Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Tips to stop kitten weeing on carpet

28 replies

C1239 · 29/10/2019 19:48

We brought home a 5 month old kitten just over a week ago. Most of the time he is using his litter tray but he has had 4 accidents on the lounge carpet- does anyone have any tips on how to stop this?!
When he uses the litter tray I reward with treats.
I have put some foil down on the carpet areas he has wee’d on as I’ve heard this can put them off.
Any other tips would be brilliant?!

OP posts:
Justapatchofgrass · 29/10/2019 19:51

dont let him in the lounge?

you need to keep him in the kitchen until litter and outdoor trained. this should be in place by 5 months and so you need to go back to basics.

ToothlessIsMySpiritAnimal · 29/10/2019 19:54

Is he going in just one place or multiple?

I swear by the feliway classic spray. Stopped my tabby staking her claim to my bed. Make sure you clean the area and use an enzyme odour eliminator to get rid of the smell otherwise he'll keep going back. Then use the feliway spray daily for a week in the area and hopefully it should stop.

Also make sure the litter tray is away from food bowls etc and in a low traffic area somewhere quiet. Might be an idea to have another tray somewhere else as it's good practice to have one more tray than the number of cats in the house.

Also - any chance of a pic? I love a kitten pic Grin

yunalis · 29/10/2019 20:06

You have to properly clean the area or it will keep happening. Get an enzyme biological stain and odour remover.

Original poster
C1239 · 29/10/2019 20:07

He’s not allowed in the lounge when we are out... it’s jusf been a couple of evenings when we have been in the lounge with him he has disappeared into a corner... two different corners. But if he continues yes we ll need to keep him out the lounge for a while I think.

We have a felliway plug in in the hall.. I will try the spray too :-)

Thank you for the tips, sort of hoped at 5 months he wouldn’t have any litter tray issues!!

OP posts:
Justapatchofgrass · 29/10/2019 20:18

felliway plug isn't good. would he need to go past that to get to litter from the lounge?

Original poster
C1239 · 29/10/2019 20:49

Yes he would walk past the current fellaway plug in the hall when going from the lounge to the litter tray.

OP posts:
gonewiththerain · 29/10/2019 20:51

I used vinegar where they wee and it seems to stop them going in the same place again

ToothlessIsMySpiritAnimal · 29/10/2019 21:43

I found the plugin ineffective, but the spray really seems to have helped

cfsdhffs · 29/10/2019 21:47

I was told (with a dog) to use bio washing liquid - so not the non bio kind and scrub as is gets rid of the enzymes. It seemed to work. As a second idea - more litter trays around?

ThreeLittleDots · 29/10/2019 21:51

Is he neutered?

Peacocking · 29/10/2019 21:54

As a last resort, if a cat repeatedly goes to one spot- buy a cheap driveway alarm from amazon. It's a motion sensor with a loud alarm. Aimed in the direction of the area of naughty things, with the speaker alongside, it will beep loudly at a cat rummaging. The cat will quickly leave in disgust at being beeped at. We have a large number of rescue and disabled cats, and this has been an absolute life saver for us, with a couple of areas in the house that the cats would have an occasional crafty wee in. It even helps for our deaf cats, as we go running when the alarm goes off and can usually divert our deaf cats before they get around to having a wee, so preventing bad habits forming.

OctoberLovers · 29/10/2019 21:56

Had he been done?

maggiecate · 29/10/2019 22:02

Advice from the lovely people at Blue Cross below. Rug doctor do a good spray cleaner for urine mishaps

www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/stop-your-cat-spraying-and-soiling-house

candative · 29/10/2019 22:06

I found that a solution of biological washing liquid and water was good for cleaning, once dry wipe with surgical spirit. This tends to remove the odour and reduce the likelihood of the cat going back to that spot. The best bet is to keep the kitten contained in an area where she can't do damage until house trained.

