Strange litterbox problems with new kitten Sophie

[lizzielou742]

Sophie! What a handful. She does #1 in the litterbox just fine and up until yesterday, she WAS doing #2 in there just fine too. Now she has decided she only likes to go #2 under my boyfriend's bed. She still goes #1 in the litterbox. I don't get it! Anyway we SCRUBBED the floor where she went, put the #2 in her litterbox so she would smell it in there, and also we covered the entire floor under boyfriend's bed with aluminum foil. We'll see if that works - she hasn't gone #2 since then (a few hours ago). Anyone else ever had this problem? Is this maybe because she was a stray and an orphan and never had a mommy cat that used a box to learn from by example? When she was going #2 in the box she wouldn't ever cover it up. She doesn't cover up anything in the litterbox actually. I don't really care though as long as it's in the box!!! Anyways, anyone have any ideas?

As soon as she is six weeks old, we can take her over to my house and introduce her to Tito and maybe she'll learn by his example. Another thing I thought of was maybe she's going under the bed because it's safe and covered under there. I want to get her a covered litter box eventually and maybe that would solve the problem, but for now I couldn't find any that were shallow enough for her to be able to get into. I might move the litterbox gradually into a closet so she feels safer in there. Does that sound good?

Kittens!!!

[jenluckenbach]

Are you saying that this kitten is UNDER 6 weeks old? If so then their habits are not necessarily formed yet. The litters of foster kittens I have had all learned at different ages not to miss the box. And a very small kitten may require more than one acceptable place to go potty. Houses are BIG when you are a wee kitten. And also remember that cats like to do #1 and #2 in SEPARATE places. She might be showing that tendency now.

[lizzielou742]

Thanks jen, yes the kitten is under 6 weeks old. She's about 4.5 weeks old now. Her mommy cat gave birth to Sophie and her littermates under my boyfriend's dad's trailer. Two weeks later the mommy cat was chased up a tree by some hunting dogs living in the area and (we think) shot by their owner. :( At any rate, Sophie's mommy dissapeared and so did her littermates. Only Sophie was left, underweight and alone! My boyfriend's dad rescued her and gave her to us. And we've only had her since Saturday. So maybe our expectations are a little high!!! We will try getting her another box. She is mostly staying in my boyfriend's bedroom, so we'll try placing boxes on opposite ends of the room. Thanks for your great advice! And I am glad I got to tell Sophie's story. I am going to try and post a video of her soon!

[moosmom]

You need to isolate Sophie in one room with her litterbox, food and water so that she will get the idea. I had to do this with my now 10 year old cat Mollie Rose. She kept pooping behind a chair in my living room. Those were the instructions from my vet. It worked!

Good luck!!

[guster girl]

Hey! Congrats on your new rescue. I think she's just too young yet. I know when a cat that I used to have, Vella, had kittens years ago, even with a her example, it took the kittens a while to get the hang of it. I think maybe it's just when they have to go, they go. Our kittens, and, there were six of them, would go to the litter box if they were close to it. But, if they were in another room and had to go, they would. :) The "trek" back to the box was just too daunting, I guess. We just ended up putting three or four boxes all over the apartment, and, they never had a problem after that. Maybe you could buy several of those cheap shallow ones from walmart or something and put them in different rooms. I know it looks tacky, but, we only had to leave the boxes down for a couple weeks. It's worth it! I posted on the other thread, too, but, both your kitties are very pretty!

[lizzielou742]

Thanks Guster girl (PS Guster the band rocks if that's what your tag stands for). Anyway yes I agree about her just being too young. The weird part to me was that she used the litterbox just fine for a couple of days, no accidents, and now she's going all over my boyfriend's bedroom. We were up four times last night cleaning up messes or trying (unsuccessfully) to prevent messes! Now she's stopped going #1 in the litterbox too. She had a couple #1 accidents last night. It's strange to me that she was doing so well, but maybe we just got lucky. Also maybe since she's exploring the room more and not just confining herself to the one part of the room where the box is, she's having more accidents. I keep telling my boyfriend that she's just young and she'll get the hang of it but I can tell he's getting really frustrated. We'll just keep putting her little kitty butt in that litterbox until she gets it!! I guess I was spoiled because I got my other cat, Tito, at 11 weeks and he was already completely litter-trained, and I was thinking Sophie would be that easy too!!

