Kitten peeing and pooing in the corners of rooms

[Woodlandwitch]

We have had a new kitten for a week and he’s been using the litter tray fine

The past 2 days we have come home to wees and poos in the corners of the lounge on the carpet and the doormat and not using the (fresh) litter tray.

He’s had vet check and all is healthy so I can only assume he’s doing it to protest already.

How can we help him use the litter tray?

We have a young child so if he’s going to keep peeing on the carpet DH doesn’t want to risk child getting ill

Yes we will confine while we are out and get some proper enzyme spray in mean time.

Thanks for all the suggestions

It’s been quite a few years since my last cat and I have forgotten it all

Can you restrict his access to a room with hard floor for when you're out or not able to supervise? Make sure he can eat, drink, climb and explore as well as toilet.

It's a very long time since I've had kittens (always had adult rescues since) but we never let them have run of the house.

You can also make your own cleaning solution with biological laundry liquid. One part laundry liquid to sevem parts water.

I tried that but it didn’t work for me. I use simple solution to clean the downstairs loo too. Dh uses it more than me.

Last night kitten went straight to doormat and I caught him 3 times before he went to the loo, picked him up straight away and put him in his tray.
He would then do a poo.
But he seems to not want to do any wees in it.
Each time I picked him up and put him in the tray when he needs a wee he would jump right out and run back to the doormat

I then put aluminium foil down on the doormat

He was kept in the kitchen overnight so no messes in the night but just now he has urinated all over the doormat again.

I was in shower, DH said he saw him go to the litter tray do nothing and then next minute he was going on the doormat despite the tin foil there.

I don’t want to confine him all day long to the kitchen and conservatory as it seems cruel but if he has such a strong desire to use the doormat still I’m not too sure what else to do

Can you replace the doormat?.

Yes, I would replace the door mat. We had 2 rescue kittens (sadly lost one to the road a couple of weeks ago). They would pee/poo in random places and we just had to get through it.

They had a particular liking for bedding, which was horrendous! We used clear shower curtains over all the beds, and kept them in one room if we were out.

Really rate Feliway, it has transformed them completely. Tabitha cried for days when we lost Beatrice, but she has settled with time and whilst I still shut some doors, she has free run of the house and I am fairly confident she wouldn't pee/poo anywhere she shouldn't now, unless she was unhappy.

Shredding wallpaper though? That is a guarantee despite an a typical accidentally massive cat tree purchased through amazon #shouldhavereadthesmallprint

H x

I wonder if he wants one tray to wee in and one for poos?.

The Feliway diffuser is coming tomorrow so hopefully that will help

We have taken up the doormat and the wooden boards underneath were soaked so no wonder he was still attracted to it

Will get the local carpet shop to cut a replacement some point next week and just leave it up at the moment

You def need more than one tray! For a kitten that small you need several dotted about the house. The association is in his head now about the doormat and wees so I would put a tray on the doormat and a couple more dotted about. Once he has started using the one on the doormat you move it a few cms further down the hall each day to gradually transition him away from the idea of the doormat as a toilet. I've had several sets of kittens and this has worked well for stopping weeing in weird places. Make sure you pop him in any new trays straight away so he knows where they are. Might also be worth mixing a finer litter with the wood chip for now as the wood chip is quite large and might not seem like a natural toilet to a tiny kitten.

Also worth bearing in mind that at that age mum would still be supervising his toiletting so he may still need help remembering to stay in the tray or even to go in it.

All my cats have been rescue cats and when they have been in the rescue centre they have had 2 trays (1 pee and 1 poo) and have been kept in a small room/pen. Having run of a full house could be daunting for kittie, I was advised keeping them in one room where they wouldn't be disturbed that often (such as a spare room) so they could get used to their new home. Then over time introduce them to other rooms. Kittie might be feeling anxious about all the changes and marking territory, if you get him neutered when he's old enough that will hopefully help his urges to pee aswell