Help! Kitten will NOT use litter box

[Real_Rush]

A couple weeks ago I stopped by a local animal shelter, looking to replace my beloved black kitteh that passed away over the winter. Since kitten season is in full swing, the guy said the magic words: Adopt one and get a second free. How could I say no to TWO baby black kittehs?! A couple days later, I noticed one of them had stopped using the litter box. Took me another couple days to catch the one in the act, as I couldn’t tell them apart from more than a couple feet away. I’ve tried over and over with the putting his nose in it, spanking him and putting him in the litter box, to no avail. I bought a brand new smaller pan for the 2 kittens in the beginning, so it wouldn’t have any other cats’ smell on it. The shelter used the pine pellets in their boxes, so I even tried taking the regular litter out and putting the pellets in. Nothing is working.

Their box is in the same spare bedroom as the other cat boxes, but theirs is closer to the door, so they’re not having to try and sneak by a larger cat to use the box. The other kitten has not had an issue using the box, and has even begun using the big kitteh boxes now that he’s able to climb in them. So, I’m completely out of ideas as to what to do. And this morning, when I got up to run to the bathroom, in the less than 60 seconds I was gone, he made a rather messy poop on top of my bed. So I am pretty much at the end of my patience now as well. :mad: If I can’t come up with some solution within the next few days, he’s going to have to be PTS. I hate that that’s even an option, but I refuse to take him back to the shelter where he’ll either be adopted back out to someone less patient than me or be PTS anyway, in a probably less humane manner than injection.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would very much appreciate hearing them. Please help me help this kitten! He’s an absolute sweetheart that loves to snuggle. And he’s smart enough to have learned that I only smack him when he’s pooped or peed in an inappropriate place, because that’s the only time he runs from me. Help, help, help!!!

[LauraO]

1. Take him in for a vet exam, explain the issue, and have them check for uninary infections, blockages, other issues that might be a root cause. If they have pain on urination, sometimes they will associate this with the litter pan, and stop using the litter pan.

If he is clear of any health issues, and you are double and tripple sure of that, then:

You could try drastically reducing the size of his living area. For example, a very large dog crate with enough space for kitten, bed, and litter pan, food, water, and a toy or two.

If that works for several days or a week, and he uses that pan consistently, put the whole shebang into a small room like a bathroom. Give him access to that room, + crate and pan. If he continues using the pan consistently make the space one room larger, until he can have free run of the house.

Of course during all this confinement, you will also have to make sure to provide enough outlets for play time and socialization with you and other kitties, supervised, so he doesn’t make a mistake. Much like a puppy.

On one of my clicker training lists, there was once a complete ‘retrain the cat to the pan’ protocol, with more detail than I provided above, but the basic idea was to make the living area so small to start, that there was no where else to go except the cat pan, then slowly expand. I can see if I can find that post saved somewhere.

Edited to add:

Rubbing nose in it, spanking etc are fairly ineffective with puppies, and more ineffective with cats who are a generally less compliant species. Rewarding the right thing, when you see it happen (tuna? freeze dried chicken?), and preventing the wrong thing to the extent possible will yield more consistent positive results.

[dressagetraks]

The one cat I had trouble with was my Pilgrim. I got him at roughly a year old, and he had never been a house cat before. He simply didn’t seem to get the concept, even seeing other cats in the boxes, even with different sizes and styles of boxes and litter. After a week of trying several adjustments, I reluctantly got the wire cage from the garage that is roughly 4 x 2 x 2 feet. Pretty tight quarters, much smaller than even a bathroom. I put it in the middle of the bedroom and put in a small litter box, a bigger box box with a blanket, food, and water. I then inserted Pilgrim. Spent a lot of time talking to him and scratching his ears. The first time I saw him in the litter box, I threw a party, gave him lots of petting, and gave him a few treats. From that moment, the light bulb went on. He lived in that cage for a week. I was careful to clean that little box a couple of times a day. After that week, I let him out, and he has been 100% on using the litter boxes since then. It was just like he didn’t really connect the purpose of it until he had to be shut up literally next to one.

I’ve never had to go to that extreme with any other cat, but if I ever had another who just didn’t get the idea and I knew that health issues weren’t a problem, I’d try temporary imprisonment in a very small space again.

[BUSY]

@Real Rush

A couple weeks ago I stopped by a local animal shelter, looking to replace my beloved black kitteh that passed away over the winter. Since kitten season is in full swing, the guy said the magic words: Adopt one and get a second free. How could I say no to TWO baby black kittehs?! A couple days later, I noticed one of them had stopped using the litter box. Took me another couple days to catch the one in the act, as I couldn’t tell them apart from more than a couple feet away. I’ve tried over and over with the putting his nose in it, spanking him and putting him in the litter box, to no avail. I bought a brand new smaller pan for the 2 kittens in the beginning, so it wouldn’t have any other cats’ smell on it. The shelter used the pine pellets in their boxes, so I even tried taking the regular litter out and putting the pellets in. Nothing is working.

