Question about litter training a Kitten...

Last week imyself posted that she had a kitten up for adoption, that her sister found outside.

My sister ended up adopting the adorable little thing! She is the sweetest little cat, somewhere between 4-5 weeks old, and is such a mush! My sister named her Amelia and is completely enjoying her.

The only thing that has proven frustrating has been litter training her. I honestly don't know much about it. We had kittens when I was a teenager and my cat had litters, but...they pretty much just followed their Mommy's lead...and so litter training wasn't an issue.

Right now the set up is...that my sister has a small litter box in the bathroom. It is downstairs. The cat has free roam of the house when my sister or Mom are home, which includes the first level and my sister's bedroom which is upstairs. There is not a bathroom upstairs. My sister brings her down about every hour, puts her in the litterbox, and she goes.

The problem is when my sister is upstairs then the cat will sometimes make on the floor upstairs. My sister doesn't want her to get into the habit of that, so she keeps bringing her down and showing her the litter box.

But...should she have a litter box upstairs in her bedroom if that is where they spend the most of their time together? She doesn't want a litter box in her room long term. She is worried that if she sets it up there, the cat will always wanna go in her room, and one day she only wants a litter box in the bathroom downstairs.

Thank you for any of your advice! I know the cat is young and with plenty of patience she will get the hang of it, just looking for advice and pointers!

Melissa

Message edited 11/28/2011 9:21:35 PM.

Re: Question about litter training a Kitten...

Believe it or not the kitten will get the hang and likely quickly. They are very instinctive about bathroom habits. Also she could take some poop or pee if she can get some of it, and put it in the box. Place the kitten in and the kitten will get it.

I would probably confine the kitten to one large room, the room where the box will be and you will see, the kitten will get it quickly. They love scratching and burying poop and pee in the litter.

Message edited 11/28/2011 9:27:12 PM.

Re: Question about litter training a Kitten...

The kittie does go often in the litter box, just...when she is upstairs...she goes on the floor upstairs. There isn't a litter box upstairs since it's just one large room --- the finished off attic, that my sister uses for a bedroom. She has the litter box downstairs in the bathroom.

She called the vet and they recommended her to get another small box to keep upstairs, so that is what she did tonight and so far it is going well!

I have to post pictures of this kitten! She is the most beautiful thing ever!

Re: Question about litter training a Kitten...

THis was my daughter's first time EVER holding a cat or really being around one! My DH is highly allergic (and daughter is mildly allergic) so we are just rarely around cats. She thought she was wonderful!

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Message edited 11/28/2011 9:43:59 PM.

Re: Question about litter training a Kitten...

What kind of litter are you using? The reason she may be going upstairs is that the litter may not be to her liking or not clean enough.

Maybe try one more litter box but not in that room. Do you have a hallway or something?

Re: Question about litter training a Kitten...

I'd put a litter box in the hallway upstairs as well. She's just a baby so it might be hard for her to be going up and down all the time. But like pp said, she'll get the hang of it quickly.

ETA: OMG! She and your daughter both are so adorable!

Message edited 11/29/2011 9:36:46 AM.

Re: Question about litter training a Kitten...

The thing is...there is no hallway upstairs. The upstairs which is my sister's bedroom is just a finished attic over half of the house. You just walk up the stairs and there you are in the room. SO that was my sister's concern, putting a litter box in what is essentially a bedroom.

But she did go out and buy a litter box anyway for the bedroom last night, after speaking with the vet. The vet explained that having multiple litter boxes in the house in different rooms when the kittne is very small will teach them that litter boxes are the place to go, and even if you get rid of the extra ones months down the road, the kitten should know that we go in something that is a litter box...even if it only in the bathroom. So far the accidents have stopped, and she is prefering the litter box upstairs in the bedroom. That one is close to where they are spending most of their time anyway. Hopefully my sister won't have a problem getting it down to one box and only in the bathroom, eventually.

Right now I think a lot of it had to do with the kitten being so small. Those stairs are a lot to climb up and down when you only weigh a pound! She was going in the litter box no problem when they were downstairs...but...maybe it seemed like too much work to go down when she had to go, when she was upstairs.

Saturday morning is her first visit with my sister's vet! My sister is very excited to see how much she weighs now! She loves to eat! She is just such a cutie!