In two weeks, I will be the proud mama of two kittens. They’ll be 8 or 9 weeks old, and will need to be litter trained. I’ve been doing some research online on how to do it, and most web sites say the same things, but I’d like to hear what people’s actual experiences have been.
I’ve grown up with cats my whole life, so they’re not completely unfamiliar territory. However, most of my cats growing up went in and outdoors. These guys will definitely be strictly indoor cats, so I’m also looking for any words of wisdom about how to curb their curiosity for heading out the door.
I’ll also welcome any other general thoughts/suggestions you have about the first few days they’ll be home.
AND as a bonus! I’m leaning heavily toward naming one of the kittens Moxy, but not having an easy time coming up with a name to go with it.
I’ve never “litter trained” a kitten. Make sure you get a temporary pan that is short enough for them to get in and out of easily. Then place it where they will be. I don’t recommend you give them run of the house at first, they will poop somewhere else, if the box isn’t around. Near, but not right next to the food and water. They’ll be fine.
Nothing is more fun that two baby things. (I’ve got two chihuahua pups!)
Every cat I’ve ever had has figured it out on their own. One of the reasons it’s important not to take kittens too early - so their mom has plenty of time to show them what to do.
My best advice would be to train them to scratch a post. I started training mine the day I got them to scratch a post on command for fish flake treats. Now, they run over and do it whenever I tell them to scratch. Saves the furniture!
Right. Confine them at first to one smallish room, or even a huge “cage”. The only problem is sometimes kittens can;t find the litter box two whole rooms away.
What will immediately curb the urge for outdoor ventures is to keep a mug of water right next to the door on the outside. As you come in and the cat wants to dart out, dump the water on him.
Sounds mean, but you probably will only have to do it twice, max. Better than a squirt bottle by a long shot.
This advice was given to me by a feline behaviorist, she uses this method herself, and I used it once. That was all it took.
SeaDragonTattoo, that sounds pretty good. I’m in an apartment with a street level entrance and then stairs going up to my space (it’s the 2nd floor of a private home), so I’m nervous about them wandering down toward the door. I think I’d end up using a little water gun, and give them a zotz with the water if they start getting clever. Add it to the list of things I’ll need to buy!
Most likely I’ll be using a shoebox as a litter box at first while they’re learning, and then upgrade to a covered one…maybe I can sorta cover the shoebox while they’re learning so that it doesn’t feel totally foreign when I make the change.
I’d considered Fruvous for the obvious reason, but on its own it doesn’t sound like a great name. Names that have been coming to mind and are in the runnings: Hatter, Oscar, Benny, Fry, Ludo, Raja. Quite a spread, I know.
At 8 or 9 weeks they should be able to use a regular litter box. I am concerned the shoebox might be too small and not waterproof enough. If you want to make it more obvious what the litter box is for you could just leave the lid off for the first few weeks. I’ve seen kittens as young as 5 weeks clamber into a standard litter box. Other than a bit of effort to get in it didn’t seem to cause any problems. They knew how to use it and always found it when they needed it.
Get something wider, and with shorter sides. Or get a regular litterbox and put something like small pieces of wood around it, so they have steps to climb up to get into it. (That has the advantage of not having any change to a new litterbox.)
And with 2 kittens, you ought to have 2 separate litterboxes. They may both use the same one, but they each may prefer their own. The boxes are cheap enough. And you can always put them in separate locations around the house, so they are always nearby – that might be important to kittens. (My litterboxes are located in the basement, but there is an ‘emergency’ one located in the 2nd floor bathroom, right next to the bedrooms. It was used frequently when they were kittens; now it may go for weeks without being used. )
All my kitten took to understand the concept of a litterbox was to take her paw and gently scratch the litter. Then she went. Easy.
Now, the scratching furniture part…
What works great is the cardboard boxes that things like soup or Ramen noodles come in, when shipped to the grocery store. You can put a them in garbage bags or even in grocery store plastic bags to prevent urine from soaking thru the cardboard, and can usually get them easily enough to just throw them out every couple of days.
I should have added that I planned to line the shoebox with either foil or plastic bags to prevent the soaking problem. Looking around the apartment…I have the box my DVD player came in, which is wider and with slightly shorter sides, so that looks like a better option.
The baby that I’m definitely bringing home is an orange tabby. I had a dream that the other baby I brought home was his dark brown/black tabby littermate, whom I’d been leaning toward anyway, so I’m taking that as a sign.
My cats have always picked up using the box immediately. My 2 girls each had one accident due to the fright of being in a new household right after being brought home, but even the barn kitten knew how to use the box.
On the right is a column with links; one goes to litterbox info.
I don’t like the covered boxes for the reasons she states - most of them are too small for adult cats, and all the dust/odor that gets kicked up could be a cat deterrent. I am currently using her method with 39 gallon containers and so far I really like it. I do have room for larger boxes, and I know they may not be practical in an apartment.
I had a dream right before I got my cat Manny - I had a dream about getting a tabby/white cat, and that is what I ended up with.