Beetle76 · 29/10/2019 22:06

Simple Solutions does a stain and odour remover that is very, very good. Pets at home carry the range but you can also get it on Amazon and other places.
I’d look into another litter tray - some cats can be incredibly fussy and not go in soiled litter. Some cats also have a preference for the kind of litter too so you might want to experiment.
If it’s none of these, and you are sure it’s not bloody mindedness about being shut out of the lounge, I’d raise it with your vet to rule out any possible medical issues. They should also discuss neutering with you.
Good luck! I hope he settles down quickly.

Original poster
C1239 · 29/10/2019 22:17

Thank you everyone. Yes he has been neutered, about 2 weeks ago. I will try all of your tips! At what sort of age should kittens not have accidents anymore?!

OP posts:
ultrablue · 29/10/2019 22:23

**Peacocking

As a last resort, if a cat repeatedly goes to one spot- buy a cheap driveway alarm from amazon. It's a motion sensor with a loud alarm. Aimed in the direction of the area of naughty things, with the speaker alongside, it will beep loudly at a cat rummaging. The cat will quickly leave in disgust at being beeped at. We have a large number of rescue and disabled cats, and this has been an absolute life saver for us, with a couple of areas in the house that the cats would have an occasional crafty wee in. It even helps for our deaf cats, as we go running when the alarm goes off and can usually divert our deaf cats before they get around to having a wee, so preventing bad habits forming.**

Ooh interesting, I have been putting off replacing my worn out sofas and carpets because of 3 mischievous cats, will try this with my lot

violetbunny · 30/10/2019 03:52

Is the litter tray cleaned very regularly? Cats can be quite fussy.

What kind of litter was he used to using before you got hi? You might want to try him with a different type than you are using now.

Do you only have one litter tray? Our vet told us you should have a litter tray for the number of cats you have, plus one. (So one cat = ideally 2 trays).

Where is the tray located - is it somewhere quiet where your kitten won't feel vulnerable when he uses it? Our have covered trays.

Hope this helps...

YobaOljazUwaque · 30/10/2019 04:12

Its not accidents at that age, the cat is choosing where to wee on the basis of complex interlinking issues of comfort, stress levels and territory assertion. Unless the kitten lost his mum very young (like less than 5 weeks?).

Notanotheruser111 · 30/10/2019 05:23

are you picking him up to take him to the lounge? We adopted kittens a few months ago and when they were first getting used to the house they use to follow the exact same path they walked to the room back to the litter tray.

We were also advised to restrict them to a small space at first as a whole new house can be quite daunting and stress them out

MaybeitsMaybelline · 30/10/2019 05:42

Clean the litter tray after every use. I use a tray lined with newspaper and not much litter so change it easily after a single use. Never had an accident and current kitty is not the brightest either.

MaybeitsMaybelline · 30/10/2019 05:43

I keep the tray in the downstairs loo so he has quiet and privacy too 😀

YobaOljazUwaque · 30/10/2019 12:31

good point @Notanotheruser111 - when our kittens were little (c. 9/10 weeks) I did occasionally catch them crouching in "I am about to wee" position on the doormat. Each time I picked them up and put them into the litter tray and left them there, so that may have been helpful in enabling them to build a mental map of the house knowing exactly where the litter tray was.

DontGoIntoTheLongGrass · 30/10/2019 12:33

Make sure you keep his litter tray really clean. Empty it out daily. Our kitten kept weeing on the bed! We kept her out of the room and to be fair she's only really stopped since she's started going out now.

Original poster
C1239 · 30/10/2019 12:37

We have a base room for him downstairs which is in quite a quiet area and his litter tray is in there, I clear it out every time I have spotted he has used it and he is using the same litter as he was from where we got him.
If he is playing crazy for a while I pick him up and carry him to his litter tray to remind him where it is.
I have thoroughly cleaned the two spots in the lounge and have now put foil over them to see if that will put him off.

OP posts: