I’m regretting my kittens so much

[Notover13]

They’re gorgeous siblings (Pixy and Potter) but I’m retching every day scooping out their poop. Plus more importantly one of them has twice now dropped poop on the kitchen floor and today put her paw in it. Afterwards noticed she still had poop on her bum which I cleaned up. I’ve taken a bit of time off work, work part time and I’m dreading coming home to this again.

They’re 6 months old from a rescue centre and I thought they seem well trained in the litter tray department...

Otherwise they seem ok, curious, have a lovely relationship with each other and seem to have taken to our household. I’ve been wanting another cat for 16 years since I lost my last cat but them jumping up on kitchen counters and wanting to attack ties under covers is another problem I’m trying to address too.

Has anybody got any advice?

Oh they are lovely

What litter are you using, Notover? Cats Best, the crumby stuff, is brilliant for suppressing smells, esp in a covered tray (I have 3 cats & 3 covered trays & no smells to speak of)

You could try a different food too. Are they on wet or dry or both?

The poo on floor/bum is probably a random accident. My cats are proper grownups & it still happens very occasionally.

This is the Cats Best

It’s expensive, but one fill lasts for weeks, with the odd top up

Well, this is strange.

You say you owned cats before but seem confused by poo and jumping on surfaces? And attacking the covers is what kittens do

Why did you take time off?

We went from one very elderly lady to two naughty kitttens and it was a shock to the system.

Try to remember they are babies. We were lucky and had a sizeable areas of the house we could
Shut them in while they got used to us (they were semi-feral) and we managed their habits. Gradually we have them a little more access to the house as they got more manageable.

Yes they stomp all over the place and yes they have unsavoury habits but that is cats. Try changing litter very frequently and try a different type. We now completely sanitise surfaces every morning as we just can’t tell where they have been. We also occasionally shut them in the utility room where hey can still get out as they go through awful kill sprees.

Cats and cats.

I do know what you are going through though as I was a terrible shock to me initially. I had a newborn as well abd was horrified at myself.

They are now absolutely amazing and funny and couldn’t be better with the two kids. Well worth some dettol

I’m using fuller’s earth at the insistence of the shelter and carrying on with their exact mixture of dry and wet food.

I had my children after I lost my pet and didn’t really want any more cats until they grew up. We lost guinea pigs earlier this year and wanted to add to our family and cats seemed to fit the bill.

Also I suppose the biggest change is I wanted two cats so they could have company.

It is a shock going from older cats to young ones!
Our old girl died last year aged 15-looking after her was quite time consuming as she had diabetes so twice daily injections and regular glucose curves which I did at home. We adopted her aged 6 and she was a pretty sensible, calm natured cat.
Adopted our new lad in January-not quite a year old. Our wooden blinds have been chewed, lamp shade in lounge has been shredded, our feet have been prey.... I could go on! He was a complete hooligan!
Anyway he's over 18 months now and is calming down and can't imagine not having him around. They will calm down.

I would probably try changing their litter. They may have used a certain litter before at the shelter but they are yours so try changing it. When our old cat was struggling we had trays all over the house. That might be worth trying for a wee while.

One of ours is a soppy wee shite who is also filthy. The other is a wee lady who is a little standoffish. In time you will work it all out

Certain wet food makes cat poo very stinky. Maybe just give them the dry and see what happens.

Definitely scrap the fullers earth. It does not mask any smell. Obviously plan a is to get rid of any poo ASAP. Plan b is to make sure the tray is deeply filled enough for them
To bury it. Your cats are big. Cat litters trays are tiny. Their bums prob hang over the edge.

I got a massive black tray 60 cm square from the garden centre. It works much better.

We rescued 3 kittens two years ago and the rescue place told us the same - keep them on the wet/dry combo. We didn't. We have lots of cat experience and started them on dry Science Plan as soon as they came home. There were no issues and we knew when the wet food was out of their system if you get my meaning...

Feeding a cat only dry food can cause problems though as they might not drink enough to,compensate. Be careful with that.

I grew up with cats but didn't live with them for 25 yrs. Plus when I was a kid we never had litter tray (cat flap).

We retchd at the poo AND the food for a few weeks after getting our kittens 7 yrs ago. We got used to both & now no issues. How long have you had your new cats, OP?

I am finding it VERY weird that the shelter is prescriptive about which cat litter you use. I hate that clumping sort of litter, mind. It is the grossest.

Google Jackson Galaxy - US cat behaviourist. You will learn so much and will start to feel a bit more connected.

IME shelters tend to feed cheaper brands as it’s obviously cost effective for them, and some cats are better suited to grain free etc or they can change over time.

My first cat was on grain free as a kitten, as her poos (and farts!) were horrendous on the same food she had at the rescue. Now she’s 3 and fine on the regular brands (she won’t eat any of the ‘better’ food now).

When she was a kitten, I fed her natures menu and it made a massive difference.

Don’t be afraid to (gradually) deviate from their current diet.

The best litter I’ve ever used is Intersand from Kennelgate, it covers the smell well and clumps but not too hard so it’s easier to clean. IIRC Catsan wasn’t too bad either, if you prefer non clumping.

Are the litter trays wide/tall enough? You can get ones with higher sides, to reduce any mishaps of bums hanging over the edge.

The other things you mention are just part and parcel of kittens!

Don't worry, I remember wanting to rehome our cat when she was about 6 months because she was so naughty! I had only had an adult cat from a shelter before - this cat was my first kitten. She grew out of it by the time she was a year 😂

Go grain free. Improves the smell almost immediately. My rescue darling went from beautiful and stinky to beautiful within a day or two. She's an indoor cat too.
The general rule is a litter tray per cat plus one in a multi cat household.

Covered litter trays also prevent arses hanging over the edge (as well as most odours)

This one is massive & is preferred by all 3 of mine - I have 2 of the same-but-smaller as well, but those get used much less, probably because they feel more confining even for the smaller cats.

Fullers earth is hopeless litter. Try Cats Best as a PP suggested, or the recycled papers stuff. Good quality food, especially dry, will make poo less stinky. For two cats you ideally need three litter trays in different locations, at least until you are sure that they will share. I’ve had pairs of cats that were quite happy with one tray, but not all are. You do need decent sized trays and preferably covered, to reduce smell and give privacy, which some cats prefer. Young cats need to play, do you have feather on stick toys etc to tire them out with?

Mine eat Felix pouches & Royal Canin neutered female (even though 1 is male) & never have smelly poo (touch wood)

Def worth trying different varieties to see if it helps, but get small packs to begin with

We feed our guy the indoor food from Royal Canin. No smells. They might need to be fully grown for it though.

We got our cat about 3 months ago from a shelter. He’s about 2. When he first came he was always jumping on the kitchen counters, which I don’t like (I guess he may have been allowed to do this in his previous home). I put some coppers in an empty drinks can and rattled it whenever I caught him jumping up. It took about a week of rattling, and as far as I know, he no longer does it (at least not when I’m in the room).

We. Got a similar shock going from an older adult to a pair of kittens.

Ours were messy little shites. Shredded everything. Crapped in the tray then walked it round the house.

It got better. They got tidier.

My kitten is six months and the toe attacking is starting to calm down. She is naughty and energetic, but that will calm down to.

It sounds like you had adult cats in your mind, the sleeping beside you and giving head rubs. That will come, but the naughty phase can also be great fun!

My kittens poo doesn’t really smell at all. I scoop regularly, and need to check for poo by looking, I can’p only occassionally smell there is something there. I use clumping litter.

I waited twenty years, and had forgotten how much work cats are! But they are worh it