Litter training kittens

[Eskarina1]

We're currently fostering a mum cat and 3 adorable kittens. Two of the kittens will not litter train. I am regularly putting them in the litter, it's in a good position, designed for kittens. A week and a half in they are still toileting anywhere but the litter - in their bed, in their toys, on us, just in the middle of the floor. The floor is easy clean but they are not improving at all. We've tried penning them but it makes them so miserable and they still just toilet in their bed. They are noticeably less affectionate.

They can't be rehomed until they are litter trained. Any tips would be welcome. I've fostered cats for years but this is only our third set of kittens and the others mum did the litter training.

Just to clarify mum cat did the litter training, not my mum (who is 80 and in no way involved)

How old are they? When were they taken away from mum?

We think they are 5 weeks old (very undernourished so much smaller). They were dumped so no history. They are still with mum but other than feeding them maybe twice a day she won't go anywhere near them and growls or attacks if they approach. None of the teaching skills I've seen in other mums.

Maybe they don't like the litter you're using. Could you try a different type?

With that update I'm not surprised they're not litter trained yet - they're so young and if mum isn't maternal she won't teach them.

I would just keep doing what you're doing, and keep the kittens in a pen/enclosed space for now to minimise damage to your home and furniture.

To add a pen doesn't have to be small, just don't give them free access to your entire house as once they start peeing on things like soft furnishings, the scent will stay there and it will be even harder to get them to litter train.

If one kitten has litter trained itself, try putting the other two into the litter tray as soon as litter trained kitten has jumped out.

But don’t put them in at the same time as litter trained kitten is using the tray!

They may figure it out from the scent and follow their sibling’s example.

Thank you. Those are some good ideas. I'm not worried about them not being litter trained as such, just worried I'm failing them because if they aren't trained they can't be rehomed until they are - and they deserve to be with their people

They'll pick it up in time. We also foster and our current lot took a while to use the trays and we had the frustrating 'pissing and shitting everywhere except the litter tray' stage but they got through it.

My tips would be to clean the areas they're using with something that masks the smell - once they associate a particular area with the toilet, that's where they go back to. Make sure it's pet safe. I got this one.

www.dr-beckmann.co.uk/products/pet-stain-and-odour-remover/#tab-wrapper-0-item-0

Have more than one litter tray, at least two or three, but more if you have space. Also check the litter, the wood pellet one is uncomfortable for little paws to walk on. We have a wood based one that's smaller pieces and gentler for them.

Clean the trays several times a day. They often don't use them if they're not clean. They're keeping you on your toes and making sure your cat slavery standards are sufficiently high and punishing you when you don't keep up

We used a paper-based cat litter with ours -- the annoyingly named Celect. They mostly loved leaping in it and throwing it at the carpet but they got the idea in time.