Their box is in the same spare bedroom as the other cat boxes, but theirs is closer to the door, so they’re not having to try and sneak by a larger cat to use the box. The other kitten has not had an issue using the box, and has even begun using the big kitteh boxes now that he’s able to climb in them. So, I’m completely out of ideas as to what to do. And this morning, when I got up to run to the bathroom, in the less than 60 seconds I was gone, he made a rather messy poop on top of my bed. So I am pretty much at the end of my patience now as well. :mad: If I can’t come up with some solution within the next few days, he’s going to have to be PTS. I hate that that’s even an option, but I refuse to take him back to the shelter where he’ll either be adopted back out to someone less patient than me or be PTS anyway, in a probably less humane manner than injection.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would very much appreciate hearing them. Please help me help this kitten! He’s an absolute sweetheart that loves to snuggle. And he’s smart enough to have learned that I only smack him when he’s pooped or peed in an inappropriate place, because that’s the only time he runs from me. Help, help, help!!!

Take him / them back so they will have a chance to find their happy forever homes •

[jherold]

If there is no physical cause, make him a barn cat. Behavioral issues with the litter box can be especially difficult to fix.

[cnigh]

Ugh there is so much wrong with the OP I don’t know where to start. Rubbing his nose in it? Really? People still do this?

if you haven’t totally turned him off the box by now, pick a quiet time and put him in the box. Take his little paw and rake the litter. Gently! Repeat until he uses the box. Praise and reward and repeat.

it’s better to have the kittens I’m one room until they are both litter trained.

[SMK]

@LauraO

Rubbing nose in it, spanking etc are fairly ineffective with puppies, and more ineffective with cats who are a generally less compliant species. Rewarding the right thing, when you see it happen (tuna? freeze dried chicken?), and preventing the wrong thing to the extent possible will yield more consistent positive results.

I agree with all of what LauraO said. I’ve fostered a heck of a lot of cats and kittens, and any inappropriate litter box behavior has almost always started with some sort of medical issue, often UTIs or stomach issues (or in adults, declawed cats). Punishing them is really the worst thing you can do, that does nothing but create anxiety in them that will likely make the problem worse.

I agree with keeping him in a confined space, and have had a lot of luck with that in problem kittens. Be sure to get rid of anything that would entice then to go anywhere else (towels, sheets, beds, ect.). Everything that they have used should be cleaned with an enzyme cleaner or tossed to get rid of the smell.

I’ve also had good luck with the product “Cat Attract”. Some cats prefer different litters, although it sounds like you’ve tried a few. My cat absolutely will not use World’s Best Cat Litter, although many cats love it.

[CanadianTrotter]

LauraO and cnigh are both right and there’s really nothing that can be added.

Cats do not respond to punishment and using this tactic will only make him scared/anxious and possibly make him act sneaky.

Taking his paws gently and without anger(he will feel your mood)and teaching him how to scratch at the litter should help a lot. You’re going to have to mend the breach of trust you have created so it might take a bit longer for him to become a confident kitten again.

I think it’s wrong and very unfair to have a kitten PTS for a problem you have helped create.

[Zu_Zu]

this situation makes me :mad: I am holding my tongue ~ these black kittens deserve a loving and supportive home !

I hope they are re-homed quickly !

[french_fry]

I am speechless. This is abuse. What could hitting or rubbing a kitten’s nose in his or her feces possibly teach him about using the litter box?!

Please, please educate yourself on more humane ways to treat animals. You’re considering putting your kitten to sleep because he or she hasn’t learned to use the litter box yet?? This is heartbreaking.

[avjudge]

I don’t see anyone commenting on the litter box setup - it sounds to me like OP has other cats, and while there are also multiple litter boxes they are all in one room. So the kittens may have their own box, but they could be in the presence of other cats.

Also, from “one of them had stopped using the litter box” I gather that they both used the box properly initially, then something made that one kitten stop. Reasons I can think of include physical pain, intimidation by other cats (even if those other cats aren’t intending to intimidate), or aversion to the litter box environment.

After the vet visit to check for physical issues, I would, at least temporarily, have litter boxes all around the house in different environments/rooms, with a variety of litters in them, and make sure they’re all cleaned a couple times per day and don’t smell.

