New kitten help!

[user1492621884]

Help!
9 week old kitten, any advice on how to litter train him!
Thanks!

I feel super cruel for taking it from it's Mum they must be miserable without each other

Can he not be in with you on a night? What happened to his sibling? It must be hard. I have to admit, i got a second one quite soon after the first i felt so bad!

user

Mum won't be miserable, after three days they forget, even if they see each other again then mum won't want to have anything to do with him.

Does he have food available all day or are you feeding him 'meals'? If he is having 'meals' then take him to the litter tray after a meal and then 15 mins after so he gets in to a routine of eat - tray, if he does use the tray then a bit of chicken / cat treat for him.

Feliway is worth a try, it works best when introducing cats to new cats, all cats give off pheromones and feliway gives off a sort of neutral / happy pheromone.

Cats protection fostorers use it.

Don't worry too much about where he sleeps, mine is often asleep in my desk drawer when I'm on mumsnet. She has a choice of 2 human beds, 2 sofas and various other places.

Thank you for replying.

The other kitten has been adopted too.
We tried putting him up with us but wandered round for hours and cried like crazy so had to put him back downstairs.

So literally keep putting him in the tray?

Yes, keep putting him in the tray, a bit like toilet training a child, you will get to know when he wants to go, for most people and animals it is just after waking up and not long after meals.

You could also try a second tray, some cats are really fussy, if they have in a tray (which you might not see) they won't use it again until it has been cleaned.

Some cats prefer different litter too.

This is going to sound cruel but have you considered a water pistol? If you see him about to pee / poo fire water at him, not much, just to shock him?

He's weed in the tray overnight yay!
Just had his breakfast then immediately went to corner and pooed before I had chance to turn around!

I would suggest temporarily having multiple litter trays so it is easier for him to get to one when he needs to go. It is odd that he didn’t come trained, I am fostering 6 week old kittens with their mum and they are completely trained.

I'll get another tray today. Where shall I put it then? Food is in kitchen now, this morning when he came out the bathroom he went for a scatty few mins then went straight to where the food usually is so he's remembered that at least!

Yeah the man we got him from said he was kind of trained but clearly not 🙄

Just had his breakfast then immediately went to corner and pooed before I had chance to turn around!

So next time you feed him, watch him eat and then put him in the tray.

I wasn't quick enough I admit that.
Just got another litter tray so will try that also.

When he had pooed, pick his poo up and put it in the litter tray and leave it there for a bit. Hopefully it should then smell like where he needs to go for a poo.

You can also try: www.amazon.co.uk/Simple-Solution-Cat-Litter-Attractant/dp/B01EFF5WZI/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=litter+attract&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1526028876&sr=8-1

Also like someone has said there needs to be a litter tray in the room that he is in as he won't take himself off to another room to use a tray just yet.

It's difficult to clean the smell of cat wee and poo as the cat can normally still smell it even when you can't. I find Urine Off works the best, again you can get from Amazon.

Good luck!

I went on the school run, came back and he'd weed right next to the litter tray 😣

It's getting closer bless him!

He’s very very young, don’t forget that. Have you got some soft toys he can snuggle up to at night?. You can get ones that play heart beat sounds to soothe young animals.

When is he seeing the vet for his vaccinations?.

He's booked in next week.

Yeah he has a soft toy and isn't interested. He's currently asleep behind the loo again as we had to nip out about an hour ago and is fast asleep. He's been so playful this afternoon I think I've worn him out!

We got our kitten at 8 weeks too, we kept him in one room (bedroom) for a few days to alleviate any stress of new surroundings. I think we got that advice from a YouTube channel. I'll have a look to see if I can find it later, it was so good for us in the first few weeks.

I agree with a pp about putting poo in the litter tray, I know it stinks but it might make him more aware of where he should be going. He's so cute, love the name!

He's just pooed on the carpet 😭

I've put the poo in his tray now.
I don't get how he is in the bathroom all night and doesn't do anything in the tray just waits till the morning on my floor!

Butter wouldn't melt 💙

Sounds like he is getting there (slowly). He's adorable.

It's so hard.

I have to say I was very naive I thinking this would be a doddle!

Please tell me he won't still be doing this in a week or so!

Can you restrict him to the smallest possible room you can? It's very unusual for them not to instinctively use the tray. What litter are you using?

But I'd be sectioning off a room if need be. Until he gets the hang of going in the tray (don't keep chopping and changing where you put them) you need to make his roaming area very small or this will become ingrained behaviour

He's in the downstairs bathroom at night time but can wander free in the daytime.

Kitten litter non clumping.

Have you noticed a routine yet? As in is he going around the same time every day? If so, you could try putting him in the bathroom for a bit around that time (assuming you’re at home then).

Alternatively, you could try establishing a routine with him. So place him in the box when he wakes up, after meals and after his night time sprint. These are the most likely times they need to go.

When he goes, is he scratching the spot before and after or just squatting straight away? Not sure if you have, but when you put him in the box, move his paws to gently scratch the litter.

He will get there, cats tend to be quite fussy about where they go, where they eat etc he’s just finding himself. They learn from their mum, so if he hasn’t you will need to be mum for a while!

I’m not sure if he’s too young yet, but some cats like to leave their poo uncovered to scare off other animals. If there were other animals in the previous home, he could have learned this. My nans cats don’t get along, and one of them sometimes poos in the doorway of ‘her’ room when they’re alone, I think to keep the other one out lol.

He’s such a sweetie, though.

Newspaper or puppy pad under the tray should catch and 'stray' poo/pee.

Is he going on the same place on the carpet?

Wash anywhere he has 'gone' with biological washing powder, it has to be biological otherwise he will smell his own pee and think that's where he has to go.

Keep going, he is so cute I know you forgive him.

How many and how old are the children? Can you pay them a £1 to be on kitten watch? At any sign of pee/poo squatting the child has to get the kitten into the tray, if they go a day without an accident they get £1.