New Kitten Questions

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m not sure if this should go to General Questions or IMHO, but since I’m more soliciting opinions I thought I’d try IMHO for now. Mods, feel free to move if deemed necessary. :slight_smile:

Yesterday, I just brought home a new four month old kitten from a cat rescue. He’s since taken to hiding under the bed, which I know is totally normal. My question, however, is what to do about his litter box. I’ve placed some food and water near him by the bed and even slightly under, and he’s eating a little bit, but how can I get him to use the litter box? I know that for litter training you’re supposed to take the cat after meals/in the AM and put him in the litter box, but I feel like dragging the poor scared kitten out from under the bed and putting him in the litter box be too much for the little guy. As far as I can tell he’s not coming out from under the bed at all right now and definitely not using the litter box.

Anyway, I’m definitely looking for any advice about this. Thanks so much!

2

It should be clear to him that the litter box is the only “diggable” area in the room. As long as it’s nearby, he’ll figure it out.

The room isn’t carpeted, is it?

3

It is carpeted, unfortunately.

4

Until a new kitten has warmed up to you, it’s better to keep them in a small, safe room. Where it’s harder for it to get lost, trapped, or into other trouble. A bathroom works well.

Also, be sure to hand feed it, so it associates you with good things.

5

Yep, this. You’re not doing kitty any favors by letting him hide under the bed just now. Put him in a small room with limited hiding space and start spending time around him. You can sit in the bathtub and read a book while he cowers behind the toilet. Dangle one of these and he’ll be playing with it (and forgetting to be scared of you) in no time flat.

By the time you move him out of the bathroom, he’ll have become completely acclimated to the litterbox.

6

I’m also seriously doubting the existence of this kitten since there’s no photo evidence.

7

Thanks! I’m not sure how successful I’ll be at getting from out under the bed but we’ll see. :smiley: When he first got home, he actually was really cuddly but now he seems terrified of us. I hope he’ll warm up soon!

Also just to assuage any doubts, I am attaching a photo from last night before he started hiding.

8

That’s a nice looking cat.

I’m sure it’s just the lack of scale in that photo, but he looks bigger than 4 months.

9

Ear floofs!

10

I’m not a vet or an expert, but I believe it’s important to play with your kitten, so he’ll turn out to be a playful and affectionate adult cat. If your kitten is hiding, make a kitty-finder. Just get a piece of string, and drag it behind you on the floor around and visible from the hiding place. If your kitty doesn’t pounce on it, he is ill and needs to see the vet. After that, you can use flashlights, paper wads, balls, and most anything your critter can bat around or chase. The best cat toy I ever had was a yard-long piece of springy wire with a little pompom of rubber bands tied to the end. The thing would bounce around and entice my cat to leap up into the air to catch it. When my hands got tired, I tied it to a chair, where he’d play with it for hours. That cat was a great jumper because of his early training.

11

A scared cat must have somewhere to hide. Limiting the hiding places available is fine and a good idea – you don’t want the kitten to be able to get into someplace that’s dangerous, somewhere you can’t get them out of if that’s for some reason essential, or somewhere you can’t peer at them to make sure they look OK. But removing all hiding places is cruel and may itself be dangerous – some cats, if they can’t hide, will panic and start beating themselves against walls and windows trying to escape.

Under a bed usually works pretty well; or provide a box with a towel in it, and an opening big enough for kitten to get in and out and for you to peer into, with a flashlight if necessary.

Do not drag a scared cat out of its hiding place unless this is absolutely necessary (to give medication their lives are at risk without, or if the house is on fire, or they haven’t eaten in multiple days and you’d better take them to the vet and find out why.) You want the cat to start feeling secure. They’ll come out on their own; probably, to start with, in the middle of the night or when you’re not there.

It’s not necessary to put a kitten in the pan to housetrain it. Just make sure the pan is the only thing in the room they can dig in.

When you bring fresh food in, put the food just outside wherever the kit’s hiding, and go sit very still on the far side of the room for ten or fifteen minutes. If the kit doesn’t come out to eat, go away and try again later. If the kit does come out to eat but doesn’t come over to you, sit still where you are; and the next time, sit a little closer. And so on.

You’ll have kitten all over you before too long if you don’t rush. It gets boring hiding under the bed (or in the box, or wherever.)

– a newly arrived cat may not want to play yet. Any new cat (etc…) should have a vet visit as soon as you can schedule one; but presuming that doesn’t turn up anything serious, if the kit’s eating anything at all don’t worry about it to start with. In addition to being afraid in a new place, if the kit’s a rescue, sometimes rescued cats are exhausted from stress and prior starvation and need to rest and recover.

ETA: That is a very pretty cat. And yes, he’s scared right now.

12

Thank you! I actually pretty much ended up doing this, because I really didn’t want to pull him from under the bed, and it turned out he would use the litter box when I wasn’t around, so that was good news. He started to come out more and pretty playful. He still runs under the bed if I’m coming into the room or something, but then he’ll come out after a little bit and allow me to pet him and even pick him up. All-in-all, lots of progress in a week! :smiley:

13

Oh yes, that’s going beautifully!

Glad to see that.