Cat Training

Are you wondering when is the best time to start litter training your kitten, and how to go about doing it? Fortunately, cats and kittens are naturally fastidious creatures, and they have a natural tendency to use the litter box. Unfortunately, if they start doing it in the wrong spot, it can be difficult to get them to move their activities to the litter box.

Why? Because your kitten thinks that the place to pee is the place where she smells her urine. So, if the first place she went was someplace inconvenient like your pillow…

This is the reason you should always have a good way to completely get rid of cat urine smells. An enzymatic cleaner like Nature’s Miracle is very handy when you start litter training a kitten. Sprinkle cat litter over the soiled spot then wipe it up with damp tissue paper. After that, use the cleaner to thoroughly clean the area where your kitten did its business.

You do not want to immediately throw away the soiled litter. Place the cat poop/pee in your kitten’s litter box, then bring her to it. Do not rub her nose in the soiled litter. However, use her paws to gently dig at the litter to show her how to bury her poo. Just be patient and she will eventually get the idea.

The best cat litter to use at this stage is probably sand or a non-clumping clay cat litter. Some cat owners say they have good results with crystal litter, but some people are a bit nervous about using this type of litter for kittens.

When Do You Start Kitten Litter Training?

Generally, you can start to litter train your kitten once she is 4 to 6 weeks old. In most cases, her mother will teach her how to use the litter box. Your kitten might be a fast learner, and learn to use her litter box in just a week. Or she might take more than a month. This is one reason why you should not adopt a kitten less than 3 months old. Her litter training and socialization is not yet complete, and she will likely show other behavior problems in the future.

Of course, you do not always have a choice. For example, if you adopt an orphaned kitten, you may have to take the place of her mother. It helps a lot if you already have an adult cat who is already litter trained. Your kitten will tend to follow the older cat’s example.

If you bought your kitten from a breeder, you should ask for some of your kitten’s poop and soiled litter. Although it sounds gross, this can be really helpful in litter training a kitten. You also need to get the same kind of cat litter the breeder uses as well as the same kind of litter box. These are just some shortcuts to speed up the kitty litter training process.

Litter training your kitten need not be difficult. However, you do need to be loving and patient with your kitten. You also need to immediately and thoroughly clean up any accidents.

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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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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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