I suppose my biggest deal with what Q.E.D. asserted is that I feel it’s better to “err on the side of caution”. Don’t assume that they will have these instincts and will know what to do. Some cats have to be taught. Enough that it’s better to proceed as though you will have to take up a full scale teaching regiment to help the cat adapt to life in your household, than to assume the kitty will know what to do and find many “presents” in obscure places. If the kitten has a clue, then you can relax. That’s the idea I’m trying to get across. Don’t take for granted that they will know these things, because there are enough kittens out there who either had a mother that didn’t know these things herself, or were taken from their mother too soon and don’t know for it to be not such a good idea.
Every single cat I’ve ever had, and/or helped to train, took one or two days to catch on. If you have other cats it’s even easier because new kitty will smell the crap in the box and get the hint that this is where he/she is supposed to ‘go.’
My brother and his SO found two abandoned day-old kittens (likely from a feral mother). They learned to use their little box not long after their eyes opened, including burying their scat. So, their Mom could not have taught them.
But I have heard that if Mom doesn’t teach them, a few need to be shown to bury. They will use the box out of instinct.
A common human error is not scooping the box often enough. Do it daily, or more often. Especially if there’s more than one cat using it. If you do- sometimes you’ll need one box per cat.
Make sure the kitten is at least 6 weeks old before you take it from its mother. You should have zero problems. Just put her in the box, and she’ll probably figure it out immediately. But don’t adopt a too-young kitten,(less than 6 -8 weeks) or you may have big problems. Apparently , it is/ a natural instinct–but it has to develop naturally. I once saved a kitten that was separated too early from it’s mother, and she never learned.
off topic–but I just gotta point out that as soon as I posted, the Google ads changed to religous topics. One about preparing for the Hajj, and one about Jesus’s life. Now me, I love my cats, but I dont worship them…
This is true. Dominant cats will leave their excrement uncovered as a sign they rule the area. My friends with five cats, their “alpha” cat doesn’t cover his business, as he sees himself as in charge. The other cats will cover it for him, though, especially if humans are around – all they know is that they aren’t dominant, and therefore any excrement must be covered asap.
I thought that covering their waste was to hide their trail from predators. Why would a kitten use the same litterbox as an older cat they had just been introduced to? Wouldn’t they see the older cat as a natural threat before being shown that there were enough resources for both?
She might not, which is why it’s always an excellent idea when introducing a new cat to a household to give her one or more litterboxes of her own, at least at first.
I have raised a few hundred kittens and every one of them has learned to use the litter box - by me plopping him in and then “digging” his feet in for him - within one day at the most. Usually it takes 5-10 minutes, or maybe two attempts at showing them what to do.
All the kittens I have fostered have been from feral litters - some with momcat still on the scene when I got them; others were orphaned very young and had no mom from that age; others I caught them at more than 10 weeks. Still all the same, though: they knew pretty much right off how to use the box. I have a completely feral adult (trapped as an adult and I’ve had her ever since) who had never lived with or had contact with humans and she knew immediately what the box was. Never had an accident in almost 4 years.
Other people may have different experiences, naturally.