Cat Training

Do you have a new kitten? If you also own mama cat, and she is litter trained, then you are in luck. She will litter train her kittens. All you need to do is clean up the litter box afterwards. On the other hand, if she has not been litter trained, then your first step is to litter train mama cat. Otherwise, no amount of kitten litter training you do will help.

The first step of kitten litter training is to prepare to clean up any “accidents”, and there will be a lot of “accidents”. Once your kitten has peed or pooped in a particular spot, it will try to return there to do all of its future business. Partly, this is because it can smell its urine there. So, an important part of litter training your kitten is to get rid of all cat urine smells. To do this, you will need two items: a good blacklight (ultraviolet lamp) and an enzymatic cleaner for cat urine like Nature’s Miracle. When you turn on the blacklight in the dark, it will cause all the spots where your kitten did its business to glow. The next step is to use the enzymatic cleaner to remove cat urine stains.

Step two is to prepare the litter box and cat litter for your kitten. The litter box needs to be the right size, not too high and not too low. Your kitten should be able to comfortably climb or jump into it. You also need to get a suitable cat litter, either sand or clay cat litter. Do not use clumping cat litter or biodegradable litter. If your kitten swallows clumping cat litter, she could get very sick. Some biodegradable litter is made of material which could cause an allergic reaction in cats. This reaction could be very severe in a little kitten. You may also want to use something which can attract your kitten to use the litter box – something like Dr Elsey’s “Cat Attract” formula is known to help with litter training some cats. Who knows, it may help with your kitten litter training as well. Remember to place the litter box away from your kitten’s food bowl. Far, far away. Your kitten, like you, does not like to eat its food right next to the toilet.

For step three, you need to prepare preventative measures. In step one, you got rid of all cat urine smell so that your kitten is not attracted back to the same spots by smell. But it might still go back because the place is a familiar landmark. You want to keep your kitten away. One way is to place some foil there – many cats do not like the way it feels on their paws. Another way is to use some form of cat repellant spray. These sprays are usually based on some pheromones which cats avoid.

In step four, set up a fixed feeding and litter box cleaning schedule. Many cats like to pee and poop before eating or after eating, so having a fixed feeding time makes it easier for you to litter train your kitten. Cats are also naturally clean and fussy creatures. Like you, they do not like to do their business in a dirty toilet. If you clean the litter box on a regular, fixed schedule, your kitten is more likely to learn to use it.

Step five involves the actually litter training your kitten. You need to learn to recognize the signs of your kitten preparing to pee or poop. You will probably miss the first few times and have to clean up accidents. But once you learn the signs, you should immediately move your kitten to the litter box. This will associate the litter box as a place to do its business. If you are lucky, your kitten will learn quickly. If not, you just need to be patient. Remember to reward your kitten every time it uses the litter box. This positive reinforcement will speed up the kitten litter training process.

Kitten litter training is not particularly difficult, especially because kittens have not yet learned many bad habits. Remember to be patient, and consistent in dealing with your kitten. Never physically punish your kitten. This will only make it fear you and damage your relationship. Positive reinforcement works much better.

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What is the proper method of cat litter disposal? If your cat is not litter trained, the answer is simple – clean up the poop with tissue paper and flush it, mop up the pee with more tissue paper and flush it. But what do you do after your cat does its business in the litter box? Can you still get rid of it the same way – is the cat litter flushable?

That depends on whether it is pee or feces, and what type of cat litter you are using. If you use sand for your cat’s litter box, you should not flush it. Even though not much sand will stick to the cat poop, your toilet will choke up in the long run. The same goes for the other two main types of litter: clay cat litter and clumping cat litter. The plumber’s bill to unclog your pipes will bankrupt you.

If you use crystal litter, which is made of silica gel, your job of cat litter disposal is slightly easier. Crystal cat litter absorbs cat urine into itself without clumping, so it is flushable in small amounts. Not much sticks to the cat poop either, so you can also flush that down the toilet. However, it is still not adviseable to do this regularly in the long run.