[catcrazylady]

I have a suggestion that won't be easy for you to do because I can tell your just like me! She needs to be confined in a carrier or crate with her litterbox and food and water. I know, I know!!! I hate to cage them up too!! The reason Tito came to you fully trained is because he was kept in a cage at the shelter. I know you don't want to do it and she will scream and drive you crazy but maybe if you just do it at night she will get the hang of it. It is really hard to make them stop once they start going outside the box. She is very young and tiny but if she started off ok and is now straying from the box, a pattern will develop. If you can manage it I would try if for a few weeks and see if it helps.
Another thing you might take into consideration is that once you take her home and she starts using the potty outside the box then Tito may feel the need to try that too! You know how they are about scents.
She is so daggone cute that it has got to be hard to anything but love and kiss her to pieces!!!

[catmandu]

Dont worry , she wil learn , about where it is approquiate to go! It just takes time love and patience!

[lizzielou742]

We are getting the carpets professionally cleaned at my boyfriends' apartment before I move in with him in a month. They need it anyway and hopefully Sophie will be thru with all accidents by then and it will keep Tito from marking over Sophie's spots. Of course we are cleaning them the best we can now, but you know how little kitties' noses are!

When we brought Sophie home, my original plan was to keep her in my bathroom for a few days until she figured out the litterbox and we could take her to the vet. Then I could introduce she and Tito slowly. And I figured, I am moving out of my apartment in a month anyway, so if they messed up the carpet it wouldn't be that bad in only a month, plus they were going to clean it anyway when I moved out. Well, after we picked up Sophie and saw how small she was my boyfriend thought that it was way too mean to keep a kitty in the bathroom and he insisted that I could not lock up his kitty. Instead he decided he would keep her in his bedroom at his apartment. Well, I would never say so to his face, but I TOLD him so!!!!! Grr! Anyways! I guess maybe he sees the wisdom of my ways now ;)

Haha maybe now he knows why I read all those "crazy cat books" as he calls them!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Hopefully Sophie will learn in time, and probably two litter boxes will help, but Peanut is the exact same way. She pees in the box and only in the box - never anywhere else - but she insists on pooping on the floor. We have 3 litter boxes for 2 cats, and I've tried scrubbing them clean, scooping as soon as they're done, and all that good stuff, and she just insists on pooping on the floor. :rolleyes: The good news is the litter boxes are in the basement - which is unfinished - so the hard poop on the concrete floor is no problem. Funny part of it is that Terry isn't bothered by it at all.....'cause it's his precious little girl. If it was Tubby he'd probably be singing a different tune. :rolleyes: ;) :D

Good luck with Sophie. Sounds like she has her daddy wrapped around her little paw already. :D

[guster girl]

Originally posted by lizzielou742
Thanks Guster girl (PS Guster the band rocks if that's what your tag stands for

YAY! A fellow guster fan! I agree, they rock! :) Good luck with Sophie......

[lizzielou742]

Just a little update. Sophie did pretty well this weekend, only one accident I believe the whole time. We're counting down the days until she's 6 weeks old (May 24th) because then we can finally give her the Revolution to guarantee the rest of her fleas are gone (which we haven't seen one in forever anyways) so we can begin to introduce her to her big brother Tito!!!!

[lizzielou742]

Just an update...Sophie was doing GREAT this whole week...until last night when she decided to go #1 in my boyfriend's bed!!!!!!!!!

EWWW!!!!!!!

I know it's silly of me to post every accident she has, but I thought that one was just disgusting!!!
She's six weeks old today - and she and Tito will be meeting soon!!

Sophie:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p30aa02e81b127e41dde4d751e626d585/f8bb6d04.jpg

[Cataholic]

Lizzielou742...there is a saying that goes something like this, "you can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results". Unless you are keeping this kitty confined to a relatively small area, like a bathroom, you will have this continue to happen. What you don't want to have happen is Sophie to develop HABITS. Your boyfriend just won't think she is so cute and adorable then, probably. It would have been nice to have Sophie really entrenched in her toiletry before you added Tito to the mix. Sophie is going to have to re-learn some toiletry at her new house. I hope you will consider keeping her confined then, AND to go slow with the introductions with Tito. You only have to read a few 'stories' on here to see what happens when things are rushed.

