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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

So I've just picked up our two new cats from the RSPCA...

26 replies

mckenzie · 09/09/2010 14:37

...Socks, big black tom about 5, has settled in immediately it seems. Wondering round nicely, has let me brush him for ages, had a little food from the bowl adn seems quite happy. Paris though, female about 6, ran straight away to hide and has been behind the sofa ever since.
Dont get me wrong, we've only been home 1 hour but how long do you suppose she will stay behind the sofa?

Or how long until I try and coax her out? I barely had a chance to show her the litter tray before she scrambled out of my arms so she doesn't know where anything is.

TIA

ps. they came as a pair although we dont know if they are brother or sister. They look nothing like each other but they are very affectionate to each other (or rather they were, at the cat home, before Paris went into hiding )

OP posts:

scurryfunge · 09/09/2010 14:39

Don't worry, the other cat will be fine...it will all be very strange. Just let her stay there until she is brave enough to venture out.

Perhaps leave some food nearby. Even if they are both trained to use a litter tray, don't be worried if she doesn't at first. She will soon get her bearings.

SecretNutellaFix · 09/09/2010 14:47

just ignore her- she will come out when she's feeling less terrified. When she comes out, speak gently to her and if she will allow you, stroke her gently before you fee her.

It won't take long and it's perfectly normal.

TheGashlycrumbTinies · 09/09/2010 14:50

Our 3 kittens from the Cats Protection spent several days behind or under things. We just left them to it and we now have the most affectionate and playful kits.

Original poster

mckenzie · 09/09/2010 14:53

thanks guys.

I just went over and saw her big green eyes staring out and Socks came over too so he and I had a bit of a stroke so that she could hear him purring. I'll just leave her alone now. Probably best she stays then as the DCs will be back from school soon and much as they know they have to leave them alone for a while, the noise level in the house will rise..

I cant get over how Socks just seems totally at home already

OP posts:

lamplighter · 09/09/2010 15:06

As per the others OP - mine took nearly a week to come out. Now she follows us around and sleeps between us.

Original poster

mckenzie · 09/09/2010 15:11

do I need two litter trays or is one big one enough, does anyone know?

OP posts:

bellabelly · 09/09/2010 15:14

One litter tray is plenty - they aren't likely to be using it at exactly the same time. You don't want to be buying two lots of cat litter!

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 09/09/2010 15:22

Oh oh oh! The vetting lady is coming to see us later! I won't be in so DP is doing the honours. So following your thread with interest, mckenzie.

If we get the OK we should be able to bring a little girl cat (Chloe) home this weekend :)

Attenborough · 09/09/2010 16:28

Nononono, Bella!

Litter trays are a territorial thing for cats. You will need at least two if you have two cats and they'll use one each. The most common cause of cat stress and messing is limited access to litter trays.

bellabelly · 09/09/2010 16:37

Gosh - until we sadly lost 2 of our cats this year, we had 3 of them v happily all using the same tray. As far as I know not one of them objected to sharing...

Original poster

mckenzie · 09/09/2010 19:11

thanks for the extra replies. I have two trays out now. Paris is still behind the sofa and Socks is still roaming around and lounging on the carpet when he needs a rest (he's a big old boy . Should i put the trays near to each other or apart?

OP posts:

Northernlurker · 09/09/2010 19:19

Some pairs of cats insist on THREE trays - 1 each and 1 spare (why???)

Original poster

mckenzie · 09/09/2010 20:23

good grief - where are you supposed to keep them all??? Socks has used his already

OP posts:

Original poster

mckenzie · 09/09/2010 22:06

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar How did your visit go? Paris came out from hiding about an hour ago and has been sitting on my lap quite happily. I'm just about to bed them down for the night and hope I don't come down to any 'accidents' in the morning

OP posts:

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 10/09/2010 09:47

Apparently it went well - although we're waiting to hear when we can go and collect her (I was under the impression that it was ASAP, but apparently not).

Good to hear that Paris has ventured out - and even better that he sat n your lap :)

Original poster

mckenzie · 10/09/2010 10:50

Now that Paris has ventured out we've noticed that she's limping. Should I get them both given the once over by my vet do you think?

OP posts:

lamplighter · 10/09/2010 11:09

Give her a day and watch her - you can undo the good work by chasing her around, putting her in a basket and subjecting her to a trip to the vets.

Just keep an eye on her

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 10/09/2010 14:37

We've passed the homecheck (yay!).

But she hasn't been spayed yet (should be today) so still can't have her. Harrumph.

Does anyone know how long it takes cats to recover from being spayed? I seem to remember it taking a while, but this was years ago.

Northernlurker · 10/09/2010 16:15

I don't think it takes very long for the cat to be ok but their fur takes a while to grow back. Our cat had been done about a week or so when we saw her at Cats protection and then we got her the following Saturday I think.

TheGashlycrumbTinies · 10/09/2010 17:06

We had our male cats neutered and female cat spayed all on the same day, expecting them to all come home very sleepy.

It was not the case, they were up and down the curtains and chasing around like loons, within 15 minutes of being back.

TheGashlycrumbTinies · 10/09/2010 17:07

Oh, meant to add only have one tray for all three, and always have had one no matter how many cats.

catinthehat2 · 10/09/2010 17:50

Want and get are different things. THey might want a tray each, they might want a chicken dinner, and they might want to sleep on your head, but there's no reason to assume they will automatically get stressed if they don't get them.

Original poster

mckenzie · 11/09/2010 08:43

Paris is definitely limping but I can't really tell if she's bothered by it. She came out last night when DH got home (he's been away all week) and around him, she was a different cat! She allowed us to stroke her, brush her, play a bit, everything! This morning she's been out from her hiding place too.

Shall I leave the vets appt today do you think? I so don't want to upset her anymore than necessary.

OP posts:

Manda25 · 12/09/2010 00:05

I have a brother and sister (out side cats) who have always shared the same tray..never been a problem

Original poster

mckenzie · 12/09/2010 18:13

not on the litter tray debate but just an update for JenaiMarr.

Both cats are settling really well. Last night DH had one of them on his chest (he was lying down) purring her head off and I had the big lad on my lap, on one of the special cushions that I have got to stop my clothes being clawed . They seemed really content and Paris, the more nervous of the two by far, even let me pick her up. So far, so good .

Only trouble we're having is that Socks looks so much like our old Tom, it's a bit like seeing a ghost. That's taking some getting used to. When he moves it's okay as he's about twice the size but when he's lying down and you can just see his face, it's a bit spooky!

OP posts:

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