Rescue - litter

[Austriana]

Hello, complete novice here so excuse the basic questions! From bringing home your rescue cat, how long would you expect the cat to go without using the litter tray?

This is like being a first time parent again

They can hold it for a very long time!

It varies. My very shy rescue cat took about three days to emerge and use his tray. My more confident girl used it within a couple of days.

The main thing is to give your new cat space to explore at his/her own pace. They can go for much longer than we can without a pee or poo because they're 'designed' to be able to hold it in in the wild where it might be a signal to predators. Your new cat will take the time needed to decide that his/her new home is safe!

My Kitten took over 24 hours to use the litter tray when I brought him home. He sniffed it a few times and pretended to do a wee but then nothing. I was seriously worried as he was drinking a lot of water. Then he did a humungous wee and poo the next day"

Thank you so much, super helpful!

Ideally within 24 hours. But have had one who took 3 days.

So I've just found that she's gone to the toilet: in my little daughter's bed.

We've bought clumping litter, and it says on the packet that this might put off cats who are not used to it.

Has anyone had this experience? And any pointers are about training her to use the litter. I adopted her and was told that she has been litter trained , so I'm not sure if this is just because of the transition. Or whether this is an issue she has.

Any guidance would be most welcome!

Where is your litter tray located? Cats like a bit of privacy and the tray should be away from where her food is.

All of mine have been happy from day 1 with a scoop of wood pellet litter on top of a few sheets of newspaper.

I like this method best too as then you can bundle up the paper and litter nice and quick and replace the whole thing so there's no wee sitting about in the house.

But yes, they can easily hold for 24 hours if there's no peace/privacy to go in.

My most recent adoptee we got at 10am and didn't go until the middle of the night once it was quiet and she knew she was safe in her room.

She has a little bedroom with her bed etc that she stayed in for the first day as she was super shy. Yesterday evening and today she's been strolling all around the house.

The litter stayed in that room. My other half has been using it as an office though - on increasingly loud video calls - potentially she was put off going in to use the litter there? Or it could be because it's a different brand to what she's used to.

So hard to know, I'm trying to stay positive...

Do you know what litter she was using? Ideally you start off with the same and introduce new stuff gradually. Put the tray in a quieter area

I'd put the tray in a quieter place. If you know what brand she was on before, get some, and sprinkle it on top of the one you are using.

Thanks so much all, I'm trying to find out the brand and will do what you suggest.

If you haven't already, keep your daughter's bedroom door closed so kitty isn't tempted to toilet in the bed again.

I agree with pp to put the tray in the quietest room possible.

My last rescue cat was on wood chip litter - resident cat was on clay litter, we started him on wood chip but trays were side by side and he soon started using the clay litter by himself.

It’s probably nerves more than anything else. It’s unlikely she’s not toilet trained.