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Original poster

CAT PEOPLE some questions

65 replies

nailpolish · 03/10/2007 15:36

we got a new kittne on monday

13 weeks old

she is toilet trained - we were told

is it normal for a kitten in a new house to do poo/wee outside of her litter tray?

she has done all these in litter tray apart from first ever wee in the house and a poo just now in the corner (shes done 3 poos in the litter tray previous to this)

how do i deal with this?

thanks

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Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 15:44

.

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CrookshanksinJimmyChoos · 03/10/2007 15:47

I've never trained a kitten so can't give too much advice but didn't want to leave your threads unanswered - have you tried googling pet care or something- its bound to bring up a website with details on how to deal with toilet training.

How many trays do you have? You should have one per cat and then one extra and also, don't put the tray in a high footfall area or next to the food area. Cats are private and fussy and they do like their trays to be in quiet areas etc..

Hope this helps?

Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 15:49

yes than ks it does help

i do believe she is litter trained, i feel she is not used to the house maybe? she has done lots of poos andwees IN the tray, just when i came home 5 mins ago there there was a poo in theliving room, tray is inhall, dont knowhow to deal with it

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Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 15:50

she is hiding under the couch

imnotgoing to shout at her or anything!

is th is normal is a ll i want to know

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DoctorFrankenSquonk · 03/10/2007 15:52

my cat used to "forget" what the litter tray was for on a fairly frequent basis and we would find little accidents in the corners of rooms.

If you find anything outside the tray again, show it to her and calmly lift her up and place her firmly in the tray.

I think it is quite normal - she is still very young, and she has done plenty in the tray so she does know what to do. Also, if she is new to you, she may be a bit stressed.

CrookshanksinJimmyChoos · 03/10/2007 15:52

Maybe something scared her or maybe she was just feeling unsettled in the new home? The fact she has done lots in the tray is a good sign though.

Have you read any books by the 'cat whisperer' ...trying to remember her name..Vicky Harris or something??? Her books are really good with case studies and what to do for different situations.

I would still google and see what you can find. Soz can't be of more help - all the cats we have had in our family have been over a year when we have had them. Having said that, my mum's last cat did try to do a poo in the tray once, he accidently tipped it up and it scared him so much, he pooed on the kitchen floor instead - sometimes these one off things do happen

DumbledoresGirl · 03/10/2007 15:53

Argh I had this problem when we got 2 kittens at 13 weeks a couple of years ago. It was a nightmare. They used the litter tray but were just as happy to use anywhere else as well. The important thing to do is to thoroughly clean where they have weed/pooed as if they can smell anything there (remember their noses are better than yours) they will use that spot again.

Also, don't have the litter tray anywhere near where she eats as they won't poo near where they eat. The other end of the room or another room is best.

Finally, you can buy some stuff which stinks to high heaven but which is supposed to prevent them from wanting to use that spot again. It is called "wash and GET OFF".

Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 15:54

ah thats what i thought

thanks, ive cleaned it up now but illkeep that in mind for nexttime

i also thought, she didnthave a covered tray in the cat shelter, so ive taken the lid off our covered tray for now

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DumbledoresGirl · 03/10/2007 15:54

Oh and keep the litter tray very clean too. They don't like using it if it has not been cleaned out.

Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 15:55

oops tht was for squonk! slow typing....

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Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 15:59

i cleaned it up with biological powder
aparently if you use bleach they like the ammonia and use the spot again...

i have keptthe tray clean. its been non stop. i cant believe how much something that size (she is a little scrap of a thing) can eat and poo!

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DumbledoresGirl · 03/10/2007 16:06

Do you plan to eventually have a cat flap and let her out so she can do her business outside? I couldn't face having a litter tray to deal with on a permanent basis.

Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 16:12

oh god yes

imsick of the litter tray already and its only been 2 days...

ihave to keep her in though til january when shes 6 months and i can get her neutered

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Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 16:14

more questions

whats your flea/worm regime?

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DoctorFrankenSquonk · 03/10/2007 16:16

best for our cats was always those drops you put on the back of their neck every couple of months or so. They never managed to keep flea collars on and learnt to disappear quick smart if they saw or heard the flea spray.

Worming tablets, we just got from Tesco and crunched them up into their food.

primigravida · 03/10/2007 16:16

Try putting the litter tray next to your toilet. My kitten used to come and go toilet at the same time as me and she learnt that was where we went toilet. Don't worry about a few mistakes though, she'll get there soon. My kitten had a few too when she was still settling in with us, including wetting the bed one night (nothing worse that waking up sopping wet from kitten pee).

DoctorFrankenSquonk · 03/10/2007 16:17

Get a cat brush as well and groom her regularly, she will enjoy it and it should help to keep her clean and it will also minimize the chances of fleas etc

Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 16:18

aha - her tray is near our downstairs toilet - i might just move it closer,thanks

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Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 16:19

i got a comb for her as she has quite long hair - i was combing her last night and weboth fell asleep - it waslovely - but i did find some flea dirt - she was de flea-ed 2 days ago so its ok to still be finding dirt?

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daisyandbabybootoo · 03/10/2007 16:28

re fleas and worms.

We used to get tablets from the doctor for worms...iirc it was one tablet every three months and that was enough to keep them at bay.

We also used to get frontline flea drops from him. The stuff you can buy over the counter as it were never seems strong enough ime. The good thing about using frontline is is breaks the lay/hatch/mature cycle; although you deflead your cat 2 days ago, if you didn't spray the whole house including where she sleeps there will still be eggs/larvae in her bedding and in the carpets which are hatching and maturing and reinfesting her.

The not using her litter tray may just be stress thing as she settles in to her new home, as some cats can be quite prone to stress. Hopefully this will settle down in a few days or a couple of weeks at most.

I'm very as we lost our cat a year ago and DH doesn't want another (he was a stray who adopted us)

primigravida · 03/10/2007 16:28

It's fine still to be finding flea dirt a couple of days later as it tends to hang around a bit. If she's scratching lots though or if you find any live fleas, that's when you know she next needs de-fleaing.

Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 16:30

thanks all - very useful

daisy. sorry to hear htat

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daisyandbabybootoo · 03/10/2007 16:31

that's the cat was a stray, not DH

sorry, just realised my post about the fleas doesn't make sense. If you've only had her since Monday there shouldn't be any flea larvae in your house (unless she came with a blaket or something)

Depending on how you de-flead her, it's possible that there are still one or two fleas that were missed, hence the flea dirt.

daisyandbabybootoo · 03/10/2007 16:34

Thanks nailpolish....I'm working on him to get another one, but he thinks he is allergic. Personally I think his wheezing was down to the 20 roll-ups a day, but as he stopped smoking at the same time as we lost Bruce, I can't convince him of that.

He works away, so am thinking of just getting a cat and pretending it is another stray .....or is that too devious?

Original poster
nailpolish · 03/10/2007 16:34

daisy thats such a shame dh wont get another cat
my dds are 5 and 3 and htey are amzing with her
andcats arenot toomuch work really are they? weve had cats beforebut this is my first kitten!

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