For most cat owners, training their cat to use the litter is a relatively painless process. It is among a cat’s natural instincts to eliminate in an area that they can cover their feces in. This behavior may be a way of your cat accepting what they perceive to be as the natural order of dominance. In the wild feral cats will bury their feces if they are not at the top of their social hierarchy, if a feral cat does not bury his or her feces it is likely that the cat exhibiting that behavior is the dominant feline. So when your housecat buries his or her waste he or she may be recognizing your role as the dominant animal in their social community. It is also possible, however, that your cat may be displaying his or her inherited instinct to bury his or her feces in order to hide their trail from would be predators.
Generally kittens will learn the behavior of burying their feces and using the litter
through their mother once they are weaned assuming the mother is litter trained.
So if you bring home a young kitten of about 12 weeks, you may only need to
place kitty in the litter box and gently scratch the clean litter with your fingers
shortly after she eats to indicate to her what she is to do.
KITTY DIDN’T TAKE TO THE LITTER RIGHT AWAY
If your new cat doesn’t take to litter training after your first few attempts you may
want to consider teaching her using another common method. Confine your new
addition to a small but comfortable room, preferably one with a hard floor if you
have one. Place both the litter box and the food dish in the room but don’t place
them close to one another. Your cat will naturally maine coon cats for sale not want to defecate near its food
source so she will look for another area. Eliminate any pillows, blankets,
newspapers, towels or other soft items where your cat may decide to eliminate from
the room before you close her in. If you have confined your cat to a room with hard
floors she is likely to avoid eliminating on the floor since urinating is likely to splash
back and get on her fur. The only remaining choice to the cat at this point is
(hopefully) the litter box.
MY CAT STOPPED USING THE LITTER
If your cat was housebroken and all the sudden she seems to have
forgotten that instinct there are a few possibilities you might want to consider
before giving up.
1. Does Kitty Have A Dirty Litter Box? The most common cause of a
housetrained cat to stop using the litter is your cat
disagreeing with the level of cleanliness regarding her litter box. Your cat is more
likely to
stop using the litter if she feels that it is too dirty. It is best to clean your cat’s litter
every day or at the very least every second or third day. The dirtier a litter box gets
the less likely it is that your cat is going to continue to use it. Your cat wants to
eliminate in a clean environment and if she notices that every time she eliminates on
the carpet you immediately run and clean it up she perceives that as a more
desirable place to eliminate because it is so quickly cleaned. Keeping your cat’s
litter as clean as possible is the best way to avoid this problem, and remember, what
you consider clean, your cat may not.
In addition to emptying the litter, you obviously need to change it from time to time
as well in order to ensure good cat health and cleanliness. Weekly changing is best,
this ensures that odors and wetness won’t have too much time to build up to
unacceptable levels and it also reduces the likelihood of sickness due to high levels
of bacteria.
2. Stress. A cat eliminating outside of the litter box may also be a sign for
stress.
The introduction of a new person or animal into the household may be putting a lot
of stress on your cat. Cats generally like to feel like they know what is going on and
what they can expect. If you upset that balance by introducing a new creature (even
a two legged one) into the household they may get stressed which can cause them
to eliminate outside the box.
If you leave your cat alone for long periods of time (for example while you take
vacations or go on business trips) and you come back you may
notice that your cat will sometimes seem aloof and standoffish. This is another
instance in which your cat may react with eliminating outside the litter box as a sort
of protest to what she perceives as being abandoned.
A new piece of furniture, or conversely, a newly missing piece of furniture may also
put stress on your cat. Order and comfort are important if you are a cat. If you
decide to get rid of that old fabric sofa because of it’s ugly pea green color and
because it’s falling apart at the seams and then you replace it with a brand new,
slick, top of the line, leather sofa with a refrigerator built into the side, and a
massage and heating function, your cat is unlikely to see this as a stylish upgrade
the way you would. What your cat will probably see is that one of her favorite nap
spots has disappeared only to be replaced by something she is unfamiliar with and
intimidated by.
3. Changing Litter Brands. Cats are creatures of habit and can also be
quite finicky (remember Morris, the 9 Lives cat?). If you’ve recently switched the
brand of litter you usually buy this may be cause for your cat to find another place
to go. Some litters are perfumed (for humans rather than cats) and your cat may
not react well to these smells, or perhaps your cat was used to a less dusty type
of litter, a particular litter’s texture, or who knows what. Changing brands or types
of litter may upset what your cat is comfortable with and the result may be a messy
carpet. If you suspect this to be the cause, you can either switch back, or
gradually introduce the new litter. Try mixing in a little bit of the new litter with the
older brand at first and gradually step up the percentage of the new litter each time
you change the box, eventually you will be able to replace the older brand
altogether. This will help your cat ease into the new litter brand rather than upset
her sense of the order of things.