If you are having litter box problems with your cat or kitten, there are things you can do to retrain and help your feline friend.
If your cat is having litter box issues, you want to make sure that you retrain her in a patient and calm way. Stress is one of the leading cause of litter box problems, so you never want to cause additional stress or anxiety while working on litter box problems. Love, praise, and a few kitty treats will go a long way towards solving your problems!
Litter Box Basics
Start at the beginning and make sure you are covering the basic steps to help your cat with proper litter box habits:
- Have one litter box per cat in your household, plus one
- Get a brand new litter box
- Use a high quality cat litter
- Place the litter box in an area near where your cat “hangs out,” but with as much privacy as possible
- Scoop litter daily
- Change litter out completely once a week
- Wash and bleach litter boxes when you change the litter out
Rule Out Health Issues
When you first notice that your cat is having litter box problems, you should take her to the vet and rule out all health issues. Litter box problems can be the result of parasites, kidney or bladder infections, or even stress and anxiety.
If your cat is maturing, spraying or territorial marking could be mistake as signs of litter box problems. To make sure this isn’t the issue, you should have your cat spayed or neutered before they start reaching sexual maturity. Sometime around 5 or 6 months old is a good time.
Steps to Retrain Your Cat
If your cat might be stressed or having anxiety problems, work to find out what the causes are and alleviate them. Many pet owners benefit from using products like Feliway helps keep their cats calm and relaxed.
Thoroughly clean the area where your cat has eliminated. If it was on carpet, clean the carpet with a urine removal product, pull the carpet back, and clean the pad with the same product. If the urine has soaked to the wood underneath, also clean the wood, and leave the carpet pulled back with a fan blowing on the area so it all dries completely.
After you replace the carpet, you might try covering the area with:
- Plastic wrap
- The spiky side of a plastic carpet runner
- Self-sticking shelf paper, sticky side up
- Aluminum foil
If Your Cat Returns to the Same Area
If your cat uses the same area again, try putting her food in that spot. Then spray the area with Feliway two or three times a day until your problems stop.
For Extreme Cases
If your cat continues to refuse the litter box instead of a spot in the hall floor, place the litter box in that spot for a couple of weeks. Then, move the litter box an inch or so every couple of days, until slowly but surely, you have relocated the litter box to the spot where you want it. You might also use a product like Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract to draw your cat to the litter box.
In much worse cases, cats may need to be confined to a small area until they are consistently using the litter box. You can gradually expand their territory with time.
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Patience is a virtue when dealing with litter box issues, but if you are calm and consistent and provide a loving, supportive environment for your kitty, you can resolve litter box problems.
You might also enjoy, “How to Avoid Litter Box Odors,” and “Litter Box Training 101."