As for biodegradable cat litter, that depends. Some of them are made of rather large pellets which might also choke up your plumbing. Others are made of wood, or sawdust and might go through without any problems. Still, if you have a septic tank, realize that these material do not necessarily degrade immediately. We could be talking about years – which could cause your septic tank to become rather full. Somehow, the thought of used litter and cat poop coming out of my backed up drains leaves me with a cold sweat.

Some manufacturers have started to make flushable cat litter, in the face of calls for more convenience. Naturally, these flushable cat litter costs more. To make cat litter flushable, they use various biodegradable materials which are supposed to safely go through your plumbing. These newer types of cat litter will not turn into a sludge which can choke up your sewage pipes – in theory. Some plumbers beg to differ. In the course of their business, they have gone to homes where the sewage pipes and plumbing were choked up by flushable cat litter. Or so the embarrassed and distressed house occupant said. Who is lying, here? I do not know, but it is probably not adviseable to flush large amounts of litter down the toilet.

It is still better to dispose of the bulk of your cat’s litter the old way – either bagged up together with the rest of your trash or carefully buried somewhere in the garden. In the garden, your cat’s urine and feces would make a good fertilizer for your grass and flowers. Cat urine and feces can contain dangerous bacteria, so you should not use it to fertilize vegetables and fruit trees.

I must admit that a true flushable cat litter would be awfully convenient when it is snowing or raining heavily. It would really simplify cat litter disposal.

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Litter training your kittens is an important responsibility as a cat owner. If you also own the mother cat, and she is litter trained, then your job is much easier. She will teach her kittens how to use the litter box. All you need to do is provide more litter boxes for the growing kittens and scoop up the litter everyday.

Originally, people used sand when litter training a kitten. Sand is easily available, helps to absorb the cat urine and makes handling cat poop much easier. It is still used by some cat owners. Unfortunately, cats often track sand all over the house.

For this reason, clay cat litter is more popular. Clay cat litter is more absorbent than sand, and has a larger grain, so your cats are less likely to track it around the house. Compared to sand, it is also works better to get rid of cat urine smell. Some cat owners use clay-based oil absorbent, which is cheaper and works just as well. Clay-based oil absorbent is actually similar to clay cat litter – except that it is made for industrial use. Both of them make use of granulated Fuller’s earth for its strong absorbent properties.

The next major advancement in cat litter was the invention of clumping cat litter. As its name suggests, it clumps together when your cat pees on it. As it forms a solid mass separate from the other litter in the box, it is much easier for you to scoop up without having to change all the litter in the box. While clumping litter is great for your adult cats, some cat lovers have expressed concern in using it when litter training a kitten. There is some worry that the kitten will eat the litter and be harmed when it swells inside the stomach. There is no scientific evidence at the moment, but as cat lovers it is better to be safe than sorry.

Crystal cat litter is the latest scientific advancement in cat litter technology. It uses silica gel, which absorbs cat urine even better than clumping cat litter. It lasts so much longer than any other litter – you just need to stir it after you scoop the cat poop to prevent cat urine from pooling in the litter box. One problem with crystal cat litter is that there is no warning when it becomes saturated. The next time your kitten uses the litter box, it could leave a puddle behind. Crystal litter is also lighter than clay cat litter and clumping litter – your kitten might track the silica gel around your house. As cat lovers, there is another concern – we can also find silica gel in our pill bottles, where they are labeled “Do Not Eat”. Is it safe for litter training a kitten, especially since even adult cats are very sensitive to poisons.

For cat owners who want to be more environmentally friendly, you can also try biodegradable cat litter. This is usually made from material which naturally decomposes, including wood pellets, recycled newspapers and sawdust. Some brands of biodegradable cat litter can actually be safely flushed down the toilet, unlike normal cat litter. Unfortunately, like many other things which are environmentally friendly, biodegradable litter is also more expensive than the normal kind.

As you can see, you are spoiled for choice when litter training a kitten. You can use clay cat litter, clumping cat litter, crystal cat litter or even biodegradable cat litter. For kittens, clay is probably the best and safest choice.

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