Cats - How do you train them to go outside

[sickbucket]

We have a three year old female cat- inheritated from my mother -inlaw -the poor cat had never been outside .

Due to ML moving to a new no pets residence we got her - had her done and the injections etc.

She still uses a cat litter tray which the thought of it makes me feel sick and with DD just crawling having to be very very careful.

She's just started going outside to explore but how do i get her to do her business outside.

Please help as i can't cope with the litter tray forever.

lock all your doors and leave it outside!

I think you move the litter tray nearer and nearer the door till its outside, at least thats what we did with our cats when they were small. HTH

No offence Sickbucket, but why shouldnt the owner clear up cat poo? I regularly get it in my front garden. (I dont have cats) and have to clear it up myself EVEN WHEN PREGNANT. Why do cat owners think it is ok for other people to clean up after their pets? IMO cats should be trained to only use cat litter, if the owner doesnt like it, get rid of the cat.

Sorry to hijake this thread with a rant but I am curious as to why it is perceived as ok to let cats crap on anyones property. It's not a personal attack, honest. But I do clean up cat shit several times a week and it really gets to me.

I agree with naayie. Lock cat out.

Message withdrawn

You can get a cat litter tray which you can embed in the garden if you see what I mean, so the cat has a roof over its head when it's raining. Our cats used our own garden - always the same corner - so hopefully if you do encourage them outside they would stick to their own garden.

Agree with charliecat. Move the tray closer to the door over a period of a fortnight or so and then put it just outside the back door.

Sorry, sickbucket, I'm with bunny2 and Twinkie. You have a cat, you clean up its poo. "Training them to go outside" is just a euphemism for hoping they'll go and poo in someone else's garden (it's highly unlikely she'll go in yours).

As we are the only family, seemingly for miles, without a cat, they all use our garden as a kind of giant litter tray - I am forever picking up cat poo from my lawn and it is disgusting. I can sympathise with the crawling baby - no-one wants their child near animal excrement...I don't want my two children near it in my garden either (and there have been several times when I have been unable to let my toddler out in the garden because even when I've cleaned up, it still isn't really clean iyswim)

This isn't a go at you, so sorry if it sounds harsh...you've got me on a bad day today for animal poo (see dog poo rant!). Can you put the litter tray where your DD can't get at it, ie., in a gated off room?

Bobsmum's idea sounds good - see I am reasonable

Okay we had 2 cats and they were trained to use a litter tray from being tiny kittens, but as soon as they started going outside they chose to poo outside and stopped using the litter tray. I was a responsible owner, but for goodness sake folks if you let your cats outside you can't stop them from pooing. Besides I'm sure it's good for your garden.

What about those selfish dog owners who let their dogs poo on the pavement or in parks without cleaning them up??? I was particularly annoyed when I kept getting dog deposits right outside my front gate.

We get cat poo in our garden - but then again we also get fox mess too - which is worse as foxes don't bury it and usually put it right in the middle of our path .

Agree with northerner thats what happened when we had a cat. He disappeared after a couple of years but while we had him was the only time we had a poo free garden. Our neighbour's cats go in ours on the grass (odd for cats) and in the border which I have had to clear up while pregnant also.

I'm curious as to why a few of you say you have HAD to clean up the cat poo whilst pg?

Surely you didn't HAVE to? Why???? Cat poo is very dangerous when pregnant so I would be more inclined to let nature dissolve it into the earth than worry about whether the borders of the garden are neat. Or perhaps get DH/DP/Parents/Neighbours.... anyone else to do it when convenient if you're worried about kids touching it?

I cannot STAND people who let their dogs sht on the pavement, it drives me mad. We get cat sht in our garden too which pi$$es me off, but that's what cats do. I can't do anything about it, and apart from locking the cats up against their will the owners can't do anything about it either.

Dogs are taken out by their owners to do a sh*t.... and go where their owners take them Cats wander free. Big difference. Still annoying though!

M2T, I have cleaned it up when pg because it is right outside my front door and I dont want ds or any of his visiting friends picking it up. Dh will clear it up if he is around but is often in London on business. Not everyone has obliging friends or family to rush around and pick up poo for them. Anyway, whether pg or not, I still shouldnt have to clear it up.

Bunny2 - No you shouldn't have to... but, unfortunately, as with many things in life that's just the way it is.

If it wasn't domestic cats it would perhaps be: foxes, rabbits, ferral cats, badgers, deer.... I mean really everything sh*ts!

I look at it as more of an annoyance than something seriously dangerous and lifethreatening.

As the old saying goes "Shit Happens"

Personally I have more in life to stress about than a bit of cat poo!

Beleive me Northerner so do I.

Well you take away the litter tray and the cat will automatically poo outside (even if it does "accident" inside once it won't do it again.)

Cats don't poo where they live. It is just a cat thing.

You can train them to use a certain part of your garden, so as not to cause offense to others. Sprinkle the cat litter where you want it to do its poo. When it poos it will dig a little hole and cover it up.