Nah, just stick the cat in the toilet, close the lid, and put something heavy on top. Eventually the cat will have to do their business… and if they need a bath, you can just flush it a couple times before opening the lid.
Kidding aside, Milton only had a problem with the litter box when it was too dirty. Then he’d poop next to it, or find some other place to hide it so that there’d be surprises during vacuuming.
You might have to take the kitten to a vet if the problem still isn’t better, even with all the ideas of the dopers. If it’s physiological, rather than psychological, none of the feline reprogramming will do any good.
I’m bumping this up because I want to know what the water/vinegar mix proportions are. At this stage I’ll try anything, because he is stinking up the apartment.
One of my cats, well trained up until recently, has started urinating at the end of the hallway nearest where the catboxes are. He doesn’t defecate outside the box, just pees. I’ve cleaned the carpet vigorously, cleaned the box and put in fresh litter, put air fresheners in the box area, and so far it’s not going too well. I’m calling the vet tomorrow to get an appointment, see if he has an infection or something.
I love my cats, even the guilty one, and I won’t get rid of either of them. So a solution must be found. Any help is appreciated, and I learned a lot when I searched for and found a thread like this.
How many litter boxes do you have? for 4 cats, you should probably have 5-6 litter boxes, and change the contents daily.
There are products you can get which contain feline facial pheromones (in this country it’s called Feliway) and sometimes spraying them around near the tray will decrease anxiety.
I have two cats, both neutered males. One is about six years old, the other(guilty party) is not quite two years old. They have all their shots, see a vet regularly, and so on. Both are indoor cats exclusively.
Baker, I never had any luck with white vinegar killing the smell, but I did find Nature’s Miracle to be a…well…miracle. It’s about five bucks and worth ever penny. I buy from Petco but Walmart carries it occasionally.
I have a male, neutered with shots, in perfect health. He has the muscle tone of a cheetah :). He had the same problem as yours until I gave him his own box. I guess he didn’t want to share with his sisters. Now he guards his box and snaps at the girls when they come sniffing around.
UPDATE:
Ms.Incontinent has taken a wee step up! For the most part now she goes outside, and when she doesn’t I’ve got her going on newpaper put on an old cookie sheet(hey! it’s working!). Next I’m going to try a baking dish(lower clearance than a litter box, and hell, I hate to cook anyway) with newspaper AND litter.
Ahhh…the joys of pet ownership!
Does Miss I-hate-the-litterbox follow you around a lot? Want to be held and cuddled all the time? Knead on you and suck on clothing, blankets, or cotton swabs? She may have security issues, and those can make her nervous enough to have litterbox problems. It takes a while, but she’ll come around with enough patience and affection.
Also, you can train a cat to ask to go out. We used to have one that never even had a box in the house because she came to us already meowing at the door to go outside. Sometimes she’d go to bathroom and come right back in, and sometimes she’d hang around and play for a while.
Lots of good advice about litter boxes and litter types and so on… it is compeltely true that runbbing an animals’ nose in thier messes teaches them nothing except that when you and a mess on the carpet are in the same room together, there’s trouble. Unless you catch them in the act there’s zero point in scolding.
Only three suggestions, one of which has already been offered…
consult your vet in case there are physical problems (if, for example, it is painful to defecate, the kitten may avoid the box in an attempt to avoid the discomfort). In addition, your vet may very well have access to a veterinary behaviorist he os she can either refer you to or consult with on your case.
you can try confining the kitten in a VERY small space (like a large dog crate) and making the box the most appealing alternative for eliminatory functions. However, this is generally used as a REtraining strategy rather than a training strategy, and I’m not sure how well it would work for initial training. (note: you only confine the kitten when you cannot be physically supervising it; when you are present, it’s your job to watch for impending accidents and take steps.)
you might ask your vet if they carry something called Feliway. This is a spray that is a synthetic pheromone analog that stimulates the relaxed/content centers in the cat’s brain (too bad it won’t work on me). We use this somtimes in the cages of cats that are in-hospital and stressed out about it. Some of my clients have used this with good success; nothing works all the time in every case, though. The advantage of Feliway is that you don’t treat the cat; you treat the environment, which then has a positive impact on the cat. The purpose of tht is to lower the kitten’s stress level to the point where she can learn… it sounds as if she is too stressed and frightened to focus and can only think of escape. Poor little pumpkin. (catnip might also help for relaxation if your kitten is a catnip cat… only about 50% of females are, however, compared to 90% of males, the little drug fiends…)
That does sound medical, if he’s never done it before.
Cat pee goes through a decaying process the longer it lies around. Get it up quick.
First, dab it with a cloth that has been dampened in a solution of say a one-quarter teaspoon of clear detergent to 32 ounces of water you need to get as much up as possible – but don’t saturate the stain or spread it around.
The vinegar-to-water ratio: It varies depending on who you ask. One-third cup white vinegar with two-thirds cup water, or one cup per gallon works. (Other peoplsay 1:1). The vinegar helps neutralize the odor, but if you have an expenisve rug, it also helps prevent the colors from running as you panic and try to clean it, and it’s acidity is helpful in getting tough stains out
But the vinegar solution is mainly to clean up the mess as a rinse solution. As Rushgeek suggested, Nature Miracle is a true wonder. It’s enzymatic. The only problem I have with it is that it sometimes leaves what looks like a water stain behind. Like, that area always looks “wet.”
Another thing: It depends on the kind of carpet you’ve got. My old apartment had an abolutely indestructible carpet I could practically dump bleach on it with no worries. Now, I’ve got a white wool area rug (I’m just waiting for one of the fourlegged beasts to yack on it!) If you have an oriental rug, or a wool rug (or a rug of natural fibres) go with what the manufacturer recommends and research like crazy.
HELP! i just got a new ragdoll kitten from a woman who claimed he was 6 weeks old. He is not litter trained at all! I have him in a small dog crate with a litter box at one end and his bed and food at the other and he stilll peed on the paper at the bottom of the crate and shit in the bed he was sleeping in. This is day two!. He screams his bloody head off to get out of the crate, but if you let him out, he shits in the corner! I can’t stand the screaming, but I hate the shitting more!
Even 6 weeks is too young to separate a kitten. Between 8-10 weeks they should be trained more. And crate training an infant kitten seems a bit harsh - they need your touch and attention. Can you keep an eye on the kitten and place her in the litterbox when she starts to squat? And make sure the box is very low - ease of access is key for babies.
I agree that six weeks is too young, and the woman you got him from is irresponsible.
Have you tried any of the methods mentioned earlier in this thread yet? I’m afraid with a kitten that young, you are going to end up with shit and pee on the floor until you have your kitten trained.
If you need more help, see if there is a cat rescue group in the area that can help - a lot of them foster kittens of all ages and situations and should be able to help you with techniques and expectations.
3 months is absolute minimum age for a responsible breeder to release a cat.
Even the sleaziest breeder (see Craigslist) will hold until 8 weeks.
Your kitten is not even emotionally weaned.
Get is out of the crate, onto your bed. Get a cheap waterproof mattress cover and sheets.
They need constant contact and feeding, and lots of purring at that age.
Its behavior is the result of emotional abandonment. If there isn’t a mother cat with kittens about the same age, try a vet for references.
A human is a great companion for an adult cat. We do horribly as replacement mothers.