[arclyte]

so i got two new kitties and i'm having some litter box problems with them. or maybe one of them. i don't think it's too out of the ordinary, but let me give you the details... i have a brother and sister, about 3 or 4 months old. i just moved them in about a week and a half ago. i kept them confined to the back of my apartment (my room, the kitchen, and laundry room). at first i put a litter box in the laundry room, but then i started finding cat poop behind my bedroom door. so i put the litter box behind my door and found cat poop _right next to the box!_ I caught the little girl (Isis) in mid-act so I figured out that it was her. The boy (Osiris) didn't seem to have any trouble with the box. then i started finding her little presents in the laundry room and under my bed (i didn't know one tiny little kitty could go so much! where does she fit it all?!). so i bought a small litter box and some regular kitty litter, I was using that pine stuff in the other box. i figured i could solve a few problems with this... it's in a place i know she likes to go (under my bed), and she may not like the pine or sharing with osiris. it was a breakthrough. i've found poop outside the box only when it wasn't cleaned because i think both of them are using it now. it's hard to tell though with it being under my bed. but now i'm finding more and more cat pee on all my stuff. dirty laundry, any papers i leave on the floor, my bookbag... i decided to let them roam the rest of the house last night and one of them pooped in the bathroom on the rug, i'm guessing it was the female as she's the one who seems to like pooping all over the house so far. and my roommate had not one, but two wet spots on his bed (sorry rick!). i've caught the girl in the act of peeing, but that was before i put the other box under my bed so i don't know if it's still her that's doing it or not. i can't get them into the vet until dec 2nd, but they were just recently neutered/spayed so i'm pretty sure they are ok (no UTI, i hope). i think it's just a matter of getting them acclimated to the house and whatnot. our living room is pretty big, as it used to be a storefront, so i think last night's incident was them getting lost in a new area of the house and not finding their way back to the litter box. i don't know how long my roommates are going to put up with it though. i'm much more the cat person than any of them. anybody have any suggestions here? this seems pretty much in the normal realm of training kitties but all the kitties i've ever had just took to the litter box idea straight away... any suggestions/anecdotes would be appreciated.

-jim

http://arclyte.netdojo.com/bbs/album_cat.php?cat_id=11

 

[Tigeress_R2]

I have four cats and they all share one box. I had the same problem and these are some of the things I thought of: if it's not cleaned enought they can start refusing to use it; Maybe your little girl doesn't like the kind of cat litter u buy, most cats like more natural feeling stuff. I recommend TIDY CATS SCOOP Sand type, it clumps, and it controls odor well. Maybe U are using a type of cleaner in the house that she doesn't like or it irritates her nose, head, etc. Maybe she still smells a cat from previous residents. She could have a Urinary Track Infection and associates the pain with the litterbox. She can be scared or uncomfortable about the new enviornment. If you keep their food close to the box she might not want to "soil" her eating area. There are tons of thing to take into concideration. This is what I did. Any area that the cat likes especially I cleaned with vinegar water. When she poos, take her and let her watch you as you pick up the poo and put it into her litterbox, take her paw and use it to cover the poo. Then praise her for doing it. If she is still doing it firmly say no and point to the spot. Let her know that what she did made you upset. With laundry, if you come into contact with other animalls during the day, come home and throw your clothes on the floor, she's gonna smell it and notice that another animal has been around HER TERRITORY. But just keep your laundry off the floor. I hope that this help you out. I wouldn't want your future roomies to get upset and ask you to get rid of her. Take Care and let me know if any of this works.

 

[arclyte]

well, just last night i moved the little box out from under my bed and into the bathroom and replaced the pine litter in the big box with clay. the boy has been around digging in both, and when i showed the girl where the little box was last night she used it as soon as i put her down. could be a good sign. she didn't cover it though... after going to the bathroom she ran and her brother came in and covered it for her. i'm all for teamwork, but i'm not sure why she's doing this... their food is in a different room from the boxes. we just recently moved into this place before i got the cats, but i don't think there were animals here previously. i've just got to keep a closer eye on her and get to know her behaviour better. i did visit a friend with a dog that used to have a couple of cats, so it is possible that some of my clothes smelled like them, didn't think of that! floor or hamper isn't so much the issue because they aren't shy about jumping into my hamper to pee either. she's the shyer of the two, so i'm hoping it's just taking her some time to adjust to the new environment. they're going into the vet the week after next so i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they're all healthy until then. my one roommate thinks that the cats are crazy because of their kittenish behaviour. i think she's more used to the idea of a sleepy lapcat than two crazy kittens running circles around the living room. having them go in other places than the kitty litter only makes things worse. i'm getting close now, though, to getting them using it consistently. just a little more practice and experimenting i think. i'm trying to give the same patience and guidance that i'm giving to the kittens to my roommate

 

[juliahadley]

Firstly, cute kittens, they are so adorable

sounds like you're doing all the right things and I am sure she will get the hang of the litter tray soon, she's getting there isn't she

both my cats sometimes do 'little' wees in the litter tray and don't cover them
I assume they are scent marking
they particularly do it when the litter has been cleaned so think they are just replacing their scent

when we had the one cat he used to do it only with fresh litter, but now with 2 cats they do little wees in all 3 litter boxes to marks their scent

I hope it goes ok and your flatmate is alright with the kittens
(just remind her they are only kittens for a short time, before long they will be adult and sleepy lap cats)

 

[shlanon]

Maybe they didn't like the box being under the bed. Depending on how high off the ground your bed is, it could have been kinda cramped for them trying to go under there.