I recently (like 4 days ago) adopted a kitten from the local shelter and I just love him. He’s doing very well adjusting to his new home except for one little problem… He won’t shit in the litter box. He pees in there just fine but when it comes time to go poo he keeps going to one corner in the house to do it.
What would cause this? I’m kinda thinking that his litter box might be too small for him but I’m not sure about that. We got him a small litter box to start with because he is so small. I’ve tried spraying the corner with repellent but that didn’t work so now I come to the great QT3 hive mind to ask the question.
What would be the problem here? Is the litter box too small? He does pee in there because we scoop out pee and its not that the litter box is dirty because we clean it after he pees. I don’t think its a matter of him forgetting where the box is because again he does pee in there. Suggestions anyone?
Another trick is to put his food there. Cats won’t poop anywhere near where they eat. Also, make sure the litterbox is in a private area, and one with a hood helps too, as they do like their privacy.
In my experience, kittens are pretty adaptive, so I wouldn’t think that moving the box would cause a disruption to his peeing habit. My first strategy would be to move the box to where he’s pooping.
If he poops next to the box, you might try moving the poop into the box & showing him the box + poop during the day, so his little brain makes the connection.
The only other thing I have to offer is to praise him every time you see him using the litter box for any purpose. Kittens aren’t quite as responsive to human praise as puppies, but the little tyke likely still wants to impress you, so letting him know you’re proud will help.
Put the box where he’s currently pooping, then move it a foot or so each time he poops, toward where you want it to end up.
Take his poop and put it in the box, and then show it to him.
Change the type of litter he’s using–some cats just don’t like using certain types of litter. I’ve recently changed our two cats over to pine-sawdust based litter, for environmental reasons, but I have to put a light coating of clay on top of one of the boxes, because one of my cats refuses to use it otherwise.
I used kitten-specific litter when I had a kitten last October. Darn cute thing showed up on our stoop one day and as my girlfriend was leaving for work the cat ran into our house.
The kitten was clearly a stray, but after bringing home a litter box and filling it with kitten litter and setting the kitten in front of it, the kitten didn’t blink and used until we were able to find it a proper home.
Whoever invents the genetic treatment that allows for kittens that never grow up will be unimaginably rich. That picture makes me want to cuddle my monitor.
Another thing to consider is getting some spray/cleaner that removes smell. A lot of sporting goods places will have that for hunters (removes suspicious smells from clothing so that deer, etc can’t smell them as easily) or trying placing the kittens poop in the box afterwards so that the little guy knows that’s where it goes.
It’s also a good idea to have multiple boxes at start, or at least a larger one.
Cats will pee/poop wherever they feel is the best place to do so. We had a cat that kept peeing in the corner, and as soon as we moved the litterboxes to that corner, problem solved.