems. Don't give up yet!

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plai ... ustrng.htm

Read all that, if you have any questions or want more tips come back here and we'll all help!

As for the rough housing, as long as there is no emotional stress involved or real fights or any punctures from claws or fangs they will be ok.

Some cats just play much rougher then others, make sure they are able to have some down time alone from eachother as well.
Is the play more of an act of dominance, or really just play?
As the kitten gets bigger, it will realize that it has become an even match and generally will stop the hissing etc and just consider it play.

However, if it does not stop, the kitten gets very upset when they are older, and the rough housing defeintly sounds like dominance issues, you might want to step in and fix things at that point.
I've delt with both many times, currently my Asim has a real need to dominate Isha, as well as he is just down right mean to her.

 

[Jeanie]

I agree. If the little one goes back for more, it's play. As Aine suggested, since Tevy is so young, I'd keep a close eye on them, in case Kali gets too rough.

I had a kitten constantly initiate play with a full grown cat. If I broke up the play fight, she just went back for more. She had been left in our window well at 4 weeks, and needed someone to take the place of her littermates.

 

[BlueAnimal]

Thanks for the advice. I'm a little relieved that Tevy has been seeming to use her litterbox again, hopefully. I've been trying to spend a half an hour with her every few hours so she doesn't get too lonely. Kali is more of the independent "I do what I want when I want" cat. She will only let you pet her or such when she wants you to. Which is usually not too often. She's particularly fond of this one chair where she will jump up on you and curl up and want some pettings, occasionally. This isn't really a problem of course but it just makes it harder to give Kali her own sort of attention other than to play with her since she's still in the 'kitten' stage.

I think that Kali does try to play with Tevy but once she's done, she's done. And since kali is so much bigger than Tevy, naturally she is faster, too. Kali will chase her and sort of like pounce at her and *look* like she's playing but Tevy tries to get away. I suspect it's likely to be a dominence issue of Kali, trying to show Tevy that she is above her in the 'house' I guess.

I'm keeping the kitten away from Kali for a day or two because I read that stress can cause them to not use their litterbox and I thought maybe being around kali right now was stressing her out. It was just my idea. I want to make sure she will start to re-use the litterbox pretty good for a while before I let her out again. Again, thanks for all the advice and I really appreciate it. Have a great day!

 

[Lori]

Hi, BlueAnimal! I remember you when I first joined the cat forum, I was wondering what happened to you! Good to see you back.

 

[BlueAnimal]

Thanks! I didn't wander off too far. Nothing is really new of course but Tevy seems to be doing good with the litterbox usage. *hopes he doesn't jinx himself* I make sure whenever I'm in there with her I play with her for a while and then put her in her littlerbox several times and sort of have her 'dig' and sit in it like she would if she was really using it. It has seemed to help. I'm going to keep it up and hopefully by the end of the week I can try to get her and kali to get along good again. That is if she will continue to go in the litterbox. Anyway, I'm just hoping for the best. I don't really have a whole lot of choices because if she doesn't use her litterbox regularly and if Kali and her won't get along I won't know what to do. :? I love them both a lot but in all honesty, it isn't fair to either of them if nothing is going to work out. Ugh! I just need to hope for the best. Thanks again for listening and I hope you have a great day!