(I had a cat who hated to pee in litter that had been used before. I noticed when I packed to move house that he kept peeing in boxes of my clothes. So I started putting old towels in plastic storage tubs in several rooms of the house, and he was very good about using those. I put the towels in the laundry as soon as they had been used. Thank goodness my laundry was in the back of the basement so the smell was nowhere near where I hung out! But a little ingenuity kept both of us happy, and I had him until he was 21.)

[BUSY]

Coming back to this :

1.the kittens should have been given their own safe place to live - eat,drink,pee,poop - before being allowed to roam the house and deal with older cats.

2.this could be :
A medical issue
A food/ digestion issue
A territorial issue with older cats depending on sexes and ages of older cats.

• NOW it has become a behavioral issue too !

3. Separate the kittens to their own living quarters - vet - food reviews … new litter box

• re-start to give these kittens a chance at this.

• the kitten just wants to pee and poop and for one or more than one reason can’t go where you think he should be ‘going’

HELP HIM - DO NOT PUNISH HIM !

HE JUST NEEDS HIS OWN SAFE PLACE !

[syreino]

I’m going to refrain from saying what I would like and address the question. Nearly 8 years ago I adopted two kittens (sisters) to be my barn cats. They didn’t work as barn cats, so they came in the house. While in the barn (over 4 months), they faithfully used their litter box, but when they came into the house to be part of the clan (#5 and 6), they both started inappropriately urinating. Off to the vet, no medical reasons found, behavioral consults, feliway, cat attract litter - just about everything was tried.

When they were nearly three, they got moved to the garage and attached cattery because they still weren’t using the litter box appropriately. When Tigger died suddenly (a few months later), Jordan was very lonely, so she came back in the house - and it continued to be a (losing) battle with her. When I lost my Rhodes last year, everyone started fighting and carrying on like they had never lived together - so I tried calming collars on the two worst offenders - Jordan and Hope. Jordi had no problems with the collar, but Hope WAS.NOT.WEARING. Thank you very much. Over that first month, I noticed Jordi in the litter box occasionally. She wore one for three months (they are changed monthly) - and she was doing really well using the box. I stopped the collars when the box ran out and slowly we begin having “accidents” again. A light bulb went off (yes, it was a dim bulb and took awhile to figure it out), so I bought more collars and we don’t have accidents anymore, so Jordi will wear her special purple collar for the rest of her life.

They were much more expensive at Petsmart, but I now order them from Chewy, https://www.chewy.com/sentry-hc-good-behavior-pheromone/dp/56473

Once you rule out any medical issues, I would give it a try. Feliway did nothing, but this collar is a godsend. Also, both girls ended up having cardiomyopathy. I didn’t know until Tigger died and Jordi went in to be checked since they are sisters. She’s stable in her disease with 1/4 atenolol twice a day and she’s just turning 8. When she was diagnosed, the cardiologist said most likely she wouldn’t make it past 8-10, but at our check up in April she said she’s not progressed and so she now has a normal life expectancy - taking her meds.

My immediate suggestions are: when you see him in the box, don’t move until he’s done and praise him (voice only) so he learns the box is the right place to urinate. I have always cleaned my boxes numerous times a day (thanks for training me right Syreino), and I still find that she likes to urinate right after I have cleaned a box (and she has her two favorite ones, I have never seen her in another box). This is what worked for Jordi, not saying it will definitely work for your kitten, but I feel you owe it to him to try everything possible to work with what he’s giving you once you have ruled out all medical possibilities.

If you address medical and behavior issues, and still are at your wits end, I would contact the rescue, or another one, before drastic measures, because there are people who will take known soilers in. Also, not every house is the right home for every cat and vice versa; so it might not be an option in another household as an only cat, etc. It’s not saying your house is a bad house, just one that doesn’t work for that specific cat possibly. But please try some of the suggestions others have given - I think by adopting him you owe him that.

Good luck.

[cnvh]

I will say this much… Way back in the day, like 30+ years ago, we (meaning my family, and everyone else I knew) house-trained our dogs by rubbing their noses in it anytime they had an accident inside. It wasn’t that we were horrible people or didn’t love our dogs-- it’s just “how it was done” and we didn’t know any better. Times have changed and we know better now.

So perhaps OP missed that part somewhere along the way…

Sure, sometimes people are just awful, but sometimes good people just don’t know any differently and sometimes a little education goes a long way. Just sayin’.

[CanadianTrotter]

I have a feeling that OP is just trolling.

[Zu_Zu]

@CanadianTrotter

I have a feeling that OP is just trolling.

gosh if that’s true • hoping OP will see the trainwreck up close and personal soon :winkgrin: and then disappear •

I found OP’s post to be upsetting and :mad: hateful !