Kitten crying in litter

[ifiwasascent]

So I did a thread a few weeks ago about getting a new kitten named Basil.

Well he came to live with us on Sunday and he is amazing! He's so confident and funny and soooo clumsy which is perfect as were also very clumsy!

Today though he's been crying when he goes in his litter box. We cleaned it and changed the littwr but he still did a little cry!

He went to the vet for a check up today and DH mentioned it and the vet said keep an eye but if it's when he's weeing to bring him back. I don't think it is but I find it hard to tell! does anyone have any experience of kittens crying like This? It is only a small cry but it's just worrying as he's never done it before

Poss urine infection.
Everytime he goes in litter, see what he has done. Report back to vet in a few days

One of our cats had a water infection and he did cry when weeing and he was going to the litter tray and trying to wee over and over. He also did a few wees in the bath (I think because it's a cold surface) and one was pink so it was pretty obvious. I'm surprised your vet didn't ask you to bring a urine sample (tip, for this I put out a litter tray with just some paper in it so it didn't absorb all the wee like litter and I could collect some). Once you've got him sorted, it's a good idea to think about ways to get more water into him going forward as some cats just don't drink enough. We feed wet and dry food separately and always mix some water in with the gravy of the wet food every day, and give the water from a tin of tuna in spring water every week. You can also buy water fountains that are meant to encourage cats to drink. One of ours drinks quite a bit from his own bowl as well as taps and any unattended glasses of water and he's never had an infection but the other one just isn't interested in plain water at all but since we've added the extra water into his food he's been fine.

Bless him - reading that makes me want to cry too ❤️

He is adorable!
I’ve definitely heard that crying in the litter tray is something kittens can do without there necessarily being a worrying cause.
www.petmd.com/cat/slideshows/6-reasons-your-kitten-crying

Thank you for your replies. He does drink a lot so I don't think he's dehydrated. He's on dry food only as the lady we got him from said wet food gives him a bad belly. I'm going to pop into the vets today to sign up for pet plan and I'll get some wet food and ask about the crying. DH said today he's pretty sure he just cried then went for a poo so it may be just that he's letting us know but he's such a good boy and rarely cries or meows so it's just a worry. Thank you x

Honestly, I know some people swear by dry, but I’d always opt for a decent wet food (with kidneys later in life in mind). It won’t be all wet food that upsets his tummy (even if he had special dietary needs). Especially while he’s little, a decent quality such as Royal Canin if you can.

My boy cried every time he needed to go in his litter when he was a small kitten. He stopped at about 4 months.

That's reassuring thank you. Happy to get whatever he needs, I'll get some of that food today and see how he goes. Thank you!x

The International Cat Care website is good for advice, @ifiwasascent. Much of this you will probably have already done/past, but still worth a look:
icatcare.org/advice/helping-your-new-cat-or-kitten-settle-in/

eg don’t change their food all of a sudden.

Is it possible he doesn't like the specific litter? Some cats prefer the soft sandy type, some like two trays. Could it be that?

My elderly cat always does a wail when she does a poo, I think she is telling me she's been.
I've had her checked out and there is nothing wrong with her.
She comes looking for me and lets me know loudly that she has done a poo.

Yeah he might not like the litter! He is using it though, would they use it even if they didn't like it? I won't give him all the wet food right away, the vet said to do little bits at a time so I'll see how he goes. Thanks again. Here's another photo of the sleeping prince 😻

🧡🧡

@ifiwasascent

Thank you for your replies. He does drink a lot so I don't think he's dehydrated. He's on dry food only as the lady we got him from said wet food gives him a bad belly. I'm going to pop into the vets today to sign up for pet plan and I'll get some wet food and ask about the crying. DH said today he's pretty sure he just cried then went for a poo so it may be just that he's letting us know but he's such a good boy and rarely cries or meows so it's just a worry. Thank you x

For the first weeks we had Sodding Kitten he’d vocalise when he was using the litter tray. He doesn’t do it any more. In his case, it sounded more like an announcement, not distress. It didn’t occur to me there might be a problem. 😕

We've been looking at the kitten stool chart and I think he's a little bit constipated. We've introduced wet food which he loves so hopefully he'll start having those long poos again. He's getting his vaccinations on Monday so I'll ask the vet then as well. Thanks for all your help x

He is absolute kitten perfection. I love his name too.

It's probably not a urine infection but if the vet does ask you to get a urine sample you can buy polystyrene beads to substitute for normal litter. They don't absorb the liquid so you can then use a pipette to collect the sample (everything should be sterilised to start with though). (We used to have a cat with ongoing bladder issues so regular samples were required.)

Thank you everyone for all your help and advice. Basil is doing so much better. He's on wet food and loving it. He dosent cry anymore and his poos are perfect!