I don't mean to be harsh with you. But, when I think of a NEARLY 6 week old kitten, already having some potty issues, and an human not really listening to the advise, well, it just doesn't sound like it is going to turn out to well. Chances are, the kitty is going to 'pay' for this. That makes me sad.:(

[sirrahbed]

Please try Cataholic, Moosmom & CatCrazyLady's advice about the crate or at least the bathroom. It may sound mean but it is best to start right now before this is a big issue. They and others have LOTS of kitten and cat experience:D And we want a happy outcome for Sophie and Tito!!

[lizzielou742]

Hi all, thanks for the advice! Right now she is confined to my boyfriend's bedroom only. I have tried to convince him to crate her but he just won't listen. She only had one accident all week, so at least she's getting better, but she still doesn't cover her messes. I really want to crate her but Boyfriend thinks it's mean, thinks cages are too expensive...he's giving me every excuse he can to not crate her. I am moving in with him in less than a month. So, at least Sophie won't be moving anywhere, she won't have to relearn any habits, but there will be another cat (my Tito) in the house. Basically if my boyfriend refuses to crate her and she doesn't get any better, then when I move in I WILL crate her and there's nothing he can do about it. It needs to be done and if he won't do it then I will. I refuse to let my kitties have problems just because of human irresponsibility. I felt so bad for her this morning b/c Boyfriend tried to switch her to dry food all at once (he was out of wet food) and she threw it right back up. I wish I would have been there to tell him you can't do that!!! Aaargh!!!

He thinks I'm just trying to be a know-it-all about cats, and he doesn't want to listen to my advice...well when I move in there in three weeks it won't be advice anymore, it WILL happen, we WILL crate her and no matter what, we won't give up until all problems are solved!!!

:( :( :(

[catcrazylady]

Maybe when she and Tito get together she will follow his example. Hopefully he won't follow hers! From what I understand sometimes it just takes a few days or weeks to get the litter box lesson figured out. I think she would also do fine in the bathroom. She is so tiny that I think she just needs a small space with the litter box nearby.
I bet Tito will become her best buddy. I can't wait for all the play pictures and stories!!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/biggrin.gif

[lizzielou742]

That's what I was hoping, that Sophie will learn from Tito's habits, not the other way around. I don't know. This whole thing is stressing me out!! But, Sophie is doing reasonably well, considering that when we got her (May 8th) she was four weeks old and had never seen a litter box in her life! Now she's six weeks old and in the last 7 days has only had one accident (last night on the bed)...which was weird because the litterbox is literally RIGHT NEXT to the bed and always has been. Maybe she was sleepy and confused...maybe she was mad that she had been alone most of that evening...who knows. All I can do is hope it works out. I'm going to take the introductions slowly - when we move we're going to keep Tito confined to my boyfriend's guest room with his litterbox, scratching post, toys, window perch, some of my clothes, water and food only. That's so he'll learn where his litterbox is and so he can't run out the door while we're coming in and out, moving. Then, when we're done moving, we're going to give everyone a few days to settle down and then start introducing them slowly. I've already been doing the toy exchange trick so both of them have definitely smelled the other one. Sophie loves to chew on my shoes when I'm at my boyfriend's, and every time I come home from there Tito goes nuts sniffing my shoes! Anyway, I know I am rambling now, but I am just very nervous about this whole thing. The whole reason we got Sophie was to keep tito company (and plus she had nowhere else to go) so hopefully it all does work out and I can finally sleep at night...with Tito on my face, as usual!! :D

[catcrazylady]

Don't stress because I think this intro will go very well. They are both young and that really helps. I'm sure Sophie will do some of that adorable little kitten hissing but she will find Tito to be a great play buddy in no time! The older the cat the more difficult the introductions I think. Tito will be in a new place so he won't be too territorial yet and Sophie is such a tiny baby that she will just be freaked out for a short time. I think you are going to have a lot of fun with these two!
If Sophie has had only one accident in seven days I think she is doing remarkably well! She is so tiny and has such a tiny bladder that I'm sure things just kind of hit all at once! Know what I mean?!) If she is doing that good now I think your problems are almost over with the accidents.
I can't wait for more pictures of the two of them!! You are going to have many many laughs and so are we!! There is nothing cuter than two youngsters getting into trouble!:D :D http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/biggrin